What to consider when planning a catered holiday event

With the holidays just around the proverbial corner, here’s what to consider as you plan your next holiday party.

Experts say consider your company, organization and your guests when planning a holiday party. Ask yourself what type of party would appeal to them, rather than what you might prefer.

For instance:

• How far would they be comfortable traveling?
• What theme would they find fun and exciting?
• Upscale or more intimate and cozy?
• What’s the average age of your group? How important is a venue with a contemporary popular vibe?
• When do you hold an event at your home and when is it better to rent a facility?
• Are families invited?
• What about differences in food preferences?
• Do you want an open bar? Just beer and/or wine? Or a “special occasion” drink?

These are all great questions for Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering, who knows a thing or two about successful holiday parties. Although there are no hard and fast answers, here are a few important tips:

• Be prepared to wow your guests. If they expect a top-notch venue, make sure you exceed their expectations.
• If you are dealing with a creative, artsy crowd, surprise them with the unexpected – in venue as well as food and drinks.
• People want to be at a popular event. Make sure your event is right for your crowd. When your space is huge and beautiful but there aren’t enough guests to fill the room, guests feel uncomfortable.
• Then build your event around a theme, from food to drinks and décor. Add a few unexpected touches to keep everything interesting and talked about.
• Never, never skimp on food. Guests will forgive an event that could have had another restroom or two, but they will always remember how good the food was -- or wasn’t.
• Never run out of food. This is a cardinal rule at Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering.
• Presentation of food matters. A lot. Food should always look (and taste) luscious, fresh, beautiful and be served at the right temperature.
• Planning how bar and appetizer table traffic flows at an event is very important too. Nobody wants to stand waiting for a drink at a bar for 25 minutes.

The holidays are coming up fast. So if you have a holiday party in mind, there are still plenty of great venues in town with open dates in mid-November through December.

And Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering has agreements with a lot of memorable and lovely downtown, northside and southside facilities.

Whatever your preference, chances are great we can match a menu to your theme, and even help you with décor and rentals. Give us a call and let’s start talking holiday food and fun!

We want to help make your holiday event a joyous and memorable one.