Ventura, Santa Barbara Wedding Photographer Recomended Vendors

Wedding Professionals in Ventura and Santa Barbara: Caterers / Food Service

Ventura County wedding buffet image. Thousand Oaks Wedding Photography.

What makes a great caterer? These are the responses I received from other experienced professionals in Ventura, Ojai, and Santa Barbara: Listening to the client, creating a successful event, creating a proposal that fits the client's desires and budget, punctuality. Service and a full working knowledge of each venue at which one caters. The experience and knowledge to handle any "fire drill" that may arise; i.e. the ability to rapidly reassemble a cake that has tipped, swiftly producing implements that are lost or forgotten, last minute changes, sudden rain, extinguishing a flaming chocolate fountain then repairing the malfunction on the fly...

Catering and hiring a caterer can be a tricky aspect of wedding planning due to the fact that there are so many things determining the cost: How many people are you feeding, will you be having lunch or dinner, chicken or steak (or vegetarian for that matter), hors d'oeuvres, buffet style or served, will you need rental items or does your venue provide them, what will you have to drink and so on and so forth. Many people contact caterers before having answers to most of these questions and are hesitant to give a budget to their prospective caterer, thus making this initial contact a fairly unproductive one. Before seeking a caterer, know your venue, whether or not you will need rentals (tables, chairs, linens, china, etc.) and have a rough head count. Also, talk with your fiancé about your beverage preferences and if you'd like a buffet or to have the food served. Before you call, write a list of questions you want to ask. Keep adding to the list as you think of more. As you begin talking to people, pieces of information will come up that you didn't think of before and will raise another question or two (or twelve). Add these to your list and do not hesitate to call people back to ask more questions. A reliable and respectful caterer will be more than happy to spend time with you answering your questions to the best of their ability.

It is a good idea to ask your prospective caterer some background questions along with general questions about their services. Here are a few important ones:

How long have you been in business as a wedding caterer?
Obviously if the caterer has been in business for 25 or 30 years, you can be pretty confident that you will receive great service; however, keep in mind, everyone starts somewhere, so don't let this be a deciding factor; I have seen instances in which the enthusiasm and shear fortitude of a newcomer more than make up for the wisdom of experience, however, it is a good idea to find someone who has catered at least a few events on their own.

How many weddings do you cater each year?
When asking this question, don't be turned off by a low number. Catering is generally not a wedding- exclusive business. They will be catering corporate functions, banquets, anniversaries, birthdays and many more. Behind the Scenes Catering of Ojai*, for example, typically serves less than ten weddings each year; however, they have been in business for 25 years and Gay Martin of Behind the Scenes has a wonderful abundance of knowledge. She is passionate about her work and can point you in a good direction for many other planning needs.

What services are included in your packages? / What extra services do you have available?
Some caterers might have an extra fee per person for table service, others might have a flat fee. Find out exactly what services you will be provided with and for what cost. DJ's California Catering in Ventura* provides clients with an itemized proposal, listing each service and extra and its cost so you know precisely what your money is being used for. Others may or may not do the same. Ask what beverages they have available. For example, do you wish to have coffee for your guests? Some caterers can supply you with coffee as part of their drink package while others may charge extra for this service because they themselves go through a coffee service business and still others may only be able to furnish you with a referral. Also, most caterers can provide you with any rental needs so find out what is available and how much. Some will rent for you through a party rental supplier such as Ventura Rentals while others own these items themselves and will most likely be able to give you a lower price.

Do you handle more than one event in the same day?
Many of the larger companies will answer "yes", but this is not a problem. I have found places that will serve sometimes three or four weddings in one day, but their staff is large enough to accommodate all. Perhaps a more fitting question would be:

Will the staff at my wedding be handling any other events the same day?
The answer you want to hear is " We generally dedicate ourselves to one wedding a day so we can focus on the complexities of a wedding event in order to really take care of our brides" - Catering Connection of Santa Barbara* . If the answer you get is "yes", you will want to ask about the specifics of that because you don't want your caterer to be running late or rushing off (or just completely exhausted to the point of dropping on their faces). I have not found anyone who gave me a "yes" to this question, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there.

Do you provide a written agreement?
If you come across someone whose answer is "no", which I have not, my advice is: move on. A caterer will usually give you something more of "proposal" than a "contract" because the final cost will be somewhat loose until the event takes place. Be sure they are writing you in (in indelible ink) when you give your deposit.

Back: About Wedding Vendors NEXT: Wedding Flowers

Jump to Article:

Paid Ads you may (or may not) be interested in:

Wedding Photographers Services

Weddings and Engagement photography in Ventura County, without travel expenses including the cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Port Hueneme and Oxnard, Ojai, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Fillmore and Santa Paula, and Camarillo, California. Weddings in Santa Barbara: Isla Vista, Goleta, Montecito and Carpinteria. In Los Angeles County: Westlake Village, Santa Monica, Malibu, Calabasas and Agoura Hills. Also available for destination weddings.

* Many local wedding professionals provided information for this article. Please see: Wedding Resources