The ability to combine hobbies and passions into a job gives you the opportunity to love where you work. When you've fallen in love with both weddings and cooking, you can bring these two interests together by starting a wedding catering business. Taking some advice can assist in getting started with this venture. Here’s a look at how to start a wedding catering business.
Having a love for cooking is important when you plan to spend your days catering. However, you also must have the ability to craft delectable cuisine that pleases the palates of hundreds of wedding guests at one time.
Before you officially open the doors to your catering company, consider enrolling in a course to obtain certifications. These certifications can also help you when it comes to advertising—as couples are likely to be more inclined to hire catering companies with employees who have these certifications.
You might think that your company will just travel from place to place and cook food wherever you go. However, starting a professional company is not quite that simple. Instead, you will need a space where you can cook large amounts of high-quality food at the same time.
Then, you can transfer the food to the reception space. It's also possible that you might work with reception halls that will allow you to cook the food there. Keep in mind that potential clients will likely want to meet with you in person. You want to have a professional space where they can come and get the right impression of your business early on.
If you think that you'll go to the grocery store and just purchase each ingredient that you need to make the meals,then you will soon have an expensive surprise coming your way. While a major goal of this business to have a job that you’re passionate about, you also need to generate an income.
Purchasing supplies in bulk is going to be a necessity for you. Research warehouses and bulk supply companies that specifically serve the restaurant supply industry. Remember that as a wedding caterer you are expected to provide the dinnerware. Therefore, you also must ensure that you have enough of these items as well.There’s no reason to pay the higher retail price for any of these items—especially when you’re cooking for large groups at once.
Keep in mind that you are working in a field that has a large amount of competition. Therefore, you need to advertise. Brides and grooms aren't necessarily going to just find you. In the world of weddings, you have plenty of opportunities to get the word out there about your business, and one of those methods is to advertise on websites that are specifically designed for people who are planning weddings.
You should also consider places where couples frequently go soon after they become engaged. For example, you may want to advertise your services at restaurants that are near jewelers. Bringing your advertisements to the right avenues is of utmost importance.
Some reception spaces already have caterers, but others do not. Some brides and grooms will rent out spaces instead of booking the traditional catering hall. For example, couples may choose to host their weddings at a historic castle or on the beach. These individuals will need to go through an entity in order to book the space, but these types of entities often do not provide catering services.
This is where you come in to provide the cuisine for the soiree. If you can become a preferred vendor for these types of locations, then you can improve the chances that couples will see and use your services. When couples decide to book one of these venues, they can directly receive information about your catering services. Eventually, you may become the only caterer that some facilities choose to use.
When couples are hosting a wedding, they have so many details that they must focus on. To get a sense of the vendors available in the area, plenty of them decide to attend bridal expos. You absolutely must make certain that your catering company has a booth at these events.
During the bridal expos, you can provide samples of your food so that prospective customers get a chance to see how tasty the dishes are. Also, you can distribute business cards and speak with couples to let them know about your services. With the immense amount of foot traffic that many of these bridal events see, you don't want to miss out on your opportunity.
You might think that it's okay to dress casually when you're at the bridal expos or when you are meeting with potential clients. However, you must keep your appearance formal unless you are in a very specific niche market that does not require you to do so. When couples are booking wedding vendors, they are generally looking for professionals in the field.
If you look sloppy when you are presenting the services and options, brides and grooms may question how well you cook or if the ingredients that you use are of the highest quality. While these assumptions based on looks are not necessarily fair, you do need to know what you're likely to encounter.
Even if you love to eat meat and you can't imagine giving up products with gluten, remember that the food is not for you. The products that you make need to suit your customers, and you must be flexible with menu options.
While you can certainly offer all of the traditional favorites that you grew up with, your company also needs to accommodate an array of different diets. Offering flexible options also provides you with more of an opportunity to attract a wider range of customers.
In addition to the internet boasting an array of websites for people who are planning weddings, so this space offer many sites for brides and grooms to review the services after the big day. You want to make sure that your company is on these sites and that couples are posting positive reviews about your business.
In the event that you are receiving some negative feedback, you should take the time to respond politely. Also, take the concerns expressed in these reviews seriously. You may discover that your company does have some room for improvement.
When you want to start a wedding catering business, you have the opportunity to turn your passions into a job. Going through the process and taking your time can seriously help in the long term.
Need help advertising your new business to couples? Check out some of BridalTweet’s free marketing tools for vendors and join our engaged wedding community.
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Finding the right spot has been my hurdle. I have done a lot of on-site catering and have received great reviews, but now I would like to have a place of my own where couples could come to have their reception and even their ceremony if they chose to do so. I live in an area where a lot of people like to come to have their weddings, but there aren't a lot of really nice options when it comes to venues, so I think if I could offer the whole package, it would do well.
It's tough, though, to find the right place and then when it comes to the cost of the kitchen equipment...oh, my! I was thinking I may have to continue to cater at other locations to keep saving the money I make from that and then, hopefully, someday I'll be able to afford my own location.
My daughter is getting married next year and I'm trying to plan ahead. I attended a bridal expo with her and was surprised to see vendors without samples. Looking through a catalog or website just isn't the same as being able to see the item in front of you or at least a portion of the item. We took business cards from the vendors who came prepared to show us their work. A wedding is too important to be haphazard about it.
I've been so thrilled with the caterer that I hired for my wedding that it's got me interested in opening my own catering business. It sure looks like a lot goes into it.
I attended a local bridal expo with my daughter this summer, and I was also surprised that some of the vendors didn't have samples on hand. These vendors said they'd be happy to provide us with samples if we came in to visit them, but we didn't end up visiting most of them. There's so much to do in planning for a wedding that we appreciated the vendors who brought samples with them. We ended up finding a caterer we really loved at the expo; she had delicious samples, and we booked her for my daughter's special day.
I'm having a bit of a hard time finding a caterer for my wedding reception. I live in a small town, and there aren't many caterers to choose from. I'm having to drive quite a ways to bigger cities to meet with caterers. I haven't found the match I'm looking for yet. I've met with two caterers so far. One didn't offer gluten-free options, which I need for a few of my guests. The other was booked for the day I need her. I'm hoping we will have some good luck soon!
Thanks for sharing this informative article. When it comes to creating a menu that works with an array of diets I've noticed that offering a vegetarian option is out while vegan is in. Unfortunately, it's usually more expensive for the bride which some find hard to swallow.
I partnered with a local florist. We offer a package deal where you can get flowers for your wedding and catering for your reception for a lower price than you wold pay for purchasing each service separately. Brides really love saving a little money, and it's been great for both my business as well as the florist's.
Great tips! I owned a catering business that was mostly marketed to big corporations before the economy tanked. I'm about to reopen since the economy has improved, but this time I'm concentrating on bridal events. I'm glad to see that VEGA Direct is still a reliable supplier. I always ordered my tableware from VEGA Direct and was pleased with their glassware, so I second your recommendation.
I've been trying to find a caterer for my wedding, and to me, past customer reviews are very important. I have made a few appointments with caterers that have mostly good reviews. It's important to me to see how a caterer responds to a customer's complaint or negative comment, too. Those who respond graciously are those whom I think I could work with. Not every customer will be happy with a caterer - that's just how it goes, but a caterer's response says a lot about his/her character and work ethic.
I feel the same way, Emily Meyers. It's not so much the review itself, but the caterer's response that matters most to me. I've noticed that some industries attract negative fake reviews from competitors, but I think those are easy to pick out. I cringe when the caterer declares war on the reviewer and acts unprofessional. Those caterers should trust that readers have enough sense to ignore the fakes.
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