The Importance of Catering Décor

Beautiful wedding reception orchestrated by wedding planners of Inspired Occasions

One of the most crucial aspects of any catering event is not just the quality of food, but also the setting in which you serve it. A beautiful, eye-catching table display or décor can make or break your next party, wedding, or business meeting. Plus, it’s not as difficult as you might think to pull off if you know the right elements to focus on and the right places to shop. This article will walk you through all of that and more, ensuring that your next meal is served on an eye-pleasing buffet table.

Catering Décor That Will Leave Guests Speechless

table setting
A great catering event is not just the quality of food, but also the setting in which you serve it.

If your event is a special occasion or you’re having company over for dinner, there’s no better way to impress your guests than with a beautiful, well-stocked table setting. If you want them to be speechless when they look at your table — and not just because they can’t understand why anyone would make homemade macaroni and cheese instead of ordering out — then it’s time to get creative with your catering décor.

Benefits of Stunning Tablescapes

The caterer’s job is to make sure your event goes off without a hitch. But, one way they can do that is by setting up an eye-catching tablescape. By decorating your dining area with pretty table cloths, fun centerpieces and other decorations, you are sure to create a lively mood. Your guests will also have a more memorable time at your special event if they don’t have to concentrate on looking for their seats!

Tips For Setting Up An Elegant Buffet Table

Buffet tables are a great way to maximize table space and accommodate large parties, but they can quickly go from impressive to unattractive if there’s no effort put into their layout. For example, spreading your place settings willy-nilly on your buffet will result in a disorganized and cluttered table that looks unprofessional. Keep things organized by setting up an elegant buffet table.

Contact us at Inspired Occasions today.

How to Plan a Dinner Party With Clients

friends cheering

When hosting a dinner party with clients, there are a few things to remember.

Etiquette:

You don’t have to go too overboard with being formal. You should watch what you say and who you say it to, but remember that they are your clients and see you as a professional, not necessarily superior or inferior. 

Keep the conversation topics for dinner appropriate and on-topic. Try to avoid controversial issues like politics. It’s better to discuss lighter topics like the news or sports. 

Be sure that everyone is having a good time.

Take Note of Dietary Restrictions: 

event dinner
Private dinner parties with clients are excellent ways to build strong relationships with your customers.

If you know your clients have any dietary restrictions, keep them in mind. It’s not just about whether or not the food they eat is good for them, but also if it aligns with their personal beliefs or health issues that may have nothing to do with nutrition.

Who to Invite From Your Team: 

You don’t have to invite everyone in your office, but the people you choose to invite must be the ones who are related to your client’s business. For example, if you’re working on a project for pharmaceutical sales, it would be best to invite the project manager who works directly with them.

How to Arrange Seating: 

Try to avoid having your clients next to each other if they don’t particularly like one another. If you need to separate them, make sure there is at least one person between them that both sides would be comfortable speaking with.

But do try to keep couples together. This makes conversation a lot smoother.

Use The Tips But Be Flexible

Every dinner party with clients is different. You can likely find a solution for any problem that may arise. Just stay calm, be flexible, and everything will go well!

Start with these tips, and when you’re ready for the experts, give us a call. We’d be happy to jump in and help you plan the perfect client dinner.

Reasons to Cater a Private Dinner Party

reherseal dinners

Many people are surprised to learn that large-scale commercial caterers also do private events. Home-cooked food has great appeal, but the real benefit of catering is having someone else take care of everything rather than cooking and serving the meal yourself.

Here are some reasons why you may want to consider hiring a caterer for your next dinner party.

dinner Starr
 Private dinner parties aren’t just for corporations. Anyone can host one with the help of professional caterers.

1) You don’t have to cook or clean up afterward. 

2) A catering company will usually bring all the required equipment; there’s no last-minute shopping, setup, or clean-up necessary.

3) Catering companies can provide multiple services, but you only have to deal with one company to deliver the services without stress. 

4) A caterer will give a flat rate for their services which means you won’t be surprised when it’s time to pay the bill.

5) If you’re worried about finding enough seating space for your guests, a caterer can provide tables and chairs.

6) A caterer will bring everything needed to serve the meal so you won’t have any unusual items left over.

7) You’ll know exactly how much food is being served, including drinks, which eliminates guest confusion and stress about hitting specific caloric targets.

Choosing a Fun Theme

When you cater a private dinner party, you can be as creative as you’d like.  If you have an interest in food, begin by choosing a theme. 

Some popular themes are Italian, French, or steakhouse dinners. Since they are private events, you don’t have to cater to the tastes of your guests if your menu is something out of the ordinary. For example, most people love chocolate, but not everyone will enjoy mole sauce.

You can choose any theme, cuisine, and your abilities do not limit you as a chef. Plus, you get to give your guests your undivided attention.

Cater Your Next Dinner Party Today

Catering is an excellent option if you want to try an at-home dinner party but don’t want the hassle of organizing it. For more information on how to cater a private dinner party, contact Inspired Occasions.

Having a Catered Thanksgiving Dinner Catered

dinner Starr

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and you still haven’t picked up the turkey. You don’t have much time to prepare, but the thought of trying to cook a turkey for the occasion on your own is daunting. You can’t go out to pick the turkey up at the store because you don’t want to keep your guests waiting. Fortunately, you and your family have the option of getting a catered Thanksgiving dinner. 

Benefits of a Catered Thanksgiving Dinner

Hire a catered dinner and enjoy yourself.
  • Less Stress: The biggest benefit of a catered Thanksgiving dinner is that you’ll have less stress during this major holiday. You’ll be able to focus on spending time with your family without having to worry about other things, such as cooking and cleaning.
  • Enjoy the Company of Family: You won’t have to spend time worrying about the food, so you’ll be more relaxed on the day and can fully enjoy the company of family and guests.
  • Decreased Workload: Another benefit of getting catered food is that you’ll have less work to do on Thanksgiving day. You won’t have to worry about set up or table decor. That means you may even have some extra time to spend with friends and family! This is one of the many added conveniences you’ll have when hiring a catering company for your Thanksgiving dinner.
  • Great Food: Imagine the best Thanksgiving food you’ve ever had. Now imagine having an entire spread of it all day long. Most caterers offer many options for you, so everyone will find something they like at your event. And those who don’t want turkey can order pork or beef instead, keeping everyone happy and keeping you from worrying about anything but visiting with loved ones and enjoying yourself.

Ready to plan your catered Thanksgiving dinner with Inspired Occasions? Get started here.

Stress-Free Wedding Planning and Catering

Kansas city club

With the wedding planning bug biting into your life, it’s time to get organized. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but there are ways to make it easier. Stress-free wedding planning and catering are one of these ways.

Stress-free wedding planning is a very achievable goal. These tips will get you started:

No More Stress

the abbott
The best way to avoid a headache is to use a company that specializes in wedding planning with a no-drama approach.

• Write a list of everything that needs to be done and set priorities – Before you can start stress-free wedding planning, you need to know everything that needs to be done. Make a list of all the major tasks and then set priorities and work your way down the list.

• Start by telling your wedding party the plan – Once you have a list of all the things that need to be done, let your wedding party know about it so they can get involved with the stress-free wedding planning. This will take some of the pressure off of you while keeping everyone on track.

• Start making a budget based on your guest list – Plan how many people are coming to your wedding as soon as possible so you can budget accordingly for everything from meals to the size of the reception area.

• Work with experts in wedding planning – Work with a professional wedding planner to help you with stress-free wedding planning. They will take a lot of the work off your hands and save you time by knowing different ways to handle things that come up.

Planning a wedding can put a lot of pressure on the couple and their families. Letting someone take a load off can ease the stress of planning and also guarantee that the wedding will be a huge hit. You only get one wedding day, so make it the best you can!

Running into problems trying to plan your own wedding? Let Inspired Occasions help with stress-free wedding planning and catering that will ensure your event goes according to plan.

Catering For a Stress-Free Family Reunion

Chic and eco-friendly wedding rentals table setup displaying sustainable decor elements and elegant tableware

It’s no secret that the last year and a half has been tough on everyone. With gathering restrictions and no event spaces available, we haven’t been able to spend enough quality time with our loved ones. As things slowly begin to return to normal, and while we still have a few months of warm weather, it’s important to throw family reunions to get everyone together once again. 

Unfortunately, these events can be stressful in their own way. From preparing meals to sending out invites to setting up the event space, there are so many things for you to consider. Thankfully, professional catering and event services can take most of the burden of providing the full experience off your shoulders!

How Catering Makes Family Reunions Stress-Free

By investing in the services of a catering company, you can greatly reduce the number of tasks that you have to complete prior to the big day. These event professionals have all the resources and expertise needed to ensure that your family reunion is stress-free and goes off without a hitch. The main tasks they can complete for you include:

  • Menu selection, creation, and preparation. They can create a menu that reflects your family with family favorites meals, etc.
  • Setup of dining areas and individual place settings.
  • Offering a wide range of décor and utensil styles to suit any venue or event theme.

Depending on the nature of your reunion, there are lots of other supplementary services that these experts can provide. 

cheers!
A family enjoys their long-awaited reunion event thanks to professional catering and event services.

Make Your Family Reunion Stress-Free Today!

If just the thought of setting up and throwing a family reunion gets your heart rate jumping, contact Inspired Occasions today! Our catering and event experts have successfully conducted countless events across a wide range of styles and themes!

Hosting a Stress-Free Dinner Party

Many people love socializing and inviting friends and family to their home for dinner parties. But the fact is that planning, organizing, and prepping to create the right menu can be quite time-consuming. If you like the idea of entertaining in your home, but shudder at the thought of all the preparation and planning that goes into it, you should consider delivery menu options.

It’s one of the simplest ways to serve your guests refreshing and delicious dishes without worrying about planning, assimilating raw materials, and preparing everything from scratch. Leave the dinner party planning to the experts and treat your guests to a unique culinary experience. What’s even better is that it leaves you free to enjoy and interact with your guests rather than be tired out with all the pre-planning you’d have to do otherwise.

Tips for Choosing the Perfect Dinner Party Menu

Professional catering reduces the stress of last-minute cooking, although it is still vital to choose the right dishes for your menu.

While professional catering can take the stress out of the process, it’s still important that you pick the right dishes and plan your menu well. After all, different people have different food preferences, and you want your guests to relish the meal you serve. It might not always be possible to cater to every guest’s food likings, but you can still pick a superb menu that will leave your guests impressed. Here are some tips to follow:

  • Choose dishes that incorporate cohesive, seasonal flavors.
  • Make sure you have some delectable hors d’oeuvres and appetizers, depending on the style of meal you plan to serve.
  • If you have some guests with certain dietary restrictions (vegan, vegetarian, food allergies, etc.), plan the menu to accommodate these. You can order some dishes to meet their restrictions.
  • Make sure that there are plenty of salads to balance out any heavy main dishes.
  • Pick colorful foods, as they will also look attractive at the dinner table.
  • If you do not want to lift a finger at your dinner party, check whether the company provides catering services. That way you can order the food, and they will send their staff to handle the serving, etc. Your guests will be well looked after, and you won’t be stressed in any way during the social occasion.

Most companies will home deliver your meal, or you can pick it up yourself at your convenience. As mentioned, without the stresses of creating the ideal menu to impress your dinner guests, you would be able to enjoy the party as much as they do. For professional dinner party planning services or for a Delivery Menu, feel free to call us with your requirements.