Most holiday parties are booked in the fall. By the time the calendar turns to December, the Fridays and Saturdays in the middle of the month are already spoken for, at caterers and venues alike. If you are planning one in Kenosha County this year, September and October are when the useful decisions get made. Here is the order to make them in.
When to book
The second and third weeks of December fill first, and Fridays and Saturdays go before any other night. Caterers, venues and bartenders are all working the same handful of dates, so the earlier you commit, the more choice you have.
- September to early October: pick the date, set a rough headcount and a budget per person, and decide where it will be.
- October: get quotes and confirm your caterer. Aim to have this settled before November starts.
- November: settle the menu, the service style and any dietary needs.
- The week before: send the final headcount.
If the date is flexible, the first week of December is easier to book and competes with fewer other invitations. A new year party in January is easier still, and plenty of offices have moved theirs there for exactly that reason.
An office party or a party at home
The two need different things, and most of the planning follows from which one you are throwing.
An office party usually runs over a long lunch or straight after work, and people spend it standing and talking more than sitting. A drop-off spread or a staffed buffet suits that. For a larger company event at a venue, stations placed around the room keep people moving and mixing instead of lining up at one table. We cover offices across the county, including Pleasant Prairie and LakeView Corporate Park.
A party at home is usually smaller, runs later, and the host wants to be a guest at it. A plated dinner or family style service, with staff who clear as they go, means you spend the evening with your guests instead of in the kitchen. That is most of what our private dinners and celebrations are.
If you are weighing formats against each other, our guide to choosing a catering service style covers what each one involves and what it takes to staff.
Getting the headcount right
Holiday invitations compete with a month full of other ones, so expect some people who said yes not to come. Ask for RSVPs by a set date, then plan on the number who replied yes rather than the number you invited. A caterer can adjust when numbers move a week out. Guessing high in October is what leads to paying for food nobody eats.
For how much to order once you have the number, see how much food per person.
Ask about dietary needs on the invitation
Vegetarian, gluten-free and allergy needs are easy to plan for when they are known in November and hard to fix on the night. One line on the RSVP asking about dietary requirements catches almost all of them, and it saves the guest who cannot eat the main course from having to say so in front of everyone.
Where the budget goes
Food is only part of the cost. Staff, bar service and cleanup add to it, and they depend on the style of service far more than on the menu. A drop-off lunch for 40 costs less than a plated dinner for 40 even with similar food, because of the people it takes to serve it. If the budget is tight, change the service style before you cut the menu.
Bar service is the other line that moves the total. Decide early whether you want a staffed bar, beer and wine only, or nothing at all, because it changes both the quote and the timing of the evening.
Start with the date
Everything else can be worked out later. If you have a date in mind, send it with a rough guest count and the venue and we will come back with options and a price. Take a look at corporate and event catering, then tell us about your party.