If you’ve ever had to plan an event to commemorate a wedding, birthday, engagement, graduation, retirement,  or any other event, you know how much work goes into it. Besides inviting the guests and ensuring they are comfortable, you also need to prepare food for them.

When it comes to catering, you have two options: preparing the food by yourself with the help of friends and family or hiring a catering service provider.

Most people opt for catering service providers as they bring convenience. The catering service providers also come with their equipment, so you don’t have to hire caterers equipment rentals.

Other benefits of hiring a catering service provider include:

It saves you time and stress

Take another look at that ‘to-do’ list. Do you need the added stress and workload of catering for hundreds of people? That assumes you even have the space to keep, prepare, or cook the food.

You don’t need to worry about all this when you hire a catering company. You concentrate on inviting the guests and finding a comfortable venue for them while the catering company handles the food aspects.

The catering company brings experience.

Catering for large groups of people is unlike anything most individuals have ever done in their kitchen, so even having dealt with those massive family Thanksgiving meals won’t provide the knowledge required to properly serve a large event. Cooking in large quantities is much more than just multiplying recipes.

There are plenty of things you need to pay attention to, and since your friends and family have never done it before, they will most likely fail to deliver the quality of food you are after.

A catering company is experienced and has most likely handled several large catering events in the past. This means that they will know the right amounts of food to prepare for your guests. The result is excellent food without a lot of pressure.

It saves you money.

One of the reasons many people opt to cater the events by themselves is because they are looking to save money. You should note that it’s unlikely that catering a huge event yourself will save you any money.

Caterers get access to discounted products and provide workers to handle the cooking, transporting, and serving of the food, which is all part of the deal.

As mentioned above, they come with their catering equipment meaning that you don’t hire them as you would, had you opted to prepare the meals yourself.

They provide quality food and good hygiene.

These are the foundations of a successful catering company, so you don’t have to worry about the food’s quality, how it’s made and managed from there, or the personal standards/health and safety awareness of people serving it.

A reputable catering company won’t have a problem with providing you with great food. To ensure this is the case, take your time and find a reputable company with a proven record. The last thing you want is to hire a company that will cause more problems.

They offer variety

Catering service providers are used to delivering meals with a variety of themes. Whether you are looking for BBQ style or a German-themed feast, the catering company will give it to you.

The experience ensures that they offer you variety while maintaining quality at the same time.

You work with professional staff.

If your catering requirements involve chefs and waiting for staff to serve directly to your visitors, you can be confident that when you hire them, they will be ready, giving high-quality service with excellent manners and attitudes that will wow your guests.

To ensure this is the case, you should always take your time to find professionals with a proven record.

As much as new companies are appealing as they are cheaper, you should note that they often don’t have the experience, meaning they don’t guarantee exceptional services.

Take your time to find experienced service providers who will give you the excellent service you are after. Remember that you are better off paying a little extra for exemplary services.

Cons of hiring catering service providers.

As much as catering companies bring a lot to the table, they come with their setbacks. These setbacks include:

They come at a cost

It’s true that the catering company brings a lot of convenience and eliminates plenty of stress on your side, but this doesn’t come free—you need to pay for it.

This means that when planning the event, you need to have a budget for the catering company. As you can tell, this increases your budget.

You might think that hiring the most expensive catering company guarantees the best experience, but this isn’t the case. There are plenty of moderately priced companies that deliver excellent services.

To stay on the safe side, take your time to find a reputable company that won’t charge you a lot of money for its catering services. When hiring, ensure that the company has enough staff so they won’t require you to hire additional people.

You also should ensure that the service provider comes with its own caterer’s equipment. This saves you money as you won’t need to hire additional equipment from your local party rentals Rockland.

They tend to make the event too formal.

Most events are casual, and you want your guests to feel relaxed. Unfortunately, this is not possible when you have catering staff members in uniforms roaming around with plates of food and drinks.

As you can tell, this can give the event too formal of an appeal, which might make the guests too closed off and fail to enjoy the event.

To avoid this, you should find skilled catering staff ready to blend in with the surroundings and people. This way, they won’t make the guests too tense and reduce their chances of enjoying the event.

If you want something small and intimate, consider a home BBQ party or a potluck gathering rather than a formal food option.