New Hampshire Wedding Catering

Appetizers and Hors D’oeuvres Catering

Appetizers and Hors D’oeuvres Catering Ideas

When it comes to appetizers and hors d’oeuvres catering, there is never “too much information.”

So we have a little more for you in this post…   

Small bites can be a lot of fun… offering your guests a variety of flavors, textures, temperatures and more.   But there are certain strategies to keep in mind when catering appetizers and hors d’oeuvres  – depending on the type of event you are planning. Let’s explore three different scenarios so that your event comes together perfectly.

The Simple Open House…  

In most cases the least amount of apps you will need for your catering order will be if you’re planning some sort of business/ open house event.   Let’s say you’re opening a new office and are inviting the local business community to come by and celebrate.  Chances are good these guests are not expecting dinner.  These events typically happen between meal time.  Your attendees are most likely going home to eat dinner after your event. 

Your job is to offer your guests a quality, but tiny,  amount and variety of small bites. Enough to get them through so they are not distracted by hunger. Enough to make them feel appreciated for coming.  For this type of event a couple of basic stationary apps are just fine.  Maybe even some simple desserts like cookies or brownies.  Think about options where a small plate and cocktail napkin is all you need.  Artisan Cheese, crudite or maybe some hot dips and one or two varieties of crostinis or shrimp cocktail for example.   Keep it light… your gesture is only to serve to hold them over before their own dinner.  You can keep the budget easy on this by simply scheduling  as a drop off catering service .


The Elevated Vibe Open House, Charity Fundraiser, Networking Event or Cocktail Party…

This next step up event is probably going to mean your guests will be around much longer and “make a night of it.”  Your business guests will let their significant other know… they will be heading to a business event, fundraiser, etc after work and not to count them in for dinner at home.   For a cocktail party your guests may step up their attire and make an evening of it as a couple or group of friends. 

You’ll want to plan to assume your guests will make your event their dinner.  You’re going to want to order accordingly.   This means… you aim for anywhere for eight plus servings per guest or more.    Of course there is a point where enough is enough.  You just have to remember… this will be their dinner if that is the expectation you set.  To put a cap on the amount of apps you order we imagine anything over fifteen servings per guest would be too much.   This is not an exact science.   Every crowd is different.  Certain apps are more filling than others. Some apps count for way more than one serving.  For example… a slider station or grazing table we like to count as three servings into your total number. 

While you can do this type of event as “drop-off catering” with some basic set-up and some sound advice… These larger events tend to be staffed catering contracts. 

Appetizers/ Cocktail Hour Leading up to Dinner…

Any event from parties to business events can be set up with a timeline of appetizers and then dinner to follow. Of course, this timeline is very common for wedding catering.

Appetizers and Hors D’oeuvres Catering Ideas
Julia passing some yummy apps.

When ordering apps before dinner you should be ready to have fun with a few ways to play it.

First … you need to decide if you want to go light, medium or heavy.   We have talked about this a lot over the years.  One important thing to remember is the dinner coming after cocktail hour should help you decide where you land.  For example… if you have a very large buffet dinner on the way… going heavy on appetizers is not a good idea.  

After you decide on quantity, the next item on the list is if you want a combo of stationary and passed, hot and cold? You do what fits your vibe. Our thoughts…  It is more work for us when variety is ordered, but we are ok with that! A variety is usually more fun for your guests. We love to create beautiful displays as the centerpiece of cocktail hour while staff walks around with a variety of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres!

Grazing Table by Twelve 31

Guaranteed Numbers for Catering Contracts

When researching New Hampshire Caterers for your wedding or important event you might run into a policy of “Guaranteed Numbers.”

This is when the catering service makes you guarantee a certain number of guests.

This policy will usually create a certain food spend too.

At times a guaranteed number on a catering contract makes sense.

For example… certain menus must be made in quantities for a minimum number of guests to make the order cost-effective.   

However… you should be careful if any sort of “Guaranteed” number seems unreasonable.   

Technically the only time a number should be permanent with no changes is after the “final-by date.” 

After the final-by date a catering contract should not be modified for a few reasons.

  1. When you get closer to your event too many changes on your catering order could increase the margin of error.  
  2. After a certain point products have been brought in for your event.
  3. Catering Prep may have started.

Another but…  The final-by date should be relatively close to your event date.   Depending on the type of event it is very reasonable to close it off at a certain point.  

For some events… our final date might be only a week prior.  For larger events such as wedding catering where more advanced planning has taken place, the closeout date will be a little further out.  Still reasonable.  

It is important that you’re comfortable with whatever the policy is.  And you will  want to clarify if a particular menu has been given a fair “minimum number” vs… having to commit to a  number of guests so far in advance before you have a firm idea on how large your event will be.   

At Twelve 31 we have a few  menus that require a minimum guest count but we do not stress about guaranteed numbers for catering services.

What to know about Catering Staff for Your NH Event

We get the question often….  “Do you have catering staff?”   The short answer is “yes we do.”  Many of our staff have been with us for years.  But there are things you need to know about Catering Staff as you plan your event.

 

At Twelve 31… ALL of our staff that work our events are employees of our company. What does that really mean? Simply… it means… They collect an actual paycheck for working. 

 

We do not use 3rd party staffing firms.  Mainly because your event… whether catering your wedding, a company party or a celebration of life demands the best we can offer. Continuity and people schooled in the “ways of Twelve 31” are a must at events.  Of course, we bring on new people if we can see they’ll be a good fit. We always pair new catering staff with those who have been with us for years.  Many of our event catering staff are part-time.  Several also work full-time in the food/beverage industry or have previous experience in our industry.   

 

Our catering staff earn great wages thanks to our awesome clients and compensation structure. 

 

For your event… the fact that our staff are W-2 employees of our company means they are covered by our workers’ comp insurance.   It is a serious topic and people sometimes forget about it when planning memorable occasions…  But… Every event creates some sort of liability.  

 

You want to deal with vendors who are “fully insured” of course… That means comp, liability, auto and bar insurance.   You will want to be careful when a vendor is bringing people on as “independent contractors” to work under their (the vendor’s) direction at your event.   Many small businesses mistakenly classify their help as“independent” to get around payroll services and payroll taxes.  This is a big mistake. This practice doesn’t only create a liability for the small business (taxes and penalties for misclassification mostly), but it also creates a liability for you. Yes. You.

 

As you plan your important event it is a good idea to deal with vendors who have their “house in order” when it comes to this stuff. 

 

We are so thankful for our amazing catering team.  For example… The weekend before writing this post we were able to serve 365 at an event in Concord and another 80 at an event in a different region of New Hampshire.  We also had some things going on earlier in the day too!   You can’t pull that off without a great team.

Catering Dessert DisplayCatering TeamCatering Staff

 

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