# First Time Banquet Event for Birthday Party



## jsnipes1 (Jun 3, 2020)

So I’ve been asked to do a a birthday party for a 100 people they will like 

June 27th all white 60th birthday

Baked chicken, green beans, loaded mash potatoes, rolls, fruit and salad table, tea , water, lemonade 
For 100 ppl 

I wanted to know how do I charge them and they are doing self serve everything?


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Are you just delivering and leaving it there? Just charge them $15 per person.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

I would cost if out per person and add your profit margins and go from there.


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## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

jsnipes1 said:


> So I've been asked to do a a birthday party for a 100 people they will like
> 
> June 27th all white 60th birthday
> 
> ...


What state are you in that allows 100 people to get together. I'd be cautious of being complicit in doing something illegal.


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## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

kuan said:


> Are you just delivering and leaving it there? Just charge them $15 per person.


Based on what? How can you provide a price without knowing his costs?


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

capecodchef said:


> Based on what? How can you provide a price without knowing his costs?


Kuan's answer probably took more thought than the original question did. :~)


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Just a piece of advice......if you don't know how to price out the cost of providing food for 100 people, you probably shouldn't be providing food for 100 people, especially if you've been asked to do it by someone you know and doubly especially if that person is a friend of yours. Jacking up someone's birthday banquet is a great way to ruin a friendship. 

So, how do you price it out? Call a professional caterer, give them the menu list and have them do the banquet. 

Cheers!


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## jsnipes1 (Jun 3, 2020)

sgsvirgil said:


> Just a piece of advice......if you don't know how to price out the cost of providing food for 100 people, you probably shouldn't be providing food for 100 people, especially if you've been asked to do it by someone you know and doubly especially if that person is a friend of yours. Jacking up someone's birthday banquet is a great way to ruin a friendship.
> 
> So, how do you price it out? Call a professional caterer, give them the menu list and have them do the banquet.
> 
> Cheers!


I love to hear other people opinions love I know how to do everything I went to culinary but it will be the first time doing my own banquet for this special occasion it's a first for everything I already know the concept I sell food for a living I'm certified to do what I love to do I already priced it at $15 a piece buffet style thanks for the insight though


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

capecodchef said:


> What state are you in that allows 100 people to get together. I'd be cautious of being complicit in doing something illegal.


Yeah you don't want the brown shirts knocking down your door and dragging you off to jail before you can cut the cake.


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## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

Seoul Food said:


> Yeah you don't want the brown shirts knocking down your door and dragging you off to jail before you can cut the cake.


 Hey, don't jest. I live in Massachusetts. Nothings impossible.

A funeral was broken up in Jersy with 15 arrested for Pete's sake. https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending...attending-funeral/YRUOQVYIZZF7FAQRJYQTZY3YDY/


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## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

jsnipes1 said:


> I love to hear other people opinions love I know how to do everything I went to culinary but it will be the first time doing my own banquet for this special occasion it's a first for everything I already know the concept I sell food for a living I'm certified to do what I love to do I already priced it at $15 a piece buffet style thanks for the insight though


$15 for a full chicken dinner with full sides, salad, and beverage, delivered? You really DON'T know what you're doing. You left LOTS of $$$ on the table with that one. I'd do a chicken Caesar for that, but that's it.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

capecodchef said:


> Hey, don't jest. I live in Massachusetts. Nothings impossible.
> 
> A funeral was broken up in Jersy with 15 arrested for Pete's sake. https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending...attending-funeral/YRUOQVYIZZF7FAQRJYQTZY3YDY/


I'm interested to see all the legal cases that will stem from these type of situations.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

capecodchef said:


> $15 for a full chicken dinner with full sides, salad, and beverage, delivered? You really DON'T know what you're doing. You left LOTS of $$$ on the table with that one. I'd do a chicken Caesar for that, but that's it.


I think an important missing piece of information here is the location. I know my wife was getting quotes for a standard fare bridal shower near NYC for equal to or more than we paid per person at our wedding with an open bar, and this was at a nice venue.


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## halb (May 25, 2015)

Seoul Food said:


> I'm interested to see all the legal cases that will stem from these type of situations.


I don't know how they can legally get away with this. Governors don't have the authority to do that.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Prepping and delivering 100 meals for someone who has never done it before, with or without "culinary", even for those who work in the industry, is a daunting task. @capecodchef is right. You have no idea what you're doing. So, my original advice still stands.

But, since its apparent that you're determined to get in over your head, consider these factors when pricing out your services. Each of these factors must be factored in to your fee.

- Where are you going to prep all this food? Do you have access to a commercial kitchen that is licensed and inspected? If you don't, you're asking for trouble. Where is the location of that kitchen? Hopefully at the venue or is the kitchen off premises somewhere?
- Are you doing all this by yourself or will you have help? How many assistants will you have and how much are you going to pay them? Hourly? A percentage? A flat rate?
- Do you have insurance? If someone gets sick, you are the first one to be blamed, especially if your're serving chicken;
- Do you have a supplier or are you hoping to fill your ingredients list at a grocery store or food club?
- What sort of chicken are you serving? White meat? Dark? Both?
- How are you holding the cooked chicken while the rest of the chicken cooks? You can't cook chicken for 100 people all at once.
- Are you collecting a deposit to cover the cost of ingredients or are you laying out your own cash up front and hope your client's check clears?
- Where are you going to safely store chicken for 100 people? Even if you buy it the same day, you're still going to need a place to safely store it.
- Will you be delivering the food? If so, how? Van (hopefully)? Car? Bicycle? How far will you have to travel? If delivering, how much travel time? Is the delivery vehicle your own or will you have rent/borrow?
- What is your prep plan? Par cook the chicken off sight and finish on site? If so, how? Gas grills? Finish it off site and deliver?
- What's you plan for the loaded mashed potatoes? What's your plan to keep them from turning into a brick of starch and cheese? Hotel pans? Have you figured out the amount of ingredients to make the loaded mashed other than the potatoes? 
- Will you have anyone attending the "self serve station" or will the guests be on their own?
- Will you have servers to fill glasses or are you going to set up a Gatorade coolers with lemonade, ice tea and coffee and set some Dixie Cups next to them?
- Plates, glasses, knives, forks, spoons, coffee cups, table cloths, napkins - who's supplying these and who's setting it up or will it be paper plates and plastic utensils?
- Cleanup? Who's doing that?
- Lastly, most importantly, what is your time worth? What are your profit margins going to be?

How much of the prep and service equipment do you own? Place settings, napkins, glasses, table cloths, hotel pans/chafers, sterno, serving utensils etc? If you own these items or somehow have free access to them, then, that reduces the cost considerably. If you don't have them, then what?

Good luck.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

cheflayne said:


> Kuan's answer probably took more thought than the original question did. :~)


50 Costco chickens, 2 bags of instant potato buds, 1 can of baco bits, sprinkle of cheese and green onions, 4 cans of green beans. 2 bags LCR. Actually the fruit is probably going to be the most expensive.


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

halb said:


> I don't know how they can legally get away with this. Governors don't have the authority to do that.


Yes I hope some people take a good look at this and how states can seemingly become dictatorships indefinitely in the name of "public safety".


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

sgsvirgil said:


> Prepping and delivering 100 meals for someone who has never done it before, with or without "culinary", even for those who work in the industry, is a daunting task. @capecodchef is right. You have no idea what you're doing. So, my original advice still stands.
> 
> But, since its apparent that you're determined to get in over your head, consider these factors when pricing out your services. Each of these factors must be factored in to your fee.
> 
> ...


This is why I hated catering. I felt more of my time was collecting utensils and working out logistics than actually cooking.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Seoul Food said:


> This is why I hated catering. I felt more of my time was collecting utensils and working out logistics than actually cooking.


Indeed. Way back when, we tried catering for a little while like some restaurants do, mostly weddings etc. We knew what we were getting int.o We had the staff, the equipment and the gear to do it. Between the impossible brides maids and their mothers and dealing with all the place settings, glassware and countless other odds-n-ends, we stopped after about 18 months. We made some decent money doing it. But, it wasn't enough to deal with the headaches.

Cheers!


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

sgsvirgil said:


> Prepping and delivering 100 meals for someone who has never done it before, with or without "culinary", even for those who work in the industry, is a daunting task. @capecodchef is right. You have no idea what you're doing. So, my original advice still stands.
> 
> But, since its apparent that you're determined to get in over your head, consider these factors when pricing out your services. Each of these factors must be factored in to your fee.
> 
> ...


Thats an awesome post Virgil. Flesh it out a bit and you'll have like a mini book on catering!

A few thoughts, I concur that 15 per head is too low for a full on meal for 100, regardless of specific incurrances, even more so as buffet service, and especially that its chicken. 
I also think 50 full chickens is double what youll need for 100 peeps. 
IMO, weddings are in a class of their own, theyre way too emotionally charged with, usually, too many fingers mucking up the pie. As a rule, birthday parties are much more laid back. 
I typically did chicken parties by pre baking (usually day before)
to a certain degree (past the danger point), cool then refrigerate, 
transport, and finish on site, usually with a gas grill. 
Its a far better experience for the guests, the can see and smell what youre doing, and especially for chicken it seems to put them at ease. 
2 full size sheet pans will handle enough chicken for one hundred BTW.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

Not to change the subject, but, don't ya'll just love it when a new person, especially a novice, joins the forum and when they don't like the answers they get, they pull a Claude Rains?


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

I guess I could have been a bit nicer.


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## sgsvirgil (Mar 1, 2017)

kuan said:


> I guess I could have been a bit nicer.


Lol.....no, its not you, well, at least, not this time. I think this one belongs to me. ;-)

But, this is happening a bit more often. I think people have gotten to the point where they only want to be told things they want to hear. Few people can deal with hard truths. That's not a good characteristic in a profession such as this.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

jsnipes1 said:


> I wanted to know how do I charge them


Maybe the answer they were looking for was "write an invoice and present it upon delivery of food".


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## ShelteredBugg1 (May 1, 2019)

What was the outcome of the banquet like?


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

ShelteredBugg1 said:


> What was the outcome of the banquet like?


OP said it was for June 27th, so tomorrow.


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