# After Theatre Buffet



## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Hi guys, our local community theater is doing a production at the end of October and have been asked to cater two evenings and then the Saturday matinee and again Saturday evening. I have catered for large parties before - so am not nervous about that BUT do I give them a per head price or an overall price for the 4 performances? Also I don't want to serve just boring old sandwiches and pigs in blankets - This is their first performance and of course if I do a good job - I will be catering all their productions so I want to serve something interesting (bearing in mind the English are not very adventurous with food) and 'different'


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

Ben,
Several questions... Have you talked to them about what they are looking for? You said "after theatre," are we talking about late evening or late afternoon or what? Is this a " dinner/meal or a reception?

Per/person or overall would depend for me on what I am serving and the format.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

sorry pgr555 - should have clarified - just too busy in the cafe at the moment!! This is going to be an evening finger buffet and Thursday and Friday, they are looking for and I quote 'something for everyone'..... 
Then on Saturday - it will be a mid afternoon thing on Saturday and then again in the evening - around 70 to 100 people


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

what price point are they wanting? I start there and design menus with that in mind.....
I'll assume from your post they are looking to you to provide pricing info....but I can guarantee they have a ballpark in mind.

afternoon, reeks of baked good reception with possibly some fruit/cheese thrown in.....

dinner buffet for after theatre here has been chicken white wine sauce, salad....with something fancish on it...., herb rice, veg....last one I did was ginger orange carrots, rolls and butter.....passed assorted bars/cookies/marshmallows. mid twenties, did not include beverages, staff, rentals.

finger food.....nice twists but recognizable.....women's event has lighter fare but some meat sandwiches to fill those not having dinner. Fruffy touches like pink peppercorn over salmon on pumpernickle openfaced sandwiches.....not really my style, I'm more substance than fluff but hey if a sprinkle of pink dust gets the job I'll fluff some.

BIG deal with the theatre here is decoration is almost more important than the food. I've hired in professional decorators to design killer buffetscapes that reflect whatever theme the party has.....theatres are all about theme too, which in a way makes it easy to work on menus.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for that Shroom - will definitely be thinking along the lines of English Afternoon tea with dainty sandwiches with fillings from the Victorian age (They are performing Railway Children) and lots of fancy cakes etc. Also love the idea of open sandwiches and a variety of breads - you've got my imagination running riot now!!:chef:


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Sorry - I meant Edwardian not Victorian! before anyone posts to correct me!


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Still wondering what or how to charge though - any ideas?


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

I reckon they'll love your samosas Bombayben. I put mine and vegetable pakoras on a cold buffet with sweet chilli dip. they are a huge hit. From business lunches to pre theatre. Bombay bridies( curry puffs work well as does chicken satay and thai peaut sauce. You'd think they'd be best hot or warm, but tey work great at room temp. A cheese platter is alway a success with home made cheese scones & oatcakes I always offer home made cakes cut small, Carrot cake is most popular, presented simply in bun cases and a platter of soft fruit cut to managable size & plenty of cocktail sticks.
Sounds like your in for a busy time, best of luck
I know its not very Edwardian but are they really looking for a theme?, or just great Bombay ben food
Apologies if i'm missing a point.
PS. you may be underestimating the english taste... mind you.. they're not Scots are they?


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

How about food cost x 6.6? I assume your staffing will be minimal. I've got no clue what your cost of doing business is in UK.

If you can get your local baker to slice the pullman loaves lengthwise instead of crosswise it will save you a ton of time making finger sandwiches.

Time to go wild with pate a choux. The big sellers here are gougeres and little puffs split then filled with curry flavored chicken salad.

This is also a good time for petite fours. Very simple, very easy, and fairly cheap. All you need:

Jocande sheets
Rasberry jam
Fondant
Simple syrup
Food coloring

Layer the jocande sheets with jam untill you get ~1.5" in height. Don't put jam on the top layer. Cut into bite sized squares. If your jaconde is dry, you can moisten it with a little bit of the simple syrup before layering.

Warm fondant to 100 deg F. Coat with fondant tinted pastel pink. Thin fondant with simple syrup as needed. Decorate the top as you wish.

See, very easy! The only extra equipment you might need is a cooling rack to put the petite fours on while glazing them. You may also want to get a funnel and a pointed dowl to make an erstaz sauce gun. You can also store the uncoated petite fours in the freezer.

The permutations are endless. Good fillings are any type of jam, french buttercream, ganach, citrus curd, marzipan. You can also use a choclate glacage to coat.

2-3 flavors are a good assortment. Typically I'd do raspberry coated with pink fondant, and decorated with piping chocolate. Then I'd add some yellow to the fondant, and dip apricot/almond in the orange fondant and decorate with sliced almonds. Lastly I'd add some blue or green to the fondant to make a sort of beige color. For the last I'd do a coffe, chocolate, pecan, or apple flavored petite four.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

ok.....had some experience through the years with theatre groups.
Watch going with outrageous labor intensive food.....last minute prep.....etc.
One of the key things I do is get all the info, do a site visit...what does the staging area look like, are they suppling props for your tables, who pays for rentals?, who are the people coming....age/gender, how long will they have to graze.....you know shtuff. What time of day....really key.

Then....after you gather that info, talk to them about price points.....no use in planning menus just to have them come in low ball on cost....and visa versa, no use in coming in with a low end menu when they would be paying more.

Always tricky working out fingerfood menus that are actually guest friendly.


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

I agree with shroom about not getting too fancy or too much last minute. A budget will help you see what you can do. I would lean toward nice appetizers for the evenings and i love the tea and finger sandwich idea for afternoon. 

I am about to do open faced "mini sandwiches" for an afternoon buffet. I am gong to cookie cutter rounds of a variety of breads with a variety of elegant toppings that look really pretty & taste good. 

For the desserts I would do things that can be cut small & elegant rather than individual pastries that would be more labor intensive (ie cheesecake, choc ganche bars, etc)
pgr


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Do you guys think that the glazed petite fours would be too complicated? I always thought they were pretty simple unless I had to pipe fancy decorations on 'em. They'd be very period at least.

The place I was at that did them in quantity used this hand glazer that was salvaged from a donut shop and a 1/2 long hotel pan as the resevoir. It would do an entire sheet pan in one swoop. I guess I got spoiled.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

dangit, stupid machine ate a really good post......

easy is relative.....I'd not consider petit fours necessarily easy but then most people would say the same about marshmallows.

fingerfood dinner.....substantial handheld food....samosas, scotch eggs, pasties, shtuff in pastries....ie....puff wrapped around shroom goo or pate, 
fillo, or other dough used to hold goo. I'd remember the vegheads and actually make sure there's a vegan dish or two just for the heck of it.
chinese bun type things....you know the ones that are baked with sweet glazed meat on the inside served at dim sum.

sweet potato biscuits with ham and honey mustard, or turkey and apricot chutney, or biscuits with stilton, honey and toasted pecans.....


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Yeah, I agree with you on the cost of certain finger foods. We've usually ended up buying in stuff like spanokopita because the labor cost is killer.

The technique we've used to make the phyllo things is like strudel. You end up with ropes the length of the sheet pan. Bake those things off and cut as needed. If you've got a offset serrated, you can cut 3 ropes at a time, so it goes quick.

Never thought of scotch eggs as finger food. Do you make them with quil eggs? Speaking of quil eggs, I heard something recently about an app that mushroom caps with a quil egg in the center, I think it had duxcelles in it too. Drawing a blank on how you cook it. I only bring it up since it looks like an eye, for halloween and all.

I really hate hodos with fiddly bits o' garnish on it, cause I suck at it.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

exactly my point in the evaporated post....sometimes finger or open faced sandwiches can have 3-4 components and need alot of fiddling.
and are so unsubstatial that people will snarf with two hands.

Now hand held tarts etc can be made ahead are usually decent at room temp, can be substantial enough for a dinner.....

scotch eggs can be any egg but I use hen eggs (actually small ones) sausage on outside, fried.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Great ideas guys and thanks - I know petit fors are labor intensive but I think for the Saturday afternoon 'tea' I will definitely be doing those with mini apple charlottes etc. Dainty and elegant. I do like the idea of samosas and scotch eggs - Shroom -vegetarian is my speciality so always do LOTS of vege stuf - I make vege scotch 'eggs' - use two mushrooms face to face fill the centre with something nice - cheese etc then usual procedure - cover with vege mince egg wash etc. etc. and fry - really lovely! also nice with regular mince I am going to try making some sweet potato samosas today - Tuesdays are usually slow in the cafe


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Are you talking about tartlets and barquettes? They're not too bad, but you need a bajillion of the little molds to be effective. I'd rather do 6 inchers and wedge cut em. hmmm one 4 incher per person?

I can't believe I forgot veggie platters...it seems like almost every party we do gets veggie platters. My week never feels complete untill I cut up at least a case of celery and 25lbs of carrots. If you can believe it, the most expensive part of the veggie basket, is the kale that gets used to line it!

We also do a fair amount of trade in grilled veggie platters. Sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, assorted bell peppers, red onion. (How do you guys in the UK say it? Aburgine, courgettes, vegetable marrow, and capascum?) Marinate and grill. Cool and dress with a complementry vinagrette. Depending on the party we've added shrooms, tomatos, green onions, and some of the hotter chiles like anihiems or poblanos.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Tincook - I grew up in LA so do understand what you mean by zucchini etc! I am thinking of doing mini tacos - cut rounds out of large tortillas with a cookie cutter and then fry into shape - then I can do vegetarian ones as well. could also use the grilled vege you suggested into 'mini' wraps - the ideas are endless and I am really having fun with this one!! - visiting the Venue tomorrow so will have a better idea of what is in the kitchen!:chef:


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Always a pleasure to meet a fellow Angeleno.

How big is mexican food over there? Anyone doing baja style fish tacos?

Making U shaped taco shells is a PITA unless you've got a frying rig. Its faster to fry the rounds flat for mini tostadas. 

You've still got the assembly problem though. You need at least 4 components to make a decent tostada/taco. You'd also need to assemble on site. It would work well as a DIY. 

If keeping stuff hot is going to be a concern, I've got a couple of ideas with 3 components tops:
The mexican mariscos joints out here sell lots of seafood tostadas. It's pretty much ceviche on a tostada shell with some salad on top.
Also good is a salpicon tostada, cold shredded beef tossed with lettuce, queso blanco, little cilantro and onion, and lime vinegrette. Put that on a shell with a smear of refried beans.

Depending on the filling you can fill ahead of time. And fry as you need them. Think taquito or empanada. If you've got access to masa or Maseca you can make quesadillas that you can deepfry with out leakage.


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## izbnso (May 12, 2007)

Within the last year I did a matinee service for a theater festival centering around Lillian Hellman's *The Little Foxes* (Edwardian). At the time I was living in the small Southern town that was the basis of the fictional setting. (The fun part was that Hellman's family was from the area and everybody knew that all of the people and places were based on real life there. Some people are still a bit miffed about it. Nobody holds a grudge like the Old South!) 

The group I worked for wanted to have the food reflect the spirit of the play. I did petites fours (drop flowers are the best assembly line decorating, sugared edible flowers would be more period), a variety of "finger sandwiches" in pate a choux shells and butter toasted pecan halves with a bleu cheese filling sandwiched between. Don't forget punch. If you are "themeing" punch bowls were in their hey day then. I used a vanilla punch that is 1 cup of thick very vanilla simple syrup to 1 two-liter bottle of ginger ale. It has a rather floral taste to it and is super easy.

I too love Choux and do chicken salad, cucumber and pimento cheese (hey it's the South) on a regular basis and they are perennial favorites served this way. Not too many people in my area are accustomed to choux finger sandwiches. Hence, it has wow factor. And I find that armed with a disposable pastry bag I can turn them out quickly and uniformly, the choux itself and often the filling as well. Yes, ease of prep is relative.

Blind baked sweet tartlet shells might be easier than petites fours. After a tragic love affair with the tin-plated individual tiny tartlet shells in all the different shapes (**** things stuck in there half the time no matter what I did!), I have developed a lasting relationship with silicon mini-muffin pans. Bake a bunch of shells and fill with different fillings for variety. (Lemon curd would be great for period.) Don't forget the disposable pastry bag and large star tip for pretty.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

aw yes the individual tiny tins...PIA with all capitals.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

My last post disappeared so I am going to ask again - I still don't know how to work out what to charge them. Do I go per head or per performance? As they are selling tickets - I should have a head count


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Per person works for me, final count due before.....work it through with them on last minute tickets etc....
each performance is a different event.

Bombey what do you usually do?


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

I generally go per/person also, EXCEPT if it is a smaller event that may seem expensive per/person and then go as a total cost. In this case I would agree with shroom, per person is the way to go.

On the food front, it seems a lot of the things you are talking about seem "last minute" or labor intensive. Just my 2 cents to be careful of that.

I think it was shroom again who mentioned grilled veggie platters. I do a very popular "antipasti" that is marinated veggies (and can have cheeses, meats etc). Asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, mozzarella, tuna, olives, beets, etc. The colors are beautiful and it always devoured.
pgr


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Shroom I run an Indian and Gluten-free cafe BUT - I am quite well known in my town so get asked to cater a lot of events. Doing a wine tasting in November - that should be fun - I will post a list of wines before the event so we can all have our 2 cents worth!

Pgr555 - thanks for that - I will be definitely be doing something like that - Although I am going to stick to my guns about the Saturday afternoon 'Engilsh afternoon tea' - too irresisttible - I'll just have to do the work!


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

Yeah, I agree about the tea... but it is only 1 of the 3, right?
pgr


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

if you start catering alot then look at Liana's advice on contracts....very similar to mine. Make sure you have a final count date......
always iffy with theatre groups. 

Glutin free....great! one of my dear friends and neighbor who's office is 10 steps below my kitchen has severe celiacs....I made lunch for them today.

butternut soup 
lardons and croutons on side (for vegheads, celiacs, kosher)
sliced tomatoes with vinagrette, pinenuts
scallion pepper biscuits (got glutin)
roasted pears with honey, butter pecans and caramel sauce drizzle at the end.
tea...

Essentially used product in the kitchen for building lunches, took 65 minutes to hammer out and setup. whew.
I just finished her 50 birthday party with NO glutin anywhere.....
would so love some bread ideas.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

yes it is! - this is an Army town and we get a lot of 'upper class' officer's wives at this kind of event so the afternoon tea will go down well


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks izbnso - lots of good ideas - like the fresh flowers thing and me too - definitely silicone for baking!


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

I am GF and my mentor and former catering partner is celiac and was one of the 1st to write a GF baking book... Don't want to advertise, but would be glad to send peope the info. Many Borders and Amazon carry i and i use it often - great book. She is now doing R & D for a GF food company developing recipes. 
When is the event BeN?


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

October 23 and 24 & 25 - I think! I have a good recipe for GF bread and do GF sandwiches in the cafe - also do GF English muffins and burgers. GF fish & chips are an absolute runaway - some people tell me they haven't eaten fish & chips for 15 years!! - would like to open my own restaurant but the banks in this country suck!!!!


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Sorry for not replying earlier!! - say hi to LA for me - somewhere else on this forum you posted in-and-out burger - man I miss that! and also Tito's Tacos on Washington (as far as I can remember) and Dhabba in Santa Monica and Cuban food - can't get it here- I would love to come back to LA!! - Anyhoo - I am not sure what is happening in London at the moment - I haven't been there for a while but Mexican food sort of comes and goes over here - baja style fish tacos? - can you elaborate? I will see about making tostadas - does sound like a better idea than tacos - but again would need 'assembly' maybe empanadas and quesadillas


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

from liana in "what can go wrong thread...."
My contracts always are very clear

1) A 50% deposit is required at the acceptance of this event plan. The remaining balance is due one week prior to the event. This protects me from the jerks who request upgrades late in the game and then refuse to pay for them.
Any balances due either party will be settled within seven days after the event. Deposit is non-refundable.

2) Rental equipment: Any breakage or loss by guests will be billed at replacement cost.

3) Any balance due or credit owed to the client after the event must be paid within 5 business days

4) Guest count: We require a guaranteed minimum guest count five working days prior to your event. After this date we cannot accept a decrease. However, we will do our best to accommodate an increase if notified within 48 hours of the event.

5) The length of the event is ( ) hours. An event lasting longer will incur an hourly charge of ($ )

May sound tough, but my clients accept and respect this, as they know it all from the beginning.

Good luck to all of you, especially the beginners.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for that Shroom - I already have those in place - I have been catering for a while now - but never done an after theater so wasn't sure whether to charge per head or per event. It is only a small community event and they are charging £7.00 per head - to include the buffet!! - I'm not sure that they will make money as I am looking at atleast £3.00 per head for anything decent!


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

This looks very similar t what i have... only missing the length of event. I have put in in to individual contracts at times when it was applicable. Because I do so many events in the same venue, the are time limited by nature. The one other thing I include is the "No food taken as leftovers" (worded better than that) as a result of the culture in the venue.

It is helpful to see what others have.
pgr


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

Ben,
3 pounds/person?? Are catering prices much less there than here? That is only $6/person US. I can't imagine the evening ideas you are discussing for that! Maybe the tea sandwiches and petit fors if nothing else... And I am told our area of the US has very low catering prices. Curious what others think?

Not criticizing Ben, just curious.
pgr


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Sorry to sound like Paul Reiser but - this is what I am saying!


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

Sorry Ben, Didn't uderstand... you are saying what?
pgr


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

saying that if out of the £7.00 per ticket - they are also planning to pay for catering - it is not going to be enough!! unless they have set ASIDE money for food and the £7.00 is purely for the performance


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

Oh, OK... now I feel better 
pgr


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

or maybe cookies and punch are enough. It's worth asking what they are budgeting per person for food. I get straight answers when I ask.

Remember there are beverage costs, staff wages (mine are paid well for 4 hour minimum) , decorating..... with theatres we many times hit their prop room, napkin/plates/cups.....linens, table rentals, ice....etc.....

Last year's theatre event was $22pp for fingerfood.....they provided wine/glasses/rentals. I provided decoration, 3 staff, sodas/sparkling waters....menu is in halloween hodos I believe.

if $6 is their budget maybe petit fours and tea are about all they get.


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## tessa (Sep 9, 2007)

somebody mentioned using shrooms in a vege basket , i had never heard of them before so googled it and it told me they were psychodelic mushrooms , so why would you used magic mushrooms ????


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Tessa, we put sauteed shiitakes on our vegetable platters.
Shroom is a nickname for mushroom, not all shrooms are psycho....some are edible. I chose the name shroomgirl years ago because mushroom girl did not sound as good.


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## tessa (Sep 9, 2007)

that makes sense 
it just sounded kinda strange after i had googled it :lol::lol:


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

googling shroom.....hmmmm....

4 events, 70-100 guests.....low budget, but 4 events.....if you can be sorta vague on the menus and pull what you have inhouse that makes it more profitable.....or just using the same products throughout the 4 events.

so say 4x$6 x 70-100......$1700-$2400....same beverages, plastic cups/paper napkins...plates will only be loaded up. short amount of time....
staffing...man alive my staff would just eat up that money in 4 events....
food, decor, serviceware, beverages....then staff to man it all.....3 at the least per event. that would be in the $1000-1200 ballpark just in staff.

That would be an interesting exercise, we used to play like that on cheftalk 
all the time.


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Well after all the debate & discussion - these people are going to 'do our own' catering!! - thanks for all your ideas which have been neatly filed away for use at a later date!! - This has been one GIANT learning curve!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

consider it a blessing.....


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## pgr555 (Aug 3, 2007)

I'm with Shroom... I just keep wondering if the learning curves ever end or if the road curves for ever and that is what keeps it all interesting. Sometimes I could do with a little less interest!
pgr


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## bombayben (Aug 23, 2007)

Yup! - now that I have done some digging - I found out from local businesses that they are not very good at paying either! (although I always ask for a 50% deposit - no matter how small the job - I have been stung too many times) well as I said before - not only have I learnt a thing or two from this experience but I have learnt a LOT from this forum! - thanks you once again for all your input!

Lizz


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