Clients often ask if they can use their caterer at our Three Trees Chapel venue in Littleton, Colorado. The answer is absolutely! Here are some things to consider when choosing to use your own caterer. These are helpful regardless of what venue you use for your event.
Is Your Caterer Licensed and Insured?
Providing proof of licensing and insurance ensures your caterer is operating legally in Colorado, understands food safety standards, and has coverage for any potential damages or liabilities that might happen. These provisions protect you from significant financial liability arising from damages to the property, food poisoning, or injuries.
What Does Your Caterer Provide?
Often, when clients ask about "self-catering," what they have in mind is actually drop-off catering. In that case, the caterer or restaurant will typically come to the venue to do the initial setup of the buffet and then leave.
In the catering packages we offer at Three Trees Chapel, we've included a number of things in our per-person cost for catering.
- Food: including an appetizer with most menus and use of our chafing dishes (more attractive than the racks with most drop-off catering), platters, and serving utensils
- A non-alcoholic drink station: lemonade, iced tea, water, and cups (drinks are often not provided with drop-off catering)
- Premium disposables for the buffet: appetizer plates, dinner plates, and utensils. (Many caterers will include disposables; make sure you are okay with what they provide.)
- Event staffing: includes maintaining the buffet, refilling the drink station as necessary, cleaning spills, busing tables, transitioning from dinner to dessert, cutting cake for guests, emptying trash, maintaining bathrooms, and helping with packup of decor at the end of the event. (Many caterers may provide some of these services for an additional cost; make sure to ask precisely what tasks they are willing to do)
The Most Important Thing is Communication
No matter what you decide to do, the more you communicate with your caterer and venue, the better your experience will be. Our desire at Three Trees Chapel is for every event to go as smoothly as possible, and the best way to ensure that happens is to have a strategy to fill any gaps long before the event day!