Questions to ask a wedding caterer (and what the quote hides)

The most important question to ask a wedding caterer is what the total will be for your guest count, with everything included. Catering is usually priced per head, but staff, rentals, service charges, tax and the bar can add a large share on top, and they are rarely in the first number you hear.

Questions about the price

• What is the total for our guest count and menu, including staff, tax and any service charge?
• Is the service charge a gratuity for the staff, or a fee to the company? Are tips expected on top?
• Is there a minimum number of guests or a minimum spend?
• How do children's meals and vendor meals (photographer, band) count?
• What is the deposit and payment schedule, and what is refundable?

Questions about service and staff

• Do you recommend plated, buffet, family style or stations for our numbers and venue?
• How many servers and bartenders will there be for our guest count?
• Who is in charge on the day, and will we meet them beforehand?
• How long does it take to serve each course, and how does that fit our timeline?
• Do you clear and clean up, and is that included?

Service style changes the day more than couples expect. A plated dinner keeps everyone seated and on schedule; a buffet costs less in staff but creates a queue; stations feel relaxed and need more space. Ask which one the caterer does best, because that is usually the one you should choose.

Questions about dietary needs

• How do you handle serious allergies in the kitchen and at the table?
• How do servers know which guest gets which special meal?
• Do you need the dietary list per guest, per table, or just as totals?
• What do vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free guests actually eat, course by course?

Ask for the answer as a process, not a promise. "We mark the place cards and the lead server checks each special meal at the pass" is a good answer; "we can do anything" is not. Collect dietary needs in your RSVP as free text, so the caterer gets sentences rather than ticked boxes.

Questions about rentals and the bar

• Which tables, chairs, linens, plates, glassware and cutlery do you provide, and in what styles?
• Do you handle the bar, and is it priced per person, per drink or by consumption?
• Do you hold the license and insurance to serve alcohol at our venue?
• Can we supply our own wine, and is there a corkage fee?
• Is there a fee for cutting and serving a cake from another baker?

Questions about the tasting and the final count

• Is a tasting included, for how many people, and when?
• Will we taste the exact dishes we are ordering, at the price we were quoted?
• When do you need the final guest count, and can it go up or down after that?
• When do you need the seating plan and the list of special meals?

The final-count date is the anchor for your whole invitation timeline. Your RSVP deadline should sit about two weeks before it, so you have time to chase the guests who have not replied.

The per-head price is how a caterer starts the conversation. The total for your guest count, in writing, is how you finish it.