Your Reception Questions Answered!
Not sure where to start? Read below for our most frequently asked questions to get some insight on planning your event.
What are all of my meal style options?
BUFFET
Guests are dismissed table by table by a C&J Catering representative to your buffet. Plates are on the buffet for guests to take and then guests are able to take as much or as little food as they want and are welcome to return to the buffet for seconds!
FAMILY STYLE
Each dish is served at one time so guests are able to pass bowls and plates in order to get the food they want. Guests are welcome to seconds!
STATIONED
Tables are dismissed and guests are able to walk station to station in order to assemble their food or have their food cooked by an on-site chef, pending on the stations you have chosen.
PLATED
Choice: Guests select one of two or three options on their RSVP cards and are served their selected meal during dinner service. The couple tracks dinner choices as their RSVP cards come back and must pass along the count to their planner.
Dual: All guests receive smaller portions of the same two entrees and do not have to select their meal, which means no tracking meal options and RSVP cards! The couple’s final count is passed along to their planner as they would with a stationed, family style, or buffet dinner service.
SMALL PLATES
Guests are able to sample a variety of smaller portioned meals, either passed or stationed, as selected by the couple for their event.
COCKTAIL RECEPTION
Food samplings are both stationed and passed. This choice may be misleading in cost, as you would think less food would be a more budget friendly option. Consider that your guests will most likely be drinking and if your event falls around a meal time, you may have to order more food than normal as your guests will be
consuming the food options as if they were a meal.
What happens if one of my guests has an allergy and how do I make sure my guests inform me of their allergies?
We are happy to accommodate all of your guests with allergies and we want all of your guests to be able to comfortably and safely eat. We recommend leaving room on your RSVP cards or forms for your guests to write in any dietary restrictions. It can be as simple as Dietary Restrictions: _____________________ or asking your guests to call you to ensure you don’t miss any information.
How do I know what alcohol to provide?
Looking to book with us? Ask your event consultant! We are happy to provide you a handy guide that lays out all of the alcohol you may need for your special event.
Can we serve ourselves at the bar?
With our Pennsylvania Liquor Liability Insurance, all alcohol must be served by a RAMP certified bartender. We want to ensure all of your guests have a memorable time (and they actually remember all of the hard work you put into planning for yor perfect day)! We do not serve shots and we do card – we want all of your guests and the property of your venue to be safe on your wedding day.
Do I have to have assigned seating?
You may not necessarily have to have planned seating depending on the kind of event you are hosting, however there are multiple things to consider with this:
- People tend to sit in groups of who they know, which means you will have people moving all of your place settings and chairs which affects the timing of dinner service as your guests rearrange your floor plan, which can also make it hard for servers to get through.
- If there are family members who aren’t fond of one another, seating them far away from one another is an easy and quick solution to avoiding any family conflict and keeping both sides happy!
- Assigned seating makes entry into the reception much faster as guests have a solid direction on where they are headed instead of looking around for people they know to sit with them which gives you more time for dancing and partying after dinner!
Do I have to have place cards? How do I arrange them?
If you have a choice plated dinner service, place cards allow our servers to correctly serve your guests quickly and efficiently. You can signify each option with a colored dot (yellow for chicken, blue for salmon, red for beef) or a symbol. There are a lot of different creative ways to go about this – ask your Event Consultant for some ideas!
When you arrange your place cards, make sure to alphabetize them rather than sort them by table number. It is much easier for guests to search for their card by their last name than reading through every table number.
If you do not have a plated dinner service, you still want to ensure your guests know where they are headed so make sure to have some kind of chart or diagram where they can easily locate their names and table numbers.
How do I choose what food I want to have at my event?
Whether you’re hosting a wedding, a corporate mixer or a birthday gathering, our event consultants are prepared with easy to follow guides. While we do offer easy to plan packages for any event, we also have an incredibly talented culinary team that is happy to custom build any menu.
Starting the planning process can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never planned an event before. C&J Catering is a full service caterer and we are happy to assist you! From our in-house bake shop to our decor team, we can provide you with almost anything you will need and if we can’t, we are glad to refer you to someone who can.
Call (717) 576-1610 to speak to one of our event consultants to start planning your event today!
