Wedding catering eats up a huge chunk of your budget. Like, the biggest chunk after the venue. You’re looking at feeding potentially a hundred people or more, and in New Jersey, that doesn’t come cheap. But here’s what nobody tells you upfront: the per-person price you see advertised is almost never what you actually end up paying. Let’s break down what wedding catering NJ actually costs and where all that money goes. Because understanding the…
I planned our company’s fall party last year. Got volunteered for it, really, someone asked if anyone wanted to organize it and I made eye contact at the wrong moment. Suddenly, I’m responsible for feeding 85 people, finding a venue, and making sure nobody gets too drunk at an open bar. The catering was the part that stressed me out most. Our budget was $3,500, which sounds like a lot until you start getting quotes…
Look, I’m going to be straight with you about food trucks and fall events in New York. This isn’t going to be some sanitized sales pitch. I’ve spent the last eight years coordinating events in this city, and sometime around 2019, I stopped even pretending that traditional catering was always the better option. Food trucks used to be this novelty thing you’d consider for maybe a super casual company BBQ. Now? I’ve got clients asking…
Went to a wedding last year where the food was so bad, people were hitting up a diner afterwards. The couple spent $28,000 on their reception. The chicken was dry, the sides were cold, and half the guests left hungry. Then I went to another wedding where the couple served tacos and sliders. Cost way less, and people are still talking about how good it was. After helping plan food for dozens of weddings in…
Last summer I planned my company’s annual party for 200 people. We’re a tech startup in Brooklyn, everyone’s in their twenties and thirties, nobody wanted the standard rubber chicken situation. I got quotes from traditional catering companies—$85 per person, minimum. For mediocre food. Chicken, pasta, sad vegetables, the usual. Then my assistant suggested food truck catering. I’ll be honest, my first thought was “that sounds messy and complicated.” But the quote came in at $42…
My niece is getting married next spring and I’ve been helping her look at wedding catering options around North Jersey. I got married fifteen years ago and thought I knew what to expect. Chicken or fish, maybe some pasta, basic wedding food. I was completely wrong about what’s happening now. We’ve been to six different venues so far. Morristown, Wayne, a couple places near Hoboken. Each one was totally different from what I remember wedding…
Okay, so it’s that time of year again. The holidays are sneaking up, and you’re probably starting to panic about your corporate holiday party. If you’re dealing with New York City and New Jersey clients, you already know these people have eaten everywhere and seen everything. They’re not going to be impressed by the same tired spread everyone else is serving. I’ve watched too many companies blow their holiday catering budget on fancy venues while…
Oh god, they asked you to plan the company event, didn’t they? And now you’re sitting there wondering how the hell you went from being good at spreadsheets to suddenly being responsible for feeding 200 people without poisoning anyone or blowing the entire quarterly budget. Welcome to the club – we’ve all been there, and it’s exactly as terrifying as it seems. But here’s the thing – you’re not actually supposed to become an event…
Catering sucks. Let’s just be honest about that. You order food for an event, it shows up late and cold, half the stuff is wrong, and you spend your entire party apologizing to people about the food instead of actually enjoying yourself. I’ve been through this enough times to know that traditional catering is basically a gamble you’re probably going to lose. Then someone told me about mobile catering, and I thought it was just…
The morning light is just breaking over the horizon as I pull up to Peterson Family Farms. It’s barely 6 AM, but Ellie Peterson has already been up for hours, harvesting the vibrant purple and white Japanese eggplants that will feature in today’s special at our downtown food truck. “These beauties were just babies a few weeks ago,” she tells me, her weathered hands gently placing them in my crate. “The heat spell we had…