Best Way to Serve Guests at the Next Corporate Event
Whether you believe in Santa or not, ‘tis the season’ to celebrate. Treating both your clients and employees to a big end-of-the-year bash to say thank you for another successful year will finish the season off in style, and set the tone for the new year. Before you go to the party supply shop, you need to think about the type of service style you’ll be using.
Serving Styles
Each service style will require different serving equipment. The time of the party will naturally dictate the type of food you’ll be serving, but for most corporate parties, the evening will span from cocktail hour to midnight snack. So you will need to rent equipment that will make your party flow seamlessly from one service to another.
Cocktails and Hors-d’oeuvres
Start the evening off with a cocktail and welcome drink in a separate area from the main meal. For cocktails and hors-d’oeuvres, you’ll need to rent plenty of matching service trays for the catering staff to pass around the room. There are a few practical items you’ll need to make the cocktail hour run smoothly.
Cocktail Hour Rentals
We already mentioned the matching trays. You’re also going to want to have plenty of small cocktail napkins for people to wipe their fingers. Remember to work with your caterer to make hors-d’oeuvres that are bite size and won’t require any utensils. It’s hard to hold a cocktail and cut into an appetizer at the same time. Should your appetizers and hors-d’oeuvres need a knife and fork, make sure you have cocktail tables set up for people to place drinks and enjoy their appetizers.
Buffet Service
A buffet service is a classic and casual way to serve many guests without having to coordinate everyone sitting down at once. With buffet service, guests can eat when they are hungry, or keep mingling if they are not.
Carving Stations
You can break up your buffet table by arranging for carving and serving stations throughout the venue. That will keep the foot traffic to a minimum, spreading out the guests and avoiding the traffic jam that can occur around a traditional buffet station.
Buffet and Carving Station Rentals
Rent matching buffet serving equipment for an impressive buffet. Serving everything in the appropriate dish, with the proper serving utensil, will elevate the elegance of your buffet display. Rent big cutting boards and knives for your carving stations. Rent plenty of matching plates, knives, forks, spoons to keep the flow of your buffet going. Have chairs and decorated tables set up so people can sit where they prefer.
Family Style
Treat your employees like family by serving a big family style dinner. Instead of a buffet, set up long tables, beautifully decorated with big trays of delicious food to pass around. That is a great way to bring everyone together in a more casual setting than the more formal “sit down service.”
Family Style Rentals
Rent long tables and table decorations. Wooden tables are popular for a family-style service, with a simple table runner and centerpieces for effect. Rent benches or chairs, depending on how rustic and casual you want it to be. Make sure you pre-set all the various types of china, flatware, and stemware your guests will need. Although they will serve themselves, they will remain seated, so make sure they have everything needed from the start.
Plated Service
If you’re going all out, a plated dinner service is the fanciest of them all. Work with your event specialists to figure out the best type of tables that will look good in the room. Decide if you need a seating chart, or if you are going to let people choose their own seats. To avoid chaos, we suggest you plan a seating chart, even if it’s having people randomly pick their seat number out of a hat.
Plated Service Rentals
You’ll need tables, chairs, linens, and all the table settings, plus decorations and a centerpiece. If you are unsure of how you want your tables to look, our event specialists can set up a few mock-tables to give you an idea of how each will look. Let us know what colors and themes you have in mind so we can meet – if not exceed – your expectations.
Colorado Party Rentals has one of the largest inventories of the finest party rental equipment in the front range. Make an appointment to talk about your corporate event.