Policies

There is a $500 deposit to reserve your date.  This comes out of the balance.  We charge a per person fee.  This amount includes the food, china, silverware and ALL linens.  We also include coffee and ice water.  We accept Visa and Master Charge credit cards but checks are the preferred method of payment.  Half the balance is due 60 days prior to the event.  The remaining balance and checks for the staff are due 30 days before the event.  Please be conscientious about paying on time, we promise not to be a week late for your wedding.   Headcounts can be adjusted up or down.  Buffets are very stretchable, and we do allow for 10% over at no charge.  We do not charge for children under age 10, but suggest you have some juice boxes, snacks and perhaps a pizza that we can warm up for you. There is an additional charge of $200 for facilities that do not have a kitchen or facilities that have large flights of stairs. We allow one server per 50 guests plus a lead staff person.  These people are paid directly by you.   The lead person/chef and the bartender are paid $250 per job.  The serving staff are paid a flat fee of $200 per person per job.  This is what is known in the industry as “portal to portal” service.  That is: the service staff come to my catering kitchen, load the van, travel to the event, unload and set up, service the event, clean, repack the van and return to the shop.  This takes approximately 8 to 10 hours.   Washington state sales tax for food and beverage is 9.3%.  Industry standard for gratuities is 18%. We do not charge a cake cutting fee or a corkage fee.  We do supply silver toasting goblets for the bride and groom and a silver champagne bucket.  A cake knife and server are provided as well.  We place a box under the cake table to hold any cake parts such as columns or plastic cake plates that must be returned to the baker.  We will leave these parts in the kitchen for you. We have white plastic icing tubs to hold your beer, champagne and white wine.  We will purchase ice for your event.  If you are having a keg for beer, you will need to have a cooler and ice to chill it.  It is also important to arrange for a pump and keg cups.  Some venues have rules about keg use, be sure to check with your facility.  If someone appears to be drinking too much, we will also alert the host and discontinue serving that person.  Some people like to carry an insurance rider from their home owner’s policy on the event for their event.  This is a fairly reasonable expense and ads another layer of security to your special occasion.  Our bartenders are licensed and insured to serve alcohol.  We are not allowed by the government to purchase alcohol for resale, but we can serve the alcohol when the host purchases it.  This saves you considerable expense.  We do not charge a corking fee.  Some hosts like to have a list of taxis available.