Your first meeting with a barbecue caterer should always be carried out with the aim of making it clear what your expectations are. This is particularly so if you intend to use the services of the caterer for a major event such as a wedding, in which any errors may not be tolerated. The importance of the first meeting you have with the caterer you have chosen cannot be overemphasized.
The role of the meeting is to establish with certainty that the two parties are compatible with each other. If it turns out that there are fundamental differences between your expectations and what they can deliver, it would be your cue to consider working with another party. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it only means that you avoided spending too much time with a caterer who may not have been the best fit for you.
Make sure you explain what you want the event to feel like
If you are getting the caterer for an event such as a wedding or a large corporate event, it is important that you always make them understand how you want the whole event to feel. For a wedding, for instance, there are some people who would want to create an elegant or opulent mood. When discussing with the barbecue caterer, you need to make them appreciate this, and explain whether or not they can deliver this. For instance, if you want the event to feel elegant, the caterer should be able to provide a service that will match the level of opulence that you are interested in. This might mean making sure that the food is presented in the best way possible, or that the food used be of the highest quality possible.
Find out what their history is like
It is not necessary to find out what the caterer has done in the past, but doing so can give you some valuable information about the eligibility of the caterer to serve your event. For instance, if you are planning a wedding, finding out how many weddings they have served in the past can give you an indication of how prepared they are to work with you. If it turns out that they have done this kind of gig many times before, it simply means that they are very experienced in handling weddings, and will be in a good position to anticipate and deal with any problems that might arise.
Understand how their service is structured
By the time you start discussing the actual details of the service provision during the first meeting, it should have been clear that the caterer is actually the best person for the job. Some of the details you need to be very clear about include how they will serve the food, who will be responsible for buying the food to be prepared as well as the way in which they prepare the food. It is at this point that you can request for any special way of preparing the food.
At this stage during the interaction, you should also ask for a detailed account of how the service will be funded. The caterer should explain all the charges that are involved in the service, as well as any extra charges that you might incur along the way.
In summary, the first meeting is usually not to discuss the minute details of the catering, but to simply make sure that the barbecue caterer is a perfect fit and that both your expectations are clear to each other. The goal is to ensure that if you decide to work with the caterer after the first meeting, it should not be a decision that you regret later on!