Working With Event Planners

Event planners are hired by hosts to insure that an event is created and executed correctly. Most caterers are perfectly able to take on the event planner role, but many clients feel better when they hire an event planner. In many social and corporate circles, an event planner is a must. Most hosts will take advice and ideas from their event planner over their caterer.

Event planners help caterers grow business. They will audit and interview a group of caterers on behalf of their clients and the caterer they select for the event gains access to many new potential clients as a result of their performance during the event, in addition to the income resulting from the event. But many caterers don’t enjoy working with event planners since they may lose control of interfacing with the client, which can result in misunderstandings and errors that damage the caterer’s image in the marketplace.

Some event planners really don’t care much about the caterer’s role in the event. They look upon the caterer as almost a necessary evil and may fail to give the caterer and their staff the professional respect they deserve. Fortunately, these “tough” event planners are in the minority. Event planners, on the other hand, are often wary of caterers simply because so many caterers are actively becoming event planners and establishing themselves as competitors. It is much easier for a caterer to become an event planner than visa versa.

Most caterers forge solid professional business relationships and friendships with event planners that result in fast growth and high profits, since most events that require event planners are larger. Other caterers shy away from any involvement in events where a client has hired an event planner, unless the client permits open access between themselves and the caterer. Your relationships with event planners should be based on experiences, not generalizations.