Drop-off catering
Catering that arrives ready to serve — trays, platters, boxed meals — with no staff staying on site.
Also called: drop-off catering, drop off catering, delivery catering, self-serve catering, trays and platters, catering trays, boxed lunches, boxed meals, buffet drop-off, getting-ready food, welcome party food, rehearsal dinner delivery.
When couples book this
Usually booked about 10 months out. It moves with your date.
Your wishlist, before you talk to anyone
Questions you can answer early — they become the yardstick you compare candidates against.
What is this drop-off feeding?
Wishlist mirror of meal_role.
How hands-on should the vendor be?
Wishlist mirror of delivery_model.
What kind of food are you after?
Free text — wishlist mirror of menu_notes.
What must the food be able to accommodate?
What to ask each candidate
Facts that differ from one vendor to the next — worth writing down while you shop.
Pure drop, or set up too?
The template's spine — everything downstream (warming, replenishing, clearing) reads differently per model.
What's being dropped off?
What keeps hot food hot?
Plates, utensils, and serving tools
The classic drop-off gap: trays arrive, and there's nothing to serve them with. Asked per candidate — quotes differ exactly here.
What settles once booked
The working details you and your vendor pin down together.
What is this drop-off feeding?
How many people is this feeding?
DERIVED from THIS scope, never the main caterer's count — the anti-double-count mechanism.
Dietary needs and allergies
Self-serve trays meet every allergy in the room — the vendor gets the same rollup the caterer does, scoped to these guests.
How are trays labeled?
When does the food land?
Who replenishes and clears?
The decision that makes drop-off honest: the vendor's brief says what they leave, the plan says who takes it from there.
What time do they arrive?
The time you agreed together, not an estimate worked back from the ceremony.
What times are set on the day?
One row per moment — a serving round, a pickup leg, a person's slot, a set. Each row becomes its own block on your run of show, labeled with whatever you type, so name it for whoever will be reading it.
What time do they finish?
Who do you call on the day?
The name and cell number of whoever is on site — not the office line.
Where do they come in, and where do they park?
The load-in door or dock, where the vehicles go, and who opens up.
Do they need a meal?
Counts toward your caterer's vendor-meal number.
What balance is due on the day?
Your own figure, from your contract — what is still owed when they arrive.
What gratuity are you planning?
Your own figure. It rides beside the balance on the day-of money sheet.
How it lands on your day
Catering delivery
Self-serve window
Trays cleared & trash out
The vendor is long gone by now — this block belongs to whoever the clearing decision names.
Set time
One block per row of the cell's dayof_service_times answer; the row's own label names it, and its `until` makes it a window.
How it’s usually priced
Usually priced per guest.
What your vendor reads from your plan
Book on or off Beetrothed — either way the plan assembles a brief your vendor can work from: the event, counts, menu, service, schedule, contacts.
More in Food & drink
Plan your drop-off catering — and everything around it
These questions live as one cell of a connected plan: your budget, guest list, checklist and timeline all read from the same answers. See the whole board work, or join the waitlist and we’ll write when it’s your turn.
We will write when there is something worth telling you.