This Supplier Spotlight series exists to give event planners a closer look at the vendors who make a venue booking actually come together on the day — starting with catering, usually the single biggest line item after the venue itself.
For this feature, we spoke with a Metro Manila-based catering crew about how they approach scaling: a 50-guest intimate dinner and a 500-guest reception require completely different kitchen logistics, staffing ratios, and timing, even if the menu looks similar on paper.
Their biggest tip for planners: lock your final headcount at least two weeks out, not two days out. Catering teams build their staffing, prep schedule, and ingredient sourcing around that number, and late changes are where quality most often slips.
They also flagged a detail planners frequently overlook — confirming with the venue whether outside catering is allowed, and if so, what the outside-vendor or corkage fee looks like. It can meaningfully change the total cost comparison between venues that look similar on price.
Supplier features like this one are a new addition to the blog, and we're planning to run more of them covering styling, AV, and photography vendors — if you're a supplier who'd like to be featured, reach out through our Contact page.