Party Catering in Cornwall

Browse party caterers across Cornwall and enquire directly - plus when a caterer beats doing it yourself, what a buffet quote leaves out, and the things that fall between the venue and the caterer.

Food is the line people over-plan and under-budget at the same time. For a typical 30-guest party in Cornwall, the cost guide puts catering at £150 to £450, depending on whether you cook or somebody else does. This page is the part after that: deciding which of those you want, and getting quotes back in a shape you can compare.

Cold buffet, hot food, or cooked on site

A cold buffet is the cheapest thing a caterer will quote and the easiest to scale: it is delivered, laid out and left. Hot food needs either a kitchen at the venue or equipment the caterer brings, which is the point at which a hall's "warming kitchen" stops being a detail and becomes a constraint. Food cooked on site - a van, a grill, a pizza oven - is priced per head like the rest but arrives with its own power, space and access needs. Find out what your venue actually has before you ask a caterer what they can do, because that answer decides which of the three you are choosing between.

When a caterer is worth it, and when it is not

The honest test is not cost. It is who is available on the day. Self-catering thirty people is entirely achievable if you are willing to spend the morning of the party doing it and have somewhere cold to keep it all until then. If you would rather be at your own party, that morning is what you are buying. There is a middle option most people miss: order the food from a caterer and put it out yourself, which takes the staffing out of the quote altogether. Ask whether they do drop-off as well as full service - many do and few advertise it.

Crockery, glassware and the things nobody booked

Plates, cutlery, glasses, serving dishes, tablecloths, bins, and somebody to wash up. These fall between the venue, the caterer and you, and the gap tends to be noticed the week before. Ask the venue what is in the room and how many of it there are, ask the caterer what they bring and what they take away again, then price the remainder from a hire company - roughly £2 to £4 a head for a basic crockery and glassware set with collection. Ask who carries the cost of breakages and whether items come back washed, since hire companies charge for both.

Tastings, minimums and final numbers

• Whether there is a tasting, whether it is charged for, and whether that charge comes off the final bill.
• The minimum headcount the quote assumes, and what the per-head price becomes below it.
• When final numbers are due, and what happens to the price if guests drop out afterwards.
• The deposit, when the balance falls due, and how much of the deposit comes back if you cancel.
• Whether clearing up and taking the waste away is in the price, or left with you at the end of the night.

Send every caterer the same brief - date, headcount, venue, what the kitchen has, whether you want it served, and your budget - and the quotes come back comparable instead of in three different shapes. Naming the budget is the part people skip: a caterer who knows it will tell you what fits inside it, and one who does not will quote their standard menu.

Figures on this page are a guide only. What you actually pay depends on the supplier, the time of year, and what each quote includes - always confirm the details directly with the supplier.