Question you wished you asked before you booked vendor?

I don't have any specific questions for you to ask, but I'd recommend that whatever they promise you, you get in writing. Even if something they promise is contingent on a certain number of guests or money spent. Trust me, I learned this the hard way!

Whether or not they are insured and how they deal with serving alcohol to keep guests safe, who is responsible if something happens in that scenario.

One interesting thing about our venue (which is all-inclusive) is that they do not allow use of the in-house sound system, as they are a golf club and there will be members there for a portion of our event (in a separate area, which our guests overlook but cannot use - so that may be a good question too). *There are sometimes hidden costs for sound too, like plug-in fees and the like.

We have people attending who are Celiac so we had to be very specific about food allergy stations for meal prep/how the food is prepared separately.

Ask about what the cost does NOT include - like commenters above, set up and tear down, etc. Our venue surprisingly provides a day-of coordinator and they also assist in decor setup.

Catering can happen by

Venues that include food served to your guests plated or self service buffet style part of the package cost.

Personal Chefs or restaurants that will cater to your event based on the guest list and what you choose on the menu to serve. The cost will vary per person. Inquire and compare to know which individual or restaurant fits your budget.

Our catering comes with our venue. In addition to what the previous posters have suggested maybe you would want to ask what their waiter to guest/table ratio is if you're doing a plated served meal and if you want to upgrade the number of waiters what that cost would be. Also, again if you're doing a plated and seated meal, maybe ask about timing between courses to get a feel for how long the entire dinner will take.

Our venue provided the food, so we didn't have to worry about a caterer. But if you are paying per plate for each guest, maybe a question if they would refund you or not make you pay for the people that don't show up last minute.

We had 7 people not show up, only 2 told us that they weren't coming the day before but by then it was too late to change it. Lucky enough our wedding planner refunded us for 5 people.

Time for set up is a big one, and tear down.

Will you get the keep the left overs

I had a list of questions for each vendor before i met with them. so for me it varies i wanted to know certain specific things. if youre looking for a caterer in addition to the below ask about clean up costs, how the food stays hot, delivery fees, when it will be booked, any additional day of fees, do they provide cutlery, what about salt pepper and hot sauce. do they provide take out containers. are they staying to serve people at your venue?

Hmmmm, here are some questions that I did ask - but could have asked right off the hop!

1. How long do you need for setup?

2. How many people will be working our event?
3. Buffet/Servers etc. - if buffet then do they have servers for hire for the head table?

4. When is the last day to update numbers if paying per plate?

5. How many tables do they need for setup?

6. If buffet - do you get to keep the leftovers?

7. Is gratuity included?

8. Taxes included?