Which venue photos are helpful when discussing catering?
If you have photographs of the venue, it is helpful to see the room as a whole, the area around the proposed food display, and the route for bringing supplies and equipment inside. Showing the surroundings matters more than taking a polished photograph: it helps us plan the preparations for the day.
A floor plan is useful if you already have one, but you do not need to have one made for the consultation. Start by sending the venue photographs you are able to share.
Step back when photographing the food area
A close-up of the buffet table alone makes it difficult to judge how much space there is for people to pass. A wider view that includes nearby tables, chairs and entrances helps us consider the food layout.
If guests collecting food and drinks are likely to gather in the same spot, for example, we might consider placing the food and drinks in separate areas. Discussing the photographs together means the organiser does not have to decide the layout alone.
Two views make a useful starting point: one showing the whole room, and one showing the surroundings of the place where you would like the food to be served.
Show the routes from arrival to food service
How supplies reach the room also matters. Where photography is permitted, views of the delivery entrance, corridors, stairs and lifts help us plan what equipment to bring and how to prepare.
If there is an area that might be suitable for preparing food, show us the route from there to the buffet or the guests’ tables as well. It helps us consider whether the movement of food will cross the guests’ paths.
These paths are what we mean by “circulation”. No technical drawing is needed. A short note on a photograph, such as “The entrance is further along here” or “The preparation area is behind this door”, can make the situation much clearer.
Check permission and access times separately
A photograph of a kitchen or sink does not establish whether it may be used on the day. Check with the venue contact when supplies may be brought in and which facilities are available for use.
For example, you could ask: “We are arranging catering. What time can we enter to prepare? Which facilities can we use, and are there rules about bringing equipment in?”
You do not need to identify all the equipment or electrical requirements yourself at the outset. We work out what is needed for the food and make the questions for the venue more specific.
At HKG, photographs help us plan how the food will be served
When I look at venue photographs, I think not just about where to place the food, but also how to carry it from the preparation area and when to serve it. The movements of guests coming to take food, and the distance from places where people will be talking, also inform the layout.
HKG asks about the purpose of the occasion and the venue conditions, then checks the preparations and equipment needed for the proposed style of service. If photographs leave something unclear, we ask further questions.
If you have not yet visited the venue, or if photography or sharing is restricted, please tell us. Even without a full set of photographs, you can begin with the possible venue, expected attendance and the kind of occasion you want to create.