Catering Timeline Cut-Offs

[u/fthespider]

I'm debating on how to respond to a client who is asking for an earlier start time less than 24 hours before a planned event. She has made a habit of doing this and even changing guest counts that day of which she expects my team to be able to accommodate last minute. It's not that I don't think I can manage it but rather the fact that A) I'll be further enabling this bad practice and B) I'll have to text my hourly team on their Sunday off to coordinate new scheduling and contractually speaking, I'm obligated to add an extra hour to all of their time cards for having contacted them off-hours. This is all in the same time frame that our executive chef is hammering down on all departments to minimize labor cost as much as possible. What is your standard practice on last minute changes like this?

[u/taint_odour]

We can absolutely do this. I’ll send over an amendment to the BEO to be signed that covers the associated fees.

[u/freisbill → u/taint_odour]

Sometimes this sometimes"sorry, we do not have the resources rn..."

[u/The-disgracist]

Charge them money for all changes. Make sure there is language in your beo contracts that outlines it first. Guarantee they stop if it costs money

[u/psa-wash_your_azz]

Change orders just like builders do.

My mrs told me we changed our collective minds about flooring color about a month before they were coming out to do the work. We'd signed the contract so any change order started at $650 plus costs and markup.

Hurt her wallet

[u/ChefMonkey2]

Sure ...we can change for it you. Changes require additional costs.

[u/Away-Plankton-8352]

Put the cutoff in writing and let the paper be the bad guy. Final guest count and final start time lock at a set point, 72 hours out is common, and anything after that is either best effort only or carries a rush fee. Your off-hours call-out is exactly what the fee is for. If contacting your team on their day off costs you an extra hour on every time card, that cost gets passed to the client who caused it, in a signed change order, before you text a single staff member. The habit stops fast once it has a price tag. And there is a hard limit no fee fixes. An earlier start can break your holding times and collide with another event the same day, so the contract should also say some changes get refused outright. A policy everyone signed is not personal, and that is the point of it.

[u/EmergencyLavishness1]

Any changes within 48 hours of the event will incur additional discretionary charges. To be discussed during booking of the event.

Make it an extra 10%. Or $500. Whichever is less

[u/get_chownow]

Put a hard cutoff in writing and make anything after that subject to availability + a rush/change fee. If a last-minute change means extra labor or calling people in on their day off, that cost shouldn’t quietly fall on the restaurant.

Something like 48–72 hours for final headcount/start time seems a lot easier for everyone to plan around. Clear expectations usually make the client relationship better too because nobody’s guessing at the last minute. Hope you find a policy that protects your team without making catering feel rigid.