The final cost is the number that matters

I get asked all of time why we do not offer cash bars. My answer is and always will be that a cash bar is going to fall into the hands of either the client or the guest. If the client ends up paying for a consumption bar the costs are dictated by the venue and whatever they feel like charging for each drink or a per person cost. If the client chooses not to pay for their gusts to drink the cost will fall into the hands of the guests. Many guests at a wedding travel great distances and incur large expenses with flights, rental cars and hotels. Spending another $60-$70 on drinks is just another added expense put on the guest for the weekend. We give our client’s the freedom to purchase their own drinks to serve during the reception and in most cases ends up being somewhere in the neighborhood of 60%-70% cost savings for their event. Most venues in this area charge you little or nothing for the venue rental, but they dictate the pricing for the meal costs and for the drink costs. So what might look like a great deal on the front end of the contract ends up costing much more on tha back-end of the contract.  Sure we could make more profit on each event if we decided to run a cash/consumption bar and dictate the cost of the meal as well, but we would also be losing events because we would not be able to accommodate client’s budgets. What we lose in profit on the bar and allowing our client’s to choose the catering of their choice we make up for in volume of events. You can look at our competitions online calendars and see that they have minimal dates booked through the peak wedding season. We have no availability until the fall for Saturday events. We would rather make a little less on the events and do triple the business than have our venue sit empty on a Saturday evening. I drive around on Saturday evenings when I am not here and check on other venues to see if there are events going on and you would be surprised to see empty parking lots and some of the “best of” venues in the area. This is our best form of advertising that we can do and we get multiple event bookings from every reception we do. This year we will host close to 200 events in our venue and I would say that is almost double what our competition will do. My point in this article is to let you know not to be fooled by an initial number given in a quote. when you host an event with us you know ahead of time what all of your costs will be and can plan accordingly. Don’t be stuck at the end of the night with a $5000.00 bar bill. Furnish the drinks for all of your guests for 15%-20% of that. If you have any questions we will be happy to help answer them for you.

Kaplan Catering fruit carving

Looking for that special way to spice up your next event with some eye candy? Let Kaplan Catering create a beautiful fruit display that will have all of your friends talking. These are one of a kind carvings and are created in house for optimum freshness!

Prom season is almost here

Each year we host several proms for area schools. One of the unique advantages that we have here at the venue is two very large ballrooms on two different levels. Our Grand Ballroom is usually setup with tables, appetizers and photography. Our Hawthorn Room has an open floor plan and features a 3,300 square foot dance floor area. We can accommodate 1,000 guests which is perfect for the larger schools in the area. April and May are very popular months so if you are a junior on the prom committee call us today to take a tour of the venue. We give great discounts to our local schools for renting the entire venue and would love to add your school to our calendar!

2013 bookings

There will be a small price increase for 2013 and as an incentive to get your date booked early we will honor our 2012 pricing until November 2012! If you are getting married in 2013 please contact us today and you get our current pricing.

Graduation party special

Graduation is right around the corner and whether it be from High School or College, we’ve got you covered with an awesome deal.  We are offering 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon from 3pm-7pm for just $1,000.00 May 1 – June 30. This offer is good for up to 150 guests and you can bring in your own food and drinks!  We host several graduation parties each year so call today for available dates. 919-845-1802

Featuring Kaplan Catering

I have the opportunity in this business to work with a lot of catering vendors (some really good and some not so good) from all over North Carolina. One of the things that I tend to notice is there is a great separation in not only quality of food, but customer service as well. coming from the hospitality industry in Las Vegas I see catering professionals that take the role as their job and I see catering professionals that take it as their life. The passion that Chef Kaplan has not only the quality and freshness of the ingredients he chooses to use, but commitment to excellent customer service is why he has been able to be so successful over the past 20 years. I see certain caterers that mask the quality of their food with decorations in the hopes of the client overlooking the end product on the table. Some tricks of the trade are to have the meats last in the buffet line as a means to cut costs by having the client fill up on sides and starches rather than the meats. Chef Kaplan always prepares the meats and places them first in the line and cooks 15% over to ensure the portions are correct to the client’s expectations. Have you ever been to an event where there was no food or minimal food by the time you got through the line? I have been working with Bruce for over 3 years now and I can promise you that each event we have plenty of food left at the conclusion. I have also been able to learn a great deal from Chef Kaplan regarding the planning and management of catering an event, preparing menu options for clients and combining all of these to make a lasting impression with all of the guests. 

If you are in need of a quality caterer for an upcoming event, I would encourage you to contact Kaplan Catering 919-846-9808 and speak with Chef Kaplan.