Catering Enquiries: Event Briefs, Quote Approval and Team Handover

A client asks for eight extra guests. The coordinator replies, “We'll check,” but the kitchen treats the message as a new quantity and the driver still has the old loading instructions. A complete chat history has become an incomplete event brief.

A catering enquiry needs a clear route to one approved menu, quotation and set of venue instructions. This guide provides an event brief, a revision log and a team handover checklist. All identifiers, dates, quantities and prices below are fictional teaching examples, not staffing, portion or pricing standards.

Use BotMarketing from the enquiry to the confirmed event

Use BotMarketing to present your catering formats and give the client a shared route to your team. The client can review the offer, contact the company bot and, after approval, place an order that holds subsequent correspondence. A colleague then has an order reference and current instruction to consult instead of depending on the coordinator's private chat.

1. Prepare the public offer. Describe your event formats, service area and quotation process on the company page. Put packages with a defined scope and price in the catalogue. For a bespoke event, invite an enquiry first; do not present a zero price as the cost of the complete service.
2. Give the client a clear entry point. Connect the company Telegram bot and share its link on your public page and in your enquiry reply. For a custom quotation, ask the client to choose Support in the bot, or send /support, then provide the date, venue, guest count and service format. For example: “Send those four details to our bot so our coordinator can follow up with the event brief below.”
3. Collect and clarify the brief. An employee opens Support Requests in the company portal and replies to the client. The team can consult the messages and replies in that section. Give the event a working reference, ask for missing details and share a link to the menu and quotation document. Keep the complete document separately, with its reference and current version stated in the conversation.
4. Turn the approved proposal into an order. In the fictional example below, after V2 is approved, create an item in a service category: “Catering for 72 guests — V2,” priced at $2,364. Its description should identify the agreed scope, timing and exclusions. The client opens that service in the bot or Mini App and selects Order. Do not put private client details, named guest information or restricted documents in the public catalogue. The price must match the approved offer; placing the order does not replace your resource and reservation checks.
5. Keep later changes with that order. In its staff note, record “CT-072, approved V2, menu M-02; next action: check the request for 80 guests” and where the current instruction is held. Send the change response from the order, retain the client's reply and update the note after a decision. Mark payment only after checking it, and mark the order fulfilled after the event. Send the current document to the kitchen, logistics and service leads and obtain their acknowledgement.

This connects the public offer, client conversation and confirmed order in a usable workflow. The coordinator still prepares the brief, calculates the menu and decides whether a revision can be offered. The following sections show what to collect and approve for the actual event.

Qualify the event and venue before promising the service

A guest count alone does not tell you whether you can deliver the event. A reception with tray service, a seated meal and a buffet require different preparation, equipment and service arrangements. A venue with no usable kitchen also changes what can be prepared or finished on site.

Collect these six parts of the brief:

1. Event and timing: date, venue address, service start and finish, setup access, clearing and departure deadline. State the venue's time zone where the team or client is elsewhere.
2. Guests and service format: estimated count, when a confirmed count is needed, buffet or seated service, and whether arrivals happen together or in stages.
3. Venue access: loading point, parking, stairs or lift, working area, power, water, storage facilities, equipment restrictions and the person who can open the site. Verify which facilities you may actually use.
4. Menu requirements: proposed dishes, dietary needs and allergy-related requests that require a qualified response. Do not treat “vegetarian” as “allergen-free,” or promise a suitability claim before checking ingredients and preparation.
5. Scope: food, delivery, setup, tableware, equipment, service staff, clearing and returns. Identify what the client or venue supplies.
6. Budget and approval: budget range, contracting organisation, authorised decision-maker and how the menu, costs and later changes will be confirmed.

Send a written summary after a call. An external document can hold the detailed brief; an enquiry's comment can give its reference and immediate next action. Ask the client to correct missing or uncertain details before making a firm offer.

Wine & Dine'm's briefing guide explains why venue facilities, service timing and a contact who can make decisions belong in the brief. These are useful questions to resolve with the particular venue, rather than assumptions to carry over from the last event.

Approve a specific menu and quotation, then track changes

Make the approved proposal clear about venue, price and scope

The following fictional proposal is CT-072, version 2. It is ready to approve only after the actual menu attachment has item descriptions, quantities, portion assumptions and verified ingredient and allergen information, and the venue and team have confirmed the required resources.

• Event: 18 December 2026, Example Hall, 6–8 pm in the venue's local time; 72 guests, including 60 standard and 12 vegetarian menus.
• Menu: attachment M-02 identifies the dishes and their quantities. The vegetarian allocation does not establish suitability for any allergy; individual requirements need a separate checked response.
• Food: 72 × $22 = $1,584. Staff for the agreed setup, service and clearing window: $360. Equipment and tableware: $240. Transport and unloading: $180.
• Total: $2,364, including all applicable charges in this example. The venue has confirmed that no additional access fee applies to this fictional event. Bar service, decoration, hall hire and extended service are excluded.
• Payment: $800 advance and $1,564 balance. Set the payment dates, cancellation terms and treatment of changes in the actual agreement; this example does not imply a universal non-refundable deposit.
• Access and responsibility: access from 4 pm, service 6–8 pm, departure by 9 pm. The venue kitchen will not be used. The working area, water, power and appropriate storage must be checked before promising the arrangement. The organiser confirms access; the catering lead confirms the team.

Ask the authorised client contact to approve the version, menu attachment, count, total and service arrangements explicitly. The manager then checks the agreed reservation and payment conditions. An acknowledgement such as “received” does not by itself establish approval or that money has arrived.

A requested revision is not an approved instruction

Keep a small revision log alongside the event brief. It should show what has been proposed, what is approved and what still needs a decision. The example below deliberately includes an unresolved request.

The first total is 60 × $22 + $360 + $240 + $180 = $2,100. The approved increase to 72 adds $264 for food, giving $2,364. The other lines stay unchanged only because the team has checked that the revised event fits those resources. This is not a rule that every additional guest costs only the menu price.

Set a practical change deadline based on this event's procurement, preparation, staffing and venue arrangements. Explain who checks a later request, what may change and how approval is recorded. Silence after a deadline does not approve a revision. If a new requirement makes the previous plan unworkable, pause the affected work and resolve it explicitly with the client and team.

We have received your request to increase CT-072 to 80 guests. The currently approved instruction is V2: 72 guests and menu M-02, total $2,364. We are checking food allocation, equipment and staffing. We will send a revised menu and quotation for separate approval; the additional portions are not yet confirmed.

In BotMarketing, an order can hold an admin comment, status and client correspondence through a connected bot. Use the comment for the current version reference, approver and next action, and keep the full menu and quotation in a controlled document. These fields do not provide automatic document versioning, guest allocation or a catering approval workflow. Ordinary messages are limited to 1,000 characters, so a complete run sheet needs another suitable format.

Model a catering service as a service where that fits the offer. The product cart's goods quantity is not a guest-planning system or proof that kitchen and service capacity are available. Someone still has to check resources and give the team an approved instruction.

Hand over one current brief and check that the team received it

The client agreeing a quotation is not the same as the kitchen receiving the correct menu. Before issuing the final instruction, check these responsibilities against the same event and version reference:

• Kitchen lead: confirmed quantities and menu split, checked ingredients and dietary requirements, preparation schedule, packaging and identification. Verify substitutions through the agreed change process.
• Logistics lead: loading list, vehicle and crew arrangements, arrival slot, access contact, unloading route, equipment and return arrangements.
• Service lead: setup and service timing, staffing, menu information, equipment allocation, clearing and who may authorise a change on site.
• Venue contact: actual access and departure times, agreed facilities and restrictions, space ready for the team and who will open the site.
• Coordinator: version sent, recipient acknowledgement, unresolved issues and next check. If someone has an older instruction, withdraw it and resend the current one.

Record acknowledgements with the event reference, version and timing: “CT-072 V2 received; arrival 4 pm; service 6–8 pm; departure by 9 pm; loading access confirmed.” A missing acknowledgement needs follow-up before the team travels.

Use the actual food safety procedures for preparation, storage, transport and service, with trained people responsible for them. A bot cannot measure food temperature, inspect hygiene or establish that a supplier has arrived. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency's allergen guidance covers food business responsibilities, including accessible information for individual buffet items. Check the rules and arrangements that apply in your own market.

Pass dietary requirements to the people who need them, with enough detail to respond safely. Do not collect guests' medical histories or circulate a full named guest list when it is unnecessary for the service.

If your task includes the wider programme, entertainment, decoration and supplier coordination, use the separate guide to event enquiries and approvals. For a meal prepared in the client's own kitchen, see the guide to private chef orders; the facilities and handover are different.

Close the event and keep useful context for the next enquiry

After the service, reconcile what was delivered, any separately accepted changes, returned equipment and the final account. Mark the order fulfilled after the actual service. The initial New status does not approve the menu, and a recorded payment date still needs to reflect a checked payment. Do not invent statuses such as “chef approved” or “supplier arrived” as BotMarketing features.

Keep the organisation's contact, previous format, approved scope and useful venue notes. For a repeat event, confirm the new date, count, facilities, menu and pricing again. Old dietary requirements and an old venue brief are not automatically current.

Ask for permission before sending later promotional offers. The useful result of this workflow is modest and concrete: the client knows what they approved, and each team receives the same current instruction with its own next action.