Front-of-house event staff: waiters, bartenders, hosts

In short

• Staff are often included for a set number of hours: ask how many people, in which roles and for how many hours.
• The format decides the number: a seated dinner needs more people than a buffet.
• Bartenders, hosts and cloakroom can come from the caterer, the venue or an agency.
• Get the cost of an extra hour in writing, and who authorises it.

You see the food; you feel the service. A good buffet with too few people running it turns into a queue. A seated dinner with the right number of waiters flows without anyone noticing. This guide explains which roles an event needs, how to request them in the quote and what to check.

The service roles

Not every event needs all these roles. A birthday at home can work with two people. A seated wedding for many guests needs a full team.

How many people you need

We don't give fixed numbers, because they depend on too many variables:

• the format: seated dinner, buffet, standing cocktail, family style (sharing dishes in the middle of the table);
• the number of courses and wines;
• the space: distance between kitchen and tables, stairs, terraces, gardens;
• timing: a fast service needs more hands;
• the guests: children, elderly people, anyone who needs help.

The guide on how many waiters you need goes into detail by format. What matters here is one thing: ask the caterer how they arrive at their number. If two quotes give very different numbers for the same event, one of them has misunderstood the format or the space.

How to request them in the quote

Staff are one of the vaguest items in quotes. "Service included" can mean very different things. Ask for the quote to state:

• number of people per role (waiters, maître, cooks, bartenders);
• arrival and finishing time for each role;
• hours included and when they start counting (from arrival at the venue or from the start of service);
• cost of an extra hour per person or per team;
• any surcharges for public holidays, nights, distances;
• staff meals: whether they need to be provided and who pays.

To read the items properly, see how to read a catering quote.

Included hours and overtime

Weddings and parties tend to run late. The cake cutting slips, guests dance, nobody wants to leave. Staff, however, work set hours.

Before the event, decide:

• until what time you want service;
• who can authorise overtime on the night (you, a parent, the wedding planner);
• how it is counted: by the full hour, by the half hour, per person.

Also bear in mind the venue's closing time: there is no point paying extra hours if you have to leave at 1am anyway. We explain this in the guide on cleaning and breakdown.

Bartenders and open bar

If there is an open bar after dinner, you need at least one dedicated bartender. Those serving at the tables cannot make cocktails too. Ask whether the bartender is the caterer's or from an outside supplier, how many hours they work and whether they bring the counter, ice and equipment. The formats are in the guide to the wedding open bar.

Hosts and welcome

At corporate events and conferences, welcoming guests is a service in itself: registration, badges, directions, looking after speakers. It is often a hosting agency separate from the caterer. Coordinate the timing: the welcome coffee must be ready when guests come out of registration. For large numbers, read the guide to conference catering in Rome.

Cloakroom

In winter, with many guests, a cloakroom avoids coats on chairs and bags on the floor. Ask:

• who runs it: caterer, venue or agency;
• where it is and whether it is a closed area;
• how items are handed in and collected (numbers, tickets);
• who is responsible if something goes missing.

Properly employed staff

The people working at your event must be employed according to labour rules. It is not something you can check in detail, but you can ask the caterer how they hire extra staff for events and whether they have insurance covering injury to people and damage to property during service. Rules on contracts and insurance change over time: if in doubt, ask a consultant.

Dress and style

Staff appear in every photo. Ask how waiters and bartenders dress and whether it can be adapted to the style of the event. At an informal terrace party a simpler uniform works better than a jacket and bow tie. At a gala dinner the opposite is true.

The briefing before service

Good service starts before the guests arrive. Ask the caterer whether they brief their staff: who is at the couple's table, which tables have allergies or special diets, when the speeches are, who the other suppliers' contacts are. If you can, introduce yourself to the maître and give them the name of a trusted person to turn to during the evening, so you don't have to.

Questions to ask the caterer

• How many people do you plan, for each role?
• How did you calculate this number?
• What time do they arrive and until what time do they stay?
• When do the included hours start counting?
• How much does an extra hour cost? Who can authorise it?
• Is there a maître acting as the contact person for the whole evening?
• Is the bartender yours? Do they bring equipment and ice?
• Do you offer hosts and a cloakroom, or should I find them elsewhere?
• Do staff meals need to be provided?

To finish

The right staff go unnoticed: that is the sign the service works. Ask for the details, with roles and times, and compare the numbers across several quotes. For all the other items around the food, read the guide to catering add-on services.

For work events, see the corporate caterers. When you know guests, format and times, request a quote and ask for staff to be listed role by role.