A call comes in on Wednesday for a Saturday. Ninety people, a venue the caterer has never worked at, and a menu the client has already circulated to guests.
Taking it might be an excellent weekend. It might also mean three existing bookings are worse than they should have been.
When to take it
Take it when the numbers fit current capacity, when the client will accept a menu built around what can be sourced, when the venue is known or straightforward, when staff are genuinely available and when the price reflects the disruption.
When to decline
Decline when it would compromise bookings already confirmed, when the menu is fixed and requires specific sourcing, when the venue is unknown and cannot be visited, when staffing would mean people working excessive hours, or when the client is short-notice because another caterer pulled out and the reason matters.
Ask why it is short notice
A newly arranged event, a caterer who cancelled, an existing supplier who let them down, or a client who left it late. Each tells you something different about what you are walking into.
Establish numbers immediately
Thirty and ninety are different conversations. Numbers determine sourcing, staffing and whether it is possible at all.
Offer a menu rather than take one
The single thing that makes short notice work is the caterer proposing from what can be sourced and produced. A client who accepts that is workable and one who will not is usually not.
Check the venue before committing
An unknown venue at short notice is where these jobs fail. Kitchen facilities, power, water and vehicle access change everything about what can be served, and with three days there is no time to discover any of it on the day.
Confirm staffing before saying yes
Not hopefully. Actual confirmed people. A yes that depends on two staff who have not replied is not a yes.
Price for the disruption honestly
Premium sourcing, overtime, extra deliveries and the cost of rearranging. A surcharge that reflects those is defensible, and one that reflects desperation is remembered.
Take payment differently
A short-notice booking from an unknown client warrants payment in advance. There is no time for terms and no history to rely on.
Get the dietary information immediately
Three days is barely enough to source around requirements, and finding out on the day is dangerous. Ask for preferences and allergies in the first exchange, and route anything serious straight to the kitchen.
Check what the client has already told guests
Short-notice clients have often circulated a menu, published times or made promises before speaking to a caterer. Establishing what has already been said determines whether a flexible menu is even available, and it is the difference between proposing something workable and being handed a specification that cannot be sourced in three days.
Decide a standing policy
A minimum notice period, with an exception process, means every short-notice enquiry is not a fresh debate under pressure.
Publish that you take them
Many caterers will take short-notice work and never say so, and clients assume they cannot ask, which is the awareness gap in corporate lunch orders that arrive after the office closes.
Getting started
Publish your minimum notice, what makes short notice possible and your surcharge, then capture numbers and venue at any hour. SpideyChat for caterers and planners answers from your published pages, and event logistics generally are covered in an AI assistant for venue enquiries. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.