A year-end bash for the office. A birthday celebration for a loved one. A fun afternoon gathering with friends you haven’t seen in a long while. With every kind of event, one crucial element needs to be perfect: the food.

When the food isn’t as satisfying as it should be, your event may just fall short of its goals. Whether that’s to offer up your sincere gratitude to employees for their loyalty and productivity or to simply be in the company of loved ones, you need the dishes and the drinks to be enjoyable.

With the right catering, Dubai celebrations will do more than just serve up good food. It can also create an entirely unforgettable experience. But in order to guarantee a great catering service, you will need to consider the following things:

The Caterer

Naturally, you need to hire the right caterer for the job. It would be preferable to get a service that has done numerous events around Dubai. This way, you know you’ll be working with a professional and a company that knows exactly what dishes work best for any type of event.

The Services

Whether it’s an in-office brunch or a holiday celebration, you need more than just the right food and drinks. You need wait staff (in some events, you may also require onsite chef). You need catering equipment. You may even need event management.

It would be advisable to get a catering company that can offer you the required services, or put you in touch with the right vendors for your needs.

The Menu

Every event will call for a different set of dishes. You want your food to reflect what is being celebrated, to complement the season, and to be appropriate for the guests. For instance, a corporate lunch menu might not be the same as the menu for a breakfast meeting.

The Guests

You also have to consider how the guests might eat the dishes being served. Cocktail events will mean providing food items that can be eaten, with grace, by hand. It would be unwise to, for instance, serve Buffalo wings (no matter how delectable) at a cocktail party because it could get messy.

Lastly, always think about what your guests can and cannot eat. From birthdays to corporate lunches, your catered affair should be able to accommodate everyone’s dietary needs. This sort of concern will not only make sure all the guests enjoy the food but also indicate that your next catered event will be well attended.