Hiring catering staff/servers?

H2B and I are stuck trying to decide between having a catered sit-down meal or DIY'ing our own buffet. I'd like the 'elegance' of a catered meal but I've got my heart pretty much set on the idea of being able to organise all the food/drinks myself, have exactly what we want and be able to afford to invite everyone we want. The food/drinks costs we can work out but I'd have to hire a few people to warm up food/refill plates and platters/clear away/wash crockery/serve drinks and I can't find any companies that cover Cornwall to get decent quotes from. I found a national one but they charge mileage from London so wouldn't be much good.

I've never had to hire caterers before anyway and don't know if just hiring the staff is common enough to be able to find a local company (have considered using friends but don't know anyone we trust enough that wouldn't be a guest, and I'm not sure I'd trust someone from a college, considering how important it is). Does anyone know where I'd start finding one? And/or how much hiring people to serve/clear would be?

Try a restaurant or an agency- they will have info and expereienced staff - when are you getting married

Thanks, had been trying to find an agency but hadn't thought of asking a restaurant ! Even if they can't help they should know of agencies. Thanks for that, we haven't set a firm date yet, we were thinking of March 2013 but that's looking too soon to get savings together so after changing our minds thousands of times we're thinking either October 2013 or maybe even Feb/March 2014.

A restaurant is definitely a good idea. They may be able to recommend an agency or even let you have some of their own staff for the day. If you find the staff directly yourself you will probably save some money as you won't have to pay for the middleman to take his cut. Try local job sites?



http://wedinlondon.com/

if you're just looking for some people to serve and heat things up then i dont know if it costs much to advertise but studentgems.com specialises in things like that finding students who have relevant experience who want to ear some extra pennies and you can hire people cheaply. im looking at asking one of my cousins of a suitable age if they have any friends who might like to do it in return for some bar money and they can party the night away with us

i would agree, hire a qualified 'supervisor' through an agency, then hire some catering students/waiters etc and pay cash in hand at the end of the evening. - i think you are allowed to do that as long as they declare it.

not sure though - the going rate is about £7 an hour - if you go through an agency it could be anything up to £17 for a waiter/ess

have checked with HMRC and it is fine to pay people cash in hand for a one off. it is up to them to declare their earnings