Introduction: Turning Celebrations into Culinary Experiences
Crazy Dutchman Catering caters events of all types and sizes, from a 20-person bachelor party to 200-person birthday party or a 1,000-person corporate fundraiser. Keep reading to find out more about private event catering and some tips on how to plan the perfect event, no matter the size or occasion!
Why Great Catering Elevates Any Private Event
By having your event catered, you’re reducing the work and stress for yourself or the host. No cooking and minimal clean up? Sign me up! Having your party catered can also mean that you get to experience a taste of Charleston without having to experience Charleston traffic. At Crazy Dutchman Catering, we’ll help you build a custom menu to perfectly suit your event and budget. However, we do have food service minimums due to recipe yields and case sizes, so we typically recommend reaching out to a private chef if your party is under 15 people.
Types of Private Parties That Deserve Great Catering
Every party deserves to have good food. No matter the occasion, we can help you come up with a menu that your guests will rave about for weeks.
Birthdays, Anniversaries, Retirements, and Milestones
We’ve catered everything from 90th birthday parties to retirement parties to graduation parties. Customize your menu to fit your theme or the guest of honor. Buffet style tends to work best for these types of parties but if you have a larger group or space, a stations style menu would work well, too!
Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties
For a Bachelor Party, the go-to is a Lowcountry Boil. If you’ve never had a Lowcountry Boil before, it’s shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes with blackening seasoning (we have our own signature blend). We always recommend cooking the boil on site in order to get the best flavor and texture. Some folks even customize the shrimp boil by adding snow crab clusters or mussels. Our staff will take care of setting up the buffet and cooking the Lowcountry Boil to perfection while you can spend time with your guests!
Grazing boards and heavy hors d’oeuvres are perfect for a Bachelorette Party with “Girl Dinner” vibes. Just pick one entrée, a grazing board, and a few of our appetizer options for a plentiful spread that all of your guests can enjoy!
Rehearsal Dinners & Welcome Parties
Rehearsal Dinners and Welcome Parties are both really important events when it comes to the wedding weekend. Either event can be as casual or as formal as you’d like to make it, but they are a wonderful way to thank your bridal party and out of town guests for being a part of your wedding.
We recommend knowing what the wedding menu will be like before you begin planning the Rehearsal Dinner or the Welcome Party. You always want to make sure that you’re not showing up or outdoing the wedding! In recent years, it’s become common to combine the Rehearsal Dinner and Welcome Party into one event. For more information and tips, see our blog post!
Fundraisers, Holiday Parties, and other Corporate Events
Crazy Dutchman Catering also caters all kinds of corporate events! We can do anything from small, 20-person sales meetings to an oyster roast for 1,000 people.
We don’t do boring boxed lunches – instead, we have a variety of menus to choose from that will make your team look forward to meetings.
We’ve even catered multiple meals a week with a different menu each day and we’ve also catered multiple shifts and meals in one day!
For big events like Grand Openings or Fundraisers, we can put together a stations-style menu that encourages mingling and conversation. If it’s the right time of year (October to March), we can even add on an oyster roast for an added level of interactivity.
For large events with 200+ people, we recommend sticking with a simple buffet menu that we can easily duplicate in the event space to spread out the guests amongst the space.
Creative Catering Concepts That Impress Guests
Lowcountry Boil
Lowcountry Boil, otherwise known as Frogmore Stew, or Beaufort Stew is a classic Lowcountry dish. It’s shell-on shrimp, sausage, fresh corn on the cob and potatoes cooked in seasoning and served with our homemade cocktail sauce. At Crazy Dutchman Catering, we will always send a staff member on events with Lowcountry Boil so they can cook it on site – the way it was meant to be served. Lowcountry Boil is perfect for a variety of events with a more casual feel.
Oyster Roasts
Harvested fresh from local Charleston waters, our oysters have a more briney flavor compared to Virginia Oysters. Charleston oyster season is typically October through mid-March. Our oyster roast service includes everything you need – oyster tables, barrels, knives, towels, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, lemons, and crackers. You bring the guests and we’ll provide the rest! In addition to the oysters, we have several buffet menus that pair well together with the oysters, making sure you have something for everyone to enjoy.
Oyster roasts are great for any event where you really want your guests to socialize. They’re perfect for Rehearsal Dinners if it’s the right time of year, as a way to introduce both sides of your extended family and friends to each other for the first time. Why not break the ice over a delicious Charleston tradition?
Buffet-Style for Structured Events
At Crazy Dutchman Catering, we offer two types of service styles: Buffet and Stations. The main difference between the two styles is the plate size. Buffet style uses dinner-sized plates (about 10” in diameter), while Stations-style uses smaller, appetizer-sized plates (about 7.5” in diameter). For a more in-depth look at the difference, check our blog!
Buffet-style catering is better suited for events that have more structure – you expect everyone to eat at a designated time before moving on to the next portion of the event. A buffet doesn’t have to be casual because you can choose higher-end dishes if that’s what you’re going for. For example, you could have a pulled pork bbq-themed buffet or you could have a buffet with beef tenderloin and shrimp and grits. It’s completely up to you! Buffets are incredibly versatile, working well in smaller spaces or in larger ones.
Stations-Style for Mingling Events
Stations-style menus are perfect for events that you want to have a more cocktail feel. The spread out stations encourage mingling and conversation. Say you’re having a fundraiser with a silent auction – you could alternate between auction displays and food stations, giving your guests the ability to peruse the items while trying food from each station! At stations-style events, you can also offer guests a variety of options. Each station can be designed as a mini-meal so there’s something for everyone!
Grazing Tables
Grazing tables are very popular at all sorts of events for a reason! They look amazing and give a more snacking option if that’s the feel you’re going for. We offer a grazing table filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, and spreads as well as several smaller display options if you’d rather have a grazing board mixed with heavier hors d’oeuvres. We can also customize your grazing table to suit your event and tastes!
Southern Favorites
Whether your guests are locals or coming in from out of town, they’ll love our tried-and-true Charleston favorites. Some of the most popular dishes at Crazy Dutchman Catering are our pulled pork, chicken and waffles, and shrimp and grits, pimento macaroni and cheese, and vidalia onion coleslaw. These dishes are perfect whether you’re wanting a taste of Charleston or just some good comfort food for your event.
Themed Menus for a Unique Touch
We also offer “themed” menus if you’d like something a little different for your event. We can do a taco or fajita bar (familiar to old Cisco’s Cafe regulars – IYKYK), a pasta bar with two types of pastas, sauces, and proteins, or a hot dog and chili buffet that’s a perfect combo with oysters.
Planning Tips for a Successful Private Party
At Crazy Dutchman Catering, most of us have at least a decade (or five) in hospitality/food and beverage and we’re happy to share that knowledge and experience with you! Any questions, food-related or not, are welcome and we are a phone call or email away.
Tailor Your Menu to Fit the Event’s Vibe
When coming up with a menu for your event, first consider what the feel or vibe of the event will be. Do you want something casual and relaxed? Then go with Lowcountry Boil and a grazing table, or a traditional BBQ menu. If you want something that’s a little more elevated, choose a station-style menu with heavy hors d’oeuvres or a buffet with higher end food. We can custom tailor your menu to perfectly fit your unique event.
Timing, Setup, and Flow of Food Service
We can also help you with the timing or the layout for your event. We’ve worked at many of Charleston’s beautiful venues, so we can recommend how best to use the space you’ve chosen for your event.
When it comes to timing, you have several factors to consider: What time does your venue open? Do you expect your guests to arrive at around the same time or drop in at different times? Is there an event that you want everyone to be present for? You’ll want to make sure that you and your caterers have enough time to set up and decorate before your guests arrive. If guests are arriving at around the same time, you could have appetizers and bar service open at the same time with the dinner buffet or stations to open a little later after more people have arrived. If it’s more of a drop-in event, just open everything up at the same time so that everything is available. If you have something planned like a presentation, announcement, or gift exchange, consider opening the buffet or stations about 45 minutes to an hour to allow everyone to finish eating. If you’re having an oyster roast but are worried about guests who don’t eat oysters, just have an appetizer station available or open the buffet at the same time as the oyster tables.
Adding Signature Cocktails or Seasonal Beverages
Signature Cocktails and Mocktails can be a fun way to customize any event. We have several popular options like a Rose Lemonade (spiked or non-alcoholic spritzer), a John Daly/Arnold Palmer, or we can come up with something unique to your event!
Why Charleston Hosts Choose Crazy Dutchman Catering
At Crazy Dutchman Catering, we’re extremely grateful that many of our clients choose to use us to cater their events year after year. We pride ourselves on making the whole process from quote to event an easy and great experience.
Experienced Staff and Seamless Setup
We offer a few different service options at Crazy Dutchman Catering. We have full-service catering, where our staff will set up the food and beverage stations, stay throughout your event clearing tables and replenishing the buffet, and then clean everything up at the end of the event.
Our delivery and set up or “drop-off” option is perfect for corporate lunch catering or more casual events. Our staff will set up the food and beverages, leave, and then return at a designated time to pick everything back up.
We also offer pick up orders for smaller groups.
Custom Packages for Parties of Any Size
At Crazy Dutchman Catering, we cater a variety of events. We can do personal family gatherings like birthday parties and graduation parties or wedding-related festivities like bachelor and bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners, and welcome parties. When it comes to corporate catering, we can handle any event from sales meetings to grand openings to holiday parties or fundraisers. We’re also budget-conscious at Crazy Dutchman Catering, so we’ll tell you if we think another option like a private chef would be more cost-effective for your event.
Conclusion: Make Your Next Private Event One to Savor
Whether you need catering for a small gathering or you have a large event with over 200 guests, we are here to help! We believe at Crazy Dutchman Catering that every event is special and deserves good food and great service.
