Graduation season is upon us! This means that many of us will be attending graduation parties to join in celebrating this major accomplishment and life milestone, and on the flip side it also means that many of us are planning these upcoming events.
As far as entertaining your guests goes, one of the major points of focus for this type of party is food and beverages. Whether you’ll be planning to pick these items up on-the-go or will want to have your party catered, Omaha has plenty of distinctive and delicious fare to offer for your upcoming graduation celebration.
The best perk of choosing to hire someone to cater your party, as anyone who has ever hosted an event before is generally well aware, is that you are able to delegate a major part of the overall entertaining to the talented culinary professionals who are well prepared to help. After all, it’s their specialty! Furthermore, their extensive experience on the planning side will lend itself to making you well aware of what will work best based upon the specific details of your event, and on the other hand, will lead you away from what really won’t.
“When it comes to providing food for parties and events, we take great pride in our high quality products and we have recently expanded our services to place a greater focus on full-service event catering,” explains Sean Fuller, owner of Just Good Meat. “Now our customers have the opportunity to choose from our extensive list of offerings to be catered at their event or to be all ready for pick-up as their schedule permits. We personally handle set up, service, and clean up on-site so that you are free to join in the festivities while your guests are being taken care of in line with your standards as the host.
While we always have bundles and party packs available, we’re also able to customize a meal or spread based upon your budget, how many people you’ll be entertaining and what food items you’d like to be served. Just a few of our popular items include smoked chicken breasts with a variety of marinades to choose from, BBQ meats, sloppy joes, 10-15 different flavors of smoked sausages, and smoked prime rib that is delicious on its own but also perfect for French dip and Philly sandwiches. We also have great items for those who prefer hors d’oeuvres, including meat and cheese platters, meatballs, skewers, or scaling down our entrees to miniature sliders or bite sized portions. Catering certainly isn’t a ‘cookie cutter’ operation to us; each event is unique and based upon our experience we are able to help our customers plan by figuring our portion size, how many main dishes, sides and desserts will be needed, and what configuration of these items will work best at the most affordable price – a lot of times a meal that incorporates two meat entrees can be catered for around $7-8 per person.
At Just Good Meat, our approach to serving our clientele focuses on attention to detail with an emphasis on great customer service. We essentially take the time, hassle, and stress out of party planning for our customers. As far as feeding your guest goes, no matter if you’re hosting 10-20 people or 200, we have plenty of options for all preferences and dietary restrictions. The Just Good Meat team will execute everything that pertains to feeding your guests so that you can enjoy the moment and the good company instead of worrying about these details before, during or after the party. However, for those that don’t envision shying away from the grill but just the opposite, want to be in charge of the whole operation, there are literally hundreds of great options that can be picked up or delivered right to your doorstep.”
Fuller adds, “The best part about Just Good Meat is that whether you’re planning ahead for our catering services or need to stop and pick up items at the store last minute, we can help you make it happen either way. With our variety, expertise and flexibility you’re guaranteed to find exactly what you’re looking for…and with so many possible choices, maybe even something that you hadn’t even considered as an option! Planning a party is a big undertaking and our goal is to take a major part of that off of your plate by offering an easy way to provide your guests a delicious meal or hearty snack that will fit all of your specific requirements.”
Along with offering food or snacks for guests depending on the timing and scale of the party, you definitely can’t forget about dessert! “What better way to celebrate a great accomplishment than treating yourself and your guests to festive gourmet sweets?” emphasizes Faith Musil, owner of Smallcakes: A Cupcakery. “Whether you are looking for a cake, cupcakes, or another type of customized dessert, we’d be happy to create the perfect sweet treat for your upcoming graduation celebration that not only looks amazing but tastes amazing too. We have over a hundred flavor profiles and so many different combinations and options for decoration that the possibilities are virtually unlimited. And most of all, we want our customers to have fun with it and encourage them to let their creative juices flow! This could be as simple as incorporating school colors or a more complicated design that showcases the personality of the graduate. Graduations are by far one of the most memorable life experiences and significant accomplishments that festivities are planned around, so treat yourself and your guests and just enjoy the moment and the time spent with friends and family. What sets Smallcakes apart is that we care about each and every customer who walks through our doors – we want your experience with us to be exceptional and we don’t settle for anything less than a great product with great service. Our baker here at Smallcakes has been doing specialty desserts for over thirty years so nothing is impossible with Smallcakes! Hope to see y’all in soon!”
Dessert for some may also be in the form of refreshments, especially if you’re hosting a party with beverages from Margarita Man! Margarita Man is a frozen beverage machine rental company which offers high capacity, commercial grade margarita machines. There are plenty of gourmet flavors to choose from; all of which can be made virgin so that kids can also enjoy a tasty treat too. In addition to the popular Fiesta Package, Margarita Man also offers a Grande Fiesta Package which includes rental of two machines. This package is perfect for larger events or for those who want to provide both regular and non-alcoholic options.
“Our offerings are ideal for any party or event,” says Matt Cover, co-owner of Margarita Man. “Whenever you have a larger crowd the ability to self-serve delicious frozen cocktails or drinks makes the party much easier to enjoy as a guest and especially as the host. Our team at Margarita Man can assist you with any questions you may have about the possibilities for your upcoming party with the 22 different gourmet mixes we have to offer and all of the different recipes to help make countless servings of your favorite cocktails or slushies. We also deliver, set up and pick up the machines and make the first batch for your party, leaving you with easy to follow instructions. We offer different table skirts to choose from to go along with different themes that your party may have and also each package comes with cups and straws. The next best part is that we ask for you to leave all the cleaning of the machines afterwards to us! Our commercial grade machines are sure to keep up with serving you and your guests until the last person leaves.”
He further advises, “My expertise for throwing a good party is to pass the grunt work off to others. As a host throwing a party you will always be under stress with a lot on your mind, so it’s important to look for the businesses that will make your life easier by taking the work out of your hands and into theirs. Another tip for a great party is to offer variety or something unique that will make it memorable, and for drinks this could be a fresh flavor, creative presentation or garnish, or tying it all together with a fun party theme. Without a doubt the busiest time of year for us is graduation season, so please book in advance so Margarita Man can help you with entertaining your guests—we want your event to be a huge success with no stress!”
Ensuring that all party guests are well taken care of and enjoying themselves is no small task, especially when it comes to feeding everyone and making sure they are treated to good drinks and dessert to top it all off. Planning a great party can definitely be stressful, but it truly doesn’t have to be with the help of local professionals who have plenty of experience and talent to offer. Taking advantage of this support will ensure that you’re graduation celebration is one to remember. Congratulations to all of the Class of 2015 graduates, we wish you well and hope you have a great time celebrating such a huge accomplishment!