The honest answer is that it depends on the size of the event and the time of year, not on the caterer. A thirty-person office lunch and a four-hundred-person wedding are different logistical problems, and treating them the same is how people end up either paying a rush premium or holding a date they never needed.
Realistic lead times by event type
- Office lunch or team meal, under 50 guests: a few days is usually enough
- Birthday, aqiqah, milad or family gathering, 30 to 100 guests: one to two weeks
- Corporate event or annual dinner, 100 to 300 guests: three to four weeks
- Wedding, walima or nikah: six to eight weeks, and longer if the date falls in peak season
- Anything in Ramadan or on Eid: as early as you possibly can, because every kitchen in the emirate is working the same nights
Those are working guidelines rather than rules. A large event booked at short notice is often still possible; it simply narrows what can be built for it.
The deadline people actually miss
It is not the booking. It is the headcount.
Our final numbers deadline is three days before the event. Any change to guest count has to reach us by then, because that is when the ordering, the prep schedule and the staffing are locked. It is the single most common thing people leave too late, and unlike the booking date it cannot be worked around.
The other half of that: if fewer guests turn up than you booked, the bill stands at the number you gave. If more turn up, the bill is adjusted upward to match. The full terms are set out on the catering menu page.
What booking early actually buys you
Choice, mostly. Live counters need equipment and staff assigned to your date: a live BBQ, live tandoor or live jalebi counter is AED 10 per person, live puri is AED 15, and table and chair setup is AED 15. Those are far easier to guarantee four weeks out than four days out.
It also buys you a tasting conversation rather than a rushed one. Our packages run from AED 45 to AED 110 a head across 160 dishes, and choosing well from that takes a phone call, not a form.
What you need ready before you call
- The date, and whether it is fixed or movable
- An approximate headcount, which you can refine up to three days before
- The venue, and whether it has a kitchen, power and space for counters
- Serving time, and whether it is a seated meal or a standing buffet
- Any dietary requirements across the guest list
With those five things a quote takes one conversation. Without them it takes three.
Booking and payment
A booking is confirmed with a 50 percent deposit, with the remaining 50 percent due three days before the event, the same deadline as the headcount. Outdoor catering has a minimum order of AED 3,000. We cover Sharjah, Dubai and Ajman.
If you are still working out what the event will cost, what catering actually costs per person sets out the arithmetic, and our deposit and payment terms covers the money side in full.
Have a date in mind?
Tell us the date and a rough headcount and we will come back with the menu and the number.
See Packages & Terms
