Page 18 - Indulge October 2017

ahead of time and give them a ballpark
number that you can tweak as the date of
the event draws closer. Ideally, you’d place
your initial reservation around the first of
November, though the company can work
with you to get you supplies right up until
the day of your event.
“We’d like to see people calling
ideally from 10 to maybe 20 days out.
It just makes it easier and much more
manageable for us. We open arms to
people who did forget something, and we
understand when people need something
last minute,” says Robertson. “We also do
offer delivery. Don’t get stressed out figuring your guests.”
out how you’re going to go get it. You have
whoever is doing the cooking worrying about
how to get everything. The delivery option is
there for the customer.”
CATERING: LEAVE THE COOKING
TO THE PROS
Food is one of the biggest focuses
of holiday entertaining. Whether you’re
planning a corporate or private gathering,
bringing in a top notch caterer should be
a way to help you and your guests enjoy
great food while lowering your personal
stress level.
When dealing with a caterer, there are
a few questions you should ask up front,
such as who your point of contact will be
from the very beginning until after the event
concludes. Vital aspects of the meal such
as dietary restrictions or allergies must be
clearly communicated early in the process.
The caterer should also let you know about
how much oven space and electrical outlets
they may need if they are preparing or
keeping food warm on-site, as well as who
is responsible for providing place settings
and linens. Finally, you’ll want to ask about
the caterer’s specialties, and make sure your
caterer’s abilities line up with your tastes
before making a commitment.
“We try to create a few interesting
holiday creations every year to be
innovative and different, especially since
we see so much repeat business. Some
of our clients book the day after their
last party just to secure their date,” says
Laurin Fegley, proprietor at Simply Smooth
Special Events of Allentown. “No one
wants the same food every time they have
18 | INDULGE • OCTOBER 2017
a party. Folks tend to be more interested
in great food rather than décor, which they
already have done in most venues and
homes long before the party happens.”
“Call and make an appointment, and
don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions. One
thing we are known for is that we don’t use
the word ‘no’ in our vocabulary. We work
within everyone’s budgets and can tailor
any of our menus to suit ones taste,” says
Kasey Moyer, co-owner of Paragon Catering
in Bethlehem. “You can always ask your
caterer if they are willing to do a food tasting, everything is done, we take it down and
as well. You want to be able to please all of
At Black Forest Deli in West Bethlehem,
November and December are their busiest
months of the year, so they like to get their
clients into their catering calendar early so
they don’t get overbooked. Everything is
made fresh the same day, and their varied
menu means that customers can get their
fill of the restaurant’s popular borsch,
homemade pierogies, macaroni salad,
eggplant salad, haluski and halupkis.
“Our customers are usually repeat
and they tell us in advance that they will
need catering for the holidays,” says Vica
Shparber, who manages the restaurant
along with her mother, Milana. “Many
companies start doing their holiday parties
on the earlier side due to a lot of people
taking an early or extended holiday break.
We would love to have a few days of notice
if customers are ordering from the regular
catering menu with sandwich trays or side
salads. But if they are ordering from the
homemade menu, we would like to have a
week’s notice.”
OUTDOOR DECOR: TECH THE HALLS
Let last year be the last year you find
yourself up on a ladder trying to outdo
the neighbor’s blinding display of holiday
bling. By the time you haul your boxes of
décor out of storage, unpack them, find
the perfect weather day to get everything
outside, and then actually decorate, you’re
probably feeling more like Scrooge and less
like Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. Let this holiday
season be the one you let Elf Décor (a
division of Christmas Décor by Pennsylvania
Lawn & Landscape of Orefield) handle
all of the outdoor trimmings — including
installation, maintenance, takedown and
even storage.
“People contact us all year round for both
residential and commercial jobs. We go
really right up until the week of Christmas.
And quite frankly, there is no real budget —
it’s whatever we can do for the customer,”
says Ken Divers, partner at PA Lawn &
Landscape. “We meet with them and talk
about what they want to do, and we’ll come
up with a nice design with their assistance.
Then we maintain everything, as well. After
inventory it and also store it. It’s stress-free
for them at that point.”
Technology has allowed for homeowners
and business owners alike to think big when
it comes to outdoor displays. Gone are the
days of simple strings of lights; now you
can get 256 colors off of one bulb, with all
of your décor controlled on smart phones.
From color-changing LEDs to animated light
shows to “snowflakes” dancing across your
lawn, there isn’t anything that technology
can’t accomplish to help you “tech the
halls.” To stand out from the crowd and do
something different, Elf Décor can work
with you to come up with something unique.
“For residential, we do standard lighting,
but sometimes people want one or two
things that are kind of special pieces — a
motif of some sort depending on what they
enjoy about the holidays,” says Divers. “We
offer so many different things we can do for
them. We make a lot of our own pieces and
about able to cater to their wants and needs.
They’ll throw in a sporadic kind of thing. It
still looks classy, but it’s that individual
piece that’s theirs.”
INDOOR DÉCOR: MAKING A LIST AND
CHECKING IT TWICE
When it comes to trimming the tree,
decorating the mantle and tying together
décor in all rooms of the home, we can
tend to become overwhelmed quickly if
we’re hauling out and sorting through boxes
that have been long packed away. The
holidays, however, are a time of year when
it’s perfectly acceptable to allow yourself to
spend extra minutes sorting through items
that are supposed to be nostalgic.
“Even though it’s time consuming, I
suggest bringing out all of your holiday