How to create a website for a caterer: receptions, businesses or delivered platters

Decide before the mock-ups: main clientele and update tool

Which clientele keeps your production kitchen busy?

The answer determines the site structure, the form and the budget. A wedding caterer who takes on a few corporate cocktail receptions does not need a basket. Many have two genuine activities: the site then gives them separate entry points from the home page ("Receptions and weddings", "Businesses", "Order online" if it exists), with pages that do not overlap.

This choice also has a legal consequence. A caterer who works exclusively with businesses is not required to appoint a consumer mediator. As soon as it also sells to private individuals, it must display the mediator's contact details visibly on its site (French Consumer Code, Code de la consommation, L616-1).

Who will update the menus?

Seasonal menus and end-of-year platters change often. A CMS such as WordPress, set up by a WordPress agency with menu and platter templates, lets the team change products, prices and dates without depending on a developer. If you use catering quote software, note now what the site will need to send to it.

This need also helps decide between solutions. A website builder is enough for a few menu pages and a contact form. As soon as you need to send a qualified enquiry to the quote software, or manage delivery dates or ordering zones, you need a CMS configured for these rules.

Design the receptions and weddings journey: qualified quotes and comparable past events

A form that asks the questions from the first phone call

The name, email, message form is what produces the Monday-morning messages. A well-built online catering quote request asks the questions you ask on the phone anyway:

• the date of the reception, with a proper date picker;
• the number of guests, even approximate;
• the town or reception venue;
• the type of event and the service required (buffet, standing dinner, seated meal served at the table, with or without a head waiter);
• if you accept it, a budget range per person.

Then explain what happens next: your actual response time, the tasting if you offer one, and an automatic confirmation email. The form can also send the already structured reception brief to your quote software. The order of the questions and the follow-up of responses are among the levers to get more quote requests from a caterer's website.

On pricing, an indicative price per person, together with what makes it vary (service, drinks, equipment, travel), filters out enquiries outside the budget without fixing the quote.

Past events sorted by type of reception

The couple wants to see a buffet set up in a barn for 120 people, a top table, the team serving. Sort your past events by type of reception and give each one a few reference points: format, number of guests, type of venue, season. Plan a photo shoot at real events, with the couple's consent.

Compress images for mobile and write descriptive alt text ("dessert buffet for a 150-guest wedding at a vineyard estate"). Choosing the photos and information that matter on a caterer's website is prepared event by event.

Write the corporate pages: one page per format, factual and easy to recommend

Bolted onto a wedding site, the corporate offer ends up with "For the most beautiful day of your life" at the top of the "Seminars" page. The office manager who has to order breakfasts for Thursday has other questions: minimum number of covers, invoicing, supplier registration, dietary requirements for a group of 60 people, delivery to upper floors with set-up and clearing away.

Plan one page per format (breakfast, packed-lunch platters, cocktail reception, seminar), with these answers spelled out in black and white, and a simple journey for recurring orders: a dedicated form, a named contact, a reminder of the terms. The tone there is more factual than on the wedding pages.

From the home page, the office manager should reach the order form in a few clicks, just as the couple reaches the quote request. A web design agency draws the mock-ups from these journeys, then each one is tested on mobile.

Set up online ordering for delivered platters

Dates, lead times and minimum quantities

A generic shop with no delivery dates, no minimum lead time and no zones lets through an order for 40 platters for 8 am the next day, to be delivered outside your area, on a Sunday when the production kitchen is closed. Online catering orders need settings that standard e-commerce does not provide:

• delivery or collection dates and time slots, with closing days;
• a minimum order lead time per product, set according to your production (a cold platter and a tiered celebration cake do not need the same);
• minimum quantities where they apply (cocktail canapés, platters per batch);
• delivery zones and their conditions;
• payment through a recognised provider, and an automatic confirmation email.

What distance selling of food requires

Three rules specific to the distance selling of food directly affect these product pages. European Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (Article 14) requires allergen information to be provided before the purchase is concluded: it therefore appears on each product page, before payment, and not as "please ask us". The French Consumer Code (Code de la consommation, Article L221-28) excludes the 14-day right of withdrawal for perishable food and for catering services provided on a set date: it is up to you to write your terms for cancellation, changes and confirmation of guest numbers, without inventing a "legal" deadline. Finally, if the shop offers wine or champagne with the platters, check that you hold the appropriate French takeaway alcohol licence, since online sales count as takeaway sales.

Publish compliant menus: allergens, meat origin and "fait maison"

On a reception buffet, a packed-lunch platter or a cocktail canapé, every dish name published online commits the caterer as much as the menu handed over on the day. A "free-range poultry" with no supporting evidence or a "fait maison" (homemade) label on bought-in desserts will come to light during an inspection or a customer complaint.

The restaurant display rules, which also apply at a distance, apply, according to Service Public Entreprendre (the French government's business information portal), to on-site sales, takeaway, delivery and contract catering, and to any communication to consumers, whether at a distance or on site. The page covers bars and restaurants without naming caterers, but a caterer publishing its menus online has every reason to apply them:

• accurate names for dishes and ingredients, without unjustified quality claims ("chef's", "farm", "regional");
• country of origin for beef, pork, poultry and lamb, or "EU origin" / "non-EU origin" for meat bought already cooked or prepared whose exact origin is not known; according to the same page, failing to include this information exposes you to a fine of €1,500 for an individual and €7,500 for a company;
• allergens stated for each dish, including in reception menus, which avoids discrepancies between the site and the day itself.

For borderline cases, such as a buffet served at the client's premises, the departmental directorate for the protection of populations (DDPP, the local French food safety authority) remains the contact to validate your display.

Define the delivery area and be found there

Spell out your area: radius around the production kitchen, départements covered, conditions beyond them, distinguishing between receptions and deliveries if needed. If you have several production kitchens with different offers, plan a genuine page for each location, with its own content.

On Google and in AI assistants

Dozens of "caterer + town name" pages with identical text add nothing for the reader and do not convince Google. Keep your name, address, phone number and opening hours identical on the site and on your Google Business Profile, specifying whether the production kitchen is open to the public. Suitable structured data (LocalBusiness type with the area served) helps search engines understand your business, without guaranteeing rich results.

An SEO agency works on this local search optimisation with your location pages, your geolocated past events and your customer reviews. AI assistants answering "wedding caterer near Lyon" draw on the same information.

Launch the site: terms of sale, data and tracking

What you do not see on screen

Before going live, check the points that often only come to light with the first dispute, such as terms and conditions copied from a restaurant or a domain name left in the provider's name:

• complete legal notices, and distance-selling terms and conditions with your deposit, cancellation and change terms;
• customer reviews, shown with their source and date, and information on whether and how they are checked (L111-7-2);
• no free-text "allergies" field in the quote form; when the list of guests' allergies arrives before the event, it goes through a secure channel, with clear information for the people concerned, restricted access and deletion after the event, to be validated with the person responsible for GDPR;
• consent collection for trackers that require it, advertising ones in particular, checking case by case the cookies needed for payment and audience measurement;
• HTTPS, regular backups, named administrator accounts, and a domain name, content and photos in the caterer's name.

Place a real order and a real quote request before opening.

Count enquiries by service

Count wedding enquiries, corporate cocktail receptions, delivered orders and calls separately: you will see which clientele actually signs, and where to invest next season. Update origins and allergens every time the menu changes.

How much does it cost to build a caterer's website at Gemeos?

At Gemeos, the cost of a caterer website ranges from €5,000 to €13,000 excl. VAT depending on the scenario, and the difference follows the main clientele.

On an existing site, adding a reception questionnaire (three journeys, around ten fields, transmission of the brief) costs €1,500 to €4,000 excl. VAT at Gemeos, without automatic price calculation. A full redesign costs €6,000 to €12,500 excl. VAT (CMS retained, menus, services and events carried over), and migration to another CMS with the design retained €6,500 to €19,000 excl. VAT. To test a specific offer first, such as end-of-year platters or corporate cocktail receptions, a dedicated page is enough: landing page design lets you promote it without touching the rest of the site. Platform and payment commissions, quote or production software, logistics and licences are not included.

The timeline depends on the scope, but also on what you bring: up-to-date menus with origins and allergens, photos of real receptions, written deposit terms. Ask for a step-by-step schedule and aim to go live before the enquiry season: couples look for their wedding caterer from the start of the year, and businesses plan their end-of-year parties in the autumn.

Gemeos designs caterers' websites around the clientele that keeps them going, with design, copywriting, local SEO and analytics in the same team, and building on the tools already in place, from quote software to the payment module.

FAQ

How much does a website for a caterer cost?

At Gemeos, allow €5,000 to €13,000 excl. VAT for a new build. A local caterer without online ordering falls between €5,000 and €9,500 excl. VAT; reception, corporate, platter-ordering or network sites go up to €13,000 excl. VAT. Payment commissions, quote or production software and logistics remain separate.

Can you build your catering business website yourself, for free?

Yes, a free website builder is enough to publish a few pages. You then need to buy a domain name, and the qualified enquiry form, ordering rules or payment are often missing or paid extras. A free template also looks like hundreds of other sites, whereas an identity developed with a branding agency helps the couple or the business recognise you among the quotes they compare. Menu compliance remains your responsibility, and the site, the domain and the photos must stay in your name.

Should a caterer display prices on their website?

Yes for everything that can be ordered online, and reference points for the rest. Platters and delivered packages should have a fixed price. For a reception or corporate service on quote, an indicative price per person helps qualify the enquiry, but the customer must still know the price, how it is calculated and any additional charges before committing.

Does the 14-day right of withdrawal apply to a catering order?

No for perishable food or a catering service on a set date, which Article L221-28 of the French Consumer Code excludes from the right of withdrawal. The sale of non-perishable products may fall under a different regime. With a business, the signed quote and your business-to-business terms and conditions are what count. In both cases, display your cancellation and deposit terms before payment or signature.

Can you display "fait maison" when dishes are prepared in the production kitchen and served elsewhere?

Yes. A caterer can use it for a dish prepared in its production kitchen and then served or sold elsewhere, provided it is made from raw ingredients. On the site, the label goes with the dish concerned: it has no place in the header or the logo when part of the menu is bought in.

What allergen information should you publish for an online order?

The allergens of each product, visible on the product page before payment, as required by the European regulation for distance selling. For a reception, the information is also given on site, on the day.