There are countless types of social events for which party-givers hiring catering services: weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, graduation parties, Sweet 16s, family reunions, summer backyard parties, and the list goes on. Maui Wowi Coffee & Smoothie Catering (that’s us, folks) has catered exactly 4,862 events since 2002 (we keep count). So we have seen it all. And there are a few things we’ve learned that we can pass on to you so that you’ll benefit when you decide to have a smoothie or espresso bar for your catered event.

Bar Mitzvah Madness

We once brought our mobile smoothie station to a lovely place along New York’s East River for a bar mitzvah. The parents of the young guest of honor made a dubious decision—to have all the kids at the party dropped off by parents and un-chaperoned. What could possibly go wrong?

We were hired to make our delicious smoothies for about 100 young teens (mostly boys). Our smoothies are made with our all-natural fruit and yogurt blends (we also have non-dairy) to which we add banana. These children were unusually rambunctious. And they very much liked bananas. In fact, many asked for a banana in addition to or instead of their smoothie. We were stationed outside the party room so we did not have a view to what was happening inside.

We probably made 200 smoothies and handed out 100 bananas – hey, we thought, these kids are really health-conscious! Later on when the parents came to pick up the kids and we were breaking down our bar, we saw where the bananas went. The kids made quite a game of stomping the bananas into the carpeting of this elegant restaurant, and having a grand old time slipping and sliding on banana peels.

I saw the event manager assessing the damage and he seemed unperturbed. I asked him how he was remaining so calm. He replied, “I just charged their parents’ credit card $20,000 for the cleaning service to come in after the party.”

We’ve also been to many bar/bar mitzvahs where the kids and the adults celebrate on different floors. That’s almost as bad an idea.

Moral of the story: Don’t ever have a bar mitzvah party that’s “just for the kids.” And hire a party company that specializes in kids’ parties. These folks know how to corral the youngsters into activities to keep them from making up their own games.

Weddings

Maui Wowi provides smoothies and espresso drinks for many weddings, and fortunately we’ve never had an incident like the Bar Mitzvah story above at any wedding we’ve catered. As long as 13-year-olds don’t get married, we should be fine.

Most people planning a wedding would not ordinarily think of a smoothie bar as something guests might like, but they’re missing out. While we’ve often set up our tiki bar on a beach or under a tent for a themed wedding, we’ve also done plenty of more formal (and black tie) weddings. Obviously, we don’t set up a tiki bar for those events. We use a more classic bar provided by the catering establishment or rental company. Same smoothies – with or without alcohol. (Our pina coladas with Malibu rum are something special.) Smoothies and frozen cocktails are especially nice for a late spring through early fall wedding when the weather is still warm, and when guests can be outside. We are able to serve several hundred smoothies per hour with two servers, so there are no lines and waiting.

Speaking of lines, we’ve been to some weddings as guests where smoothies or frozen cocktails were served. Caterers are great at a lot of things, but making smoothies is not one of them. We’ve seen amateurs forget to put the blender cap on before blending, and the result on a bride’s dress is something that once you’ve seen it you can never un-see. Also, people who don’t blend smoothies every day are sssslllllooooowwwww. And guests hate having to wait.

Another downside of just having your caterer blend the smoothies? They may use a truly terrible sugary smoothie mix rather than an all-natural blend with no artificial ingredients. We shop where caterers shop and the frozen smoothie blends that these wholesale restaurant warehouses stock are truly horrific. Your tastebuds and your guests will never forgive you. Maui Wowi smoothie blends are made in small batches by a privately-owned provider who’s been working with us for 30 years—not by the Industrial Food Complex. We’ve also seen those machines that churn frozen goop into smoothies, like in 7/Eleven. Would you really serve that to your guests? ‘Nuff said. Give them the good stuff.

What about espresso drinks?

Here again, caterers don’t do this and don’t want to be asked. But ask. They know us and we do a great job. Or call us directly. We can set up two high-production espresso machines with four servers and make 100+ lattes an hour—more than enough for most weddings. And our espresso beans are grown in Hawaii and custom roasted for us.