Banquet Event Order Template for Singapore Hotels and Caterers

What the BEO is for, and who reads it

The sales team writes the BEO once the package is confirmed and circulates it about a week before the event, with a final version after the headcount deadline. The chef reads the menu and dietary lines. The banquet captain reads the floor plan, the timings and the staffing. The AV technician reads the cue list. Finance reads the billing section.

Everyone signs off the same version. When the couple changes the march-in song at 3 pm on the day, the change goes on the BEO as a numbered revision, not on a sticky note in the pantry.

For hotels with several functions on the same day, the BEO also records shared resources: the loading bay slot for the florist, the lift for the band's equipment and the car park allocation. Two events fighting over one service lift at 5 pm is a scheduling failure the BEO should have caught.

BEO billing summary: wedding lunch banquet

Sunday Chinese wedding lunch for 20 tables of ten in a hotel function room, 12:00 to 15:30

• Two vegetarian tables (7 and 12); vendor meals for photographer and emcee.
• Second march-in after the fifth course.
• Service charge applied before 9% GST.

A Singapore wedding dinner timeline on the BEO

Chinese wedding dinners follow a pattern the whole team knows, and the BEO should write it down anyway: guest arrival and cocktail from 7 pm, first march-in around 8, the first dishes served after the couple is seated, the second march-in after the fourth or fifth course, the champagne tower and yam seng toast, and dessert by around 10.30. Every cue the kitchen must hold or release goes on the timeline with a time and an owner.

Malay and Indian wedding banquets in hotels follow different sequences, often buffet-led, with the couple's entrance and the family photo session as the fixed points. Write the actual sequence for each event rather than reusing last week's.

For corporate dinner-and-dance nights the BEO timeline follows the programme: CEO speech, awards, lucky draw, performances. Food service is timed around them, and the kitchen needs to know which segment is on stage when a course is due.

• Guest arrival, cocktail and registration table
• March-in cues and which course follows each
• Champagne tower, yam seng or toast timing
• Speeches, performances and lucky draw segments
• Last order at the bar and function end time

Kitchen and dietary section

List the menu course by course with the number of tables and any variations: vegetarian tables, no-pork or no-beef requests, children's meals, seafood allergies and the vendor meals for photographers and the band. Give the table numbers for each variation, not just a count, so the captains serve the right plate to the right table.

For halal events the BEO must say so on the first page. MUIS certifies catering kitchens under its Food Preparation Area scheme and restaurants under its Eating Establishment scheme, and a certified kitchen has to keep halal and non-halal preparation apart. If a hotel with a non-halal kitchen brings in a halal caterer for a wedding, the BEO should state which operator prepares which items and where the food is plated.

Include the food handling notes: when hot dishes leave the kitchen, how long buffet items stay out, and who discards leftovers. Licensed caterers operate under their food shop licence from the Singapore Food Agency, and the BEO is often the document inspectors ask to see.

What your banquet event order must show in Singapore

Floor plan, staffing and beverages

Attach the table plan with numbers and the VIP table, the stage, the dance floor, the photo booth and the registration table. Note the number of service staff per table section and who runs the bar.

Beverages need exact terms: free-flow soft drinks and beer for a set number of hours, how many bottles of wine are included, the corkage arrangement for extra bottles the couple brings, and what happens when free-flow ends. Most billing disputes after weddings are about beverages, so the BEO should record the counts at the end of the night.

The billing section: ++ done properly

The last part of the BEO repeats the agreed prices so finance can bill without re-reading the contract. Show the per-table or per-guest price, the guaranteed number, extras, and the order of calculation: any discount first, then the service charge, then GST at 9% on the total including the service charge. IRAS is explicit that GST applies to the service charge as well.

If the client is a GST-registered company, the invoice that follows the BEO must be a tax invoice issued within 30 days. For a private couple, a receipt for each payment is enough. The BEO should record which of the two applies, along with the billing contact.

Close with the payments already received and the balance to collect on the night or after it, so the duty manager is not surprised by the question at 11 pm.

Where BEOs go wrong

The most common failure is an outdated version: the kitchen cooks for 32 tables because the BEO was never updated after the couple dropped to 30. Number every revision and print the revision number on every page.

The second is vague dietary notes. Two vegetarian meals tells the kitchen nothing. Two vegetarian meals, table 7, seats 3 and 4, no onion and garlic tells them exactly what to do.

The third is leaving the billing section blank because it is someone else's job. Finance then builds the invoice from memory, and the service charge and GST end up in the wrong order.

Banquet event order questions from Singapore