Graduation catering
Graduation catering in the Fraser Valley
Grad dinners, open houses and banquets, Armenian and Middle Eastern
Salma's Kitchen caters graduation dinners, grad open houses and hall banquets across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver, cooked in our Abbotsford kitchen and delivered laid out ready to serve. June fills first, so book two to three months ahead for a June date. Call us with the date and a rough guest count.
- Event Grad dinners at home, open houses, and hall banquets after the ceremony.
- Where Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver, cooked in our Abbotsford kitchen.
- Notice Two to three months for anything in June. Four to six weeks off-peak.
- How it arrives Delivered laid out ready to serve, or collected from our kitchen.
- To book Phone only. Call (819) 743-5953 with the date, guest count and address.
When should you book a June graduation?
Two to three months ahead if the date is in June, and four to six weeks for a smaller family dinner outside that window. Fraser Valley graduations cluster into a few weeks, and every family in the valley is booking against the same handful of Saturdays.
The date runs out before the menu does, which is why the call is worth making before the guest list is anywhere near settled. If June has already arrived and you are behind, call anyway. What narrows on short notice is the range of the spread, not the care that goes into it. The full set of lead times by event is in our note on how far in advance to book a caterer.
The event
Which graduation event are you feeding?
Four shapes cover almost all of them, and each one has a different first decision to make. Settle that one thing and the rest of the order follows quickly on the phone.
| The event | What to decide first | When to call us |
|---|---|---|
| Grad dinner at home | Whether you are cooking anything yourself or handing the whole table over. | Four to six weeks, more if the date is in June. |
| Grad open house | How long the door stays open, because that decides how much the table has to carry. | Two to three months for a June weekend. |
| Hall banquet | Whether the hall takes outside catering at all, before anything else is settled. | Two to three months, and earlier for a June Saturday. |
| Gathering straight after the ceremony | The gap between the ceremony ending and people arriving, which is usually shorter than planned. | Two to three months for June. |
For the sizes, how long food sits out at each format and who ends up owning the table, our journal piece on catering a graduation dinner in Abbotsford lays it out side by side.
How much does a grad crowd eat?
More than the same number of adults, and across a longer stretch of the day. We plan on the generous side for a grad, because the guest list grows on the day in a way it does not at other events.
An open house is the one that catches people out. Guests arrive in waves across an afternoon rather than sitting down together, so the table has to carry the whole span rather than one service. That usually means more bread, more dips and a plan for refreshing the table partway through. If you want the arithmetic before you call, our guide to planning food for 20, 50 or 100 guests works through each size.
Do you deliver, or should you collect?
Either. We deliver across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver with everything laid out ready to serve, and pickup from our Abbotsford kitchen is always an option if you would rather collect it on the way.
We are a drop off kitchen. For a dinner at home that is the whole job, because you already have a table and a kitchen. For a hall banquet, check with the room before anything else: ask whether it takes outside catering, what the kitchen access is, how many tables you get for a buffet, what time you can set up and by when everything must be cleared out. Then tell us what they said. We will not guess a hall's rules on your behalf. Our note on drop off against full service explains the formats, and catering a Fraser Valley community hall covers the questions worth asking the room.
How do you handle dietary needs at a grad party?
By putting out a table nearly everyone can eat from. Much of a Middle Eastern spread is already vegetarian and several dishes are vegan, so those guests eat from the main table rather than being handed something separate, which matters more with a room full of teenagers than people expect.
Sesame, nuts and dairy run through this cuisine, so raise allergies when you call rather than on the day. On halal we say the same thing to everyone: we are a small family kitchen, not a certified halal facility, and we will tell you exactly what is in each dish so you can decide.
What arrives, and what happens to the leftovers?
Trays and platters ready to go straight onto the table: grilled kabab and shish tawook, toshka, kibbe, rice, tabouli and Armenian salad, warm bread, and dips by the half kilo. Anything on our menu can be ordered as a graduation spread.
Leftovers are a feature at a grad, not a failure. Kabab, chicken and rice reheat well the next day, which is useful when the house is full of relatives who stayed over. We have written up how to reheat kabab, chicken and rice and how long these leftovers keep so nothing good gets thrown out.
We deliver across our whole service area, most often to Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Mission for graduations.
What to have ready when you call
- The date, and whether it falls in the June crush.
- A guest count, remembering that grads bring friends who bring friends.
- Where it is, and whether that room takes outside catering.
- How long the food needs to stay out on the table.
- Whether you want delivery or a pickup from our kitchen.
Before you call
Graduation catering questions, answered
When should I book graduation catering?
Two to three months ahead for anything in June, and four to six weeks for a smaller family dinner outside that window. June is the busiest month of the year for Fraser Valley celebrations because ceremonies, proms and convocations land in the same few weeks. The date is the thing that runs out, not the menu.
Do you cater grad dinners and grad parties in the Fraser Valley?
Yes. We cook Armenian and Middle Eastern spreads in our Abbotsford kitchen and cater grad dinners, open houses and hall banquets across the Fraser Valley and into Metro Vancouver. Call us with the date, a rough guest count and where it is being held.
How much food does a graduation crowd eat?
More than the same number of adults, and over a longer stretch. An open house eats in waves across an afternoon rather than in one sitting, so the table has to carry the whole span. We plan on the generous side and work the quantities out with you from the headcount and the length of the event.
Can you cater a graduation at a hall?
Often, yes, but check with the hall first, because arrangements differ from room to room and some halls have their own catering. Ask about kitchen access, tables for a buffet, setup time and the hard end time for clearing out, then tell us what they said and we will build the order around it.
Can you cover vegetarian, vegan and allergy needs at a grad party?
Much of a Middle Eastern spread is already vegetarian and several dishes are vegan, so those guests eat from the main table rather than a separate plate. Sesame, nuts and dairy run through this cuisine, so raise allergies when you call. On halal we are straight with you: we are a small family kitchen, not a certified halal facility.
How do we book a graduation spread?
By phone. Call us on (819) 743-5953 with the date, a rough guest count and the address, and we will shape the spread with you. There is no booking form and no email address, because for a June date a two-minute call settles what a week of messages cannot.
Graduation catering by city
From our kitchen to your table
Tell us the date, the guest count and where it is. June fills first, so call early.
Call (819) 743-5953