How to write a brief suppliers actually answer
Four things decide whether you get offers: the date, the suburb, the guest count and what “done” looks like. A brief with those four gets priced. A brief without them gets questions, and most suppliers do not send them.
The date, as a date
“Sometime in March” cannot be quoted. A supplier is checking one thing first — whether they are already booked — and they cannot check it against a range. If the date is genuinely not fixed, post the one you most want and say in the brief that you have some flexibility; that is a different sentence from having no date, and it reads as one.
Where the event is, not where you live
Briefs are matched on the event's suburb, because that is what decides who can physically get there. Suppliers set their own travel radius, so a Manly wedding filed against a Newtown home address is offered to the wrong half of the market. If you are planning an event somewhere other than home, say where the event is.
A number of people, even a rough one
Guest count is the single biggest driver of cost in catering, cake and hire, and it is the one thing a supplier cannot infer. “About 40” is a workable brief. “A medium-sized party” is not — it means something different to every business that reads it.
What finished looks like
Describe the outcome rather than the method. “Grazing table set up by 5pm, cleared by 10” tells a caterer more than a list of foods, because it prices staffing and travel as well as ingredients. If setup, service or collection matters to you, that belongs in the brief — it is often the difference between two quotes that look far apart.
- Say what time things need to be ready, not just when the party starts.
- Say whether you need delivery, or can collect.
- Say what you already have, so nobody quotes for it twice.
Dietary and access needs go in the brief, not the chat
Allergen and dietary requirements are a safety matter and they change who can take the job at all — some kitchens simply cannot make a guarantee. Put them in the brief so they are part of what is being priced, and confirm them with the supplier in writing before you accept. We never fill these in for you and never infer them from a listing.
Photos help more than adjectives
You can attach photos to a brief, and they are shown to the suppliers matched to it. One picture of the cake you have in mind removes more ambiguity than a paragraph describing it.
What to leave out
You do not need to name a budget to get offers, and a hard budget in the brief tends to get you quotes at that number rather than the real one. You also do not need to chase — suppliers who match your brief are notified once, and an offer that arrives three days later is not a supplier who forgot you.