In banqueting, therefore, the banqueter undertakes, on behalf of businesses or private clients, to organize banquets and receptions for various occasions such as festivities, ceremonies, performances, or trade fairs. This often includes securing suitable venues as well as acquiring the necessary equipment to set up the premises, including decorative plants and furnishings. The main object of the contract nevertheless remains the provision of food and beverage services, to which all other organizational activities are functionally ancillary28. The most recent case law has defined banqueting as an atypical bilateral contract with no formal requirements, under which an entrepreneur, typically a restaurateur, undertakes, in return for consideration and at their own risk, to organize and carry out an event for the benefit of another party. This obligation is fulfilled through the coordinated provision of all necessary means, including premises, personnel, food, and beverages29. It is therefore significant that, in banqueting, unlike in catering, the food service, whether pre-prepared or made on site, while remaining one of the main elements, is never the sole performance. Rather, it is supplemented by a multitude of additional services provided by the banqueter as complements to the catering function. These ancillary obligations, whether to do or to give, are shaped by the specific needs of the client and are determined by the type of banquet being organized. Such needs may range from the provision of venues to the supply of highly customized services (including music, live entertainment, fireworks, etc.), which vary depending on the nature of the event and serve to clearly distinguish banqueting from catering30. contratti di somministrazione di servizi, Torino 2006, p. 650 e ss.; M. Pittalis, Catering, in Contratto e impresa, 1989, p. 359 e ss., Settesoldi, Catering, in Cendon (edited by) i nuovi contratti nella prassi civile commerciale, XVI, Torino, 2004, p. 359 e ss. 28 Words are of E. Pedicini, Nuovi aspetti dei contratti di catering e di banqueting, in Rass. Dir. civ., 2/1999, p. 469. 29 Cass. Civ., Sez. II, Ord. N. 25485 del 17th October, 2019. 30 “... The catering service includes the obligation on the part of the company to provide meals, with any services connected to this activity that are provided continuously. The banqueting contract, on the other hand, includes the same obligations but in the context of an event, as in this case the wedding reception, differently from the first one that appears more appropriate to the service provided in school or company canteens. Such an agreement must include the details regarding the set-up of the premises, the service offered, the quantity, quality and variety of food and drinks, the cost, the assistance, the setting of the tables ...” Tribunale di Salerno, decision n. 581/2025 del 07-02-2025. “... The so-called banqueting is an unnamed contract that has a mixed object, so much so that, usually, it is included, like the so-called catering, in the scheme of the service contract, due to the peculiar flexibility of this contractual figure, but which presents undoubted profiles of commonality with the sale and the supply. The main service of the party, in the banqueting, is to ensure that, on the pre-established day, the reception room is available to the engaged couple for the celebration of the banquet, remaining accessory, even if no less important, the additional services of the supply of food and drinks and entertainment; it is therefore normal that this main service is ensured well in advance, for the reasons highlighted, while it is usually close to the event that the details are specified, that is, the consistency of the menu, 42 VINCENZO FRANCESCHELLI | SARA D´URSO | ALESSANDRA CORRADO
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