How to go viral in the events and catering niche on Instagram
What 2,208 viral events and catering reels share: the formats, faces, text, sound and hooks behind them, and how far reels from small accounts travelled.
An account with 4,697 followers filmed a flower wall being put together. The caption said it's fast and easy to assemble, "in and out in 20 minutes". It got 24.2 million views.
Set-up reels like that one travel a long way in this niche. Of the 2,208 viral events and catering reels in Aubrium's library, 355 crossed a million views, and more than half, 53%, were posted by accounts below 10,000 followers. We read every one, from 1,886 creators, for the same six things: format, face, text, sound, hook and look. The pillar page, what kind of reels go viral on Instagram, runs those checks on every niche. Every niche we looked at is listed on one page.
The most common format for viral events and catering reels is the montage, at 34%, then tutorials and transformations. Faces are a coin flip: 51% show one, and the faceless ones travelled further. 73% use text on screen, and 48% pick a song, where the library as a whole sits at 37%. 53% are from accounts below 10,000 followers.
Aubrium's library, 22 October 2026.
What kind of events and catering reels go viral?
Montages, at 34%: the room coming together in quick cuts.
Skits are only 3%, 63 reels, but the middle one reached 31 times its creator's followers, the furthest on the chart. Transformations and stories both reached 27, against 22 for a montage. On the chart, voiceovers over footage did worst, at 13.
Do you need to show your face?
No. It's close to even: 51% show a face and 49% don't. Without one, the middle reel went 24 times its creator's followers; with one, 19. 26% show nobody at all, just the set-up.
Should events and catering reels have text on screen?
Most do, but plenty don't. 73% use text on screen, mostly a line or two, and 27% have none. Those bare reels went furthest, 24 times followers, while light and heavy text both sat at 20.
Trending song or your own sound?
A song, more often than their own sound: 48% against 40%, and the library as a whole sits at 37% for songs. All three kinds, songs, their own sound and borrowed ones, travelled about as far, 21 to 22 times followers.
What hooks work for events and catering reels?
Curiosity gaps open 13% of these reels, and 34% never bother with a hook. Aspirational lines went furthest, 32 times followers, and POV hooks reached 29. Hooks here run about 9 words, and the short ones did better. Six real ones, from parties and balloon walls:
- POVText on screen
POV: You are a balloon artist
- POVText on screen
POV: bedazzle trend but make it balloons
- QuestionText on screen
How do I recreate the floral centerpieces
- QuestionText on screen
What do the kids get to keep?
- Curiosity gapSpoken
How orb balloons should look like.
- CalloutText on screen
Save this funny game for your next event ❤️🔥
Polished, or filmed on your phone?
Dressed rooms are usually filmed well: 77% of these reels look polished. The 22% that look shot on a phone travelled further, 28 times followers against 20. Fast ones beat medium ones, 22 to 19, and the 97 slow reels went furthest of all, at 38.
Can a small events and catering account go viral?
Yes. The smallest accounts here, under 2,000 followers, saw their middle reel go 84 times their following. It's lower at every size up, to 6 times between 50,000 and 100,000 followers. Accounts under 10,000 followers posted 53% of the niche's viral reels.
Your next events and catering reel, by the numbers
34% are montages
The room coming together, cut fast.
51% show a face
Reels with no face went further.
73% put text on screen
No text at all went furthest.
48% use a song
Their own sound did just as well.
9 words, the middle hook
The shorter the hook, the further.
64% ask for nothing
No “book now”, no “link in bio”.
Keep reading
The opening lines have a page of their own: the best hooks for events and catering reels. Related: how small businesses go viral on Instagram, the side hustle guide and Etsy seller hooks.
Questions people ask
What event content goes viral on Instagram?
Montages, more than any other format: 34% of viral events and catering reels in Aubrium's library. The 63 skits reached 31 times their creator's followers for the middle one, the furthest on the format chart.
Do I need to show my face in event reels?
No. Only 51% of viral events and catering reels show a face, and reels without one went further, 24 times followers to 19.
Should catering reels use trending audio?
48% of viral events and catering reels pick a song, where the library sits at 37%. Songs and their own sound went about as far, 21 and 22 times followers.
Can a small events business go viral on Instagram?
Yes. 53% of viral events and catering reels are from accounts below 10,000 followers, and the middle reel came from an account with 8,929 followers.
Do event reels need text on screen?
73% of viral events and catering reels have some, but the 27% with none went furthest, 24 times their creator's followers for the middle one.
How we did this
We looked at every events and catering reel in Aubrium's library on 22 October 2026: 2,208 reels from 1,886 creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers, each of which reached at least twice its creator's follower count and at least 10,000 views. We counted every reel filed in Aubrium's events and catering niche; a reel can sit in more than one niche.
Format, faces, text, sound and hooks are labels Aubrium's reader puts on every post. Every number here describes reels that already went viral, so none of it is the odds for a new one.
Changelog
- First version.
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