How do I hate caterers? Let me count the ways. You increase your rates from high to exorbitant after you find out my party is a wedding reception. You don’t let me sample your food so I’ll know what I’ll be serving to my guests. You don’t return phone calls. You don’t do what you say you’ll do. You don’t answer your phone. You don’t even have a voice mailbox that isn’t full. I have to keep chasing you and chasing you, and you won’t make any effort on my behalf.
I know my wedding is small and unimportant to you, with your busy schedule and high-falutin’ client list, but IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME!!! I don’t need the additional stress of begging someone to take the money that my soon-to-be parents-in-law have graciously offered for our catering bill. If I can get them on the phone in the first place.
And how can I trust a catering company to do anything right if they can’t even return a phone call or fax a quote to me? How can I trust that they’ll even show up on the wedding day? I just friggin’ hate this. I feel like they’re doing me a favour by deigning to cater my pissant little wedding. If it weren’t for my guests who will be expecting to eat, I would say to hell with all the catering companies in Calgary. You bunch of bozos.
Ah, I wish it were that easy. I’ve been calling and calling companies for months now. Some return my calls, some have reasonable prices, some are available for the day of, some are professional, but so far, I haven’t been able to find all these attributes in one company. I think that caterers in Calgary must have a license to print money or something, because they all seem to be maxed out and not caring at all about losing money and potential customers.
Featherlou - Is it possible to make the venue in a hotel? We had a small-ish wedding and rented a single banquet room at a hotel (Lethbridge, actually). The nice thing about that is the Hotel looks after the food and were actually pretty reasonable. Plus, they usually have salespeople who’s job it is to talk to their customers.
And your right, if they’re busy, they will put whoever they want on the backburner. They may even not want your business if it is “too small” for their efforts.
I wish I had some better ideas about how this might be a chance for you to give a smaller outfit a big opportunity – maybe a restaurant that does catering but doesn’t really advertise it, or wants to get started? Would a cooking school maybe be able to give you some ideas? I like the hotel idea. A friend of mine had her wedding “catered” by a grocery store deli – granted they were going for cheap, but the food was very good. Maybe a “gourmet” type grocery store or natural food co-op store (like Whole Foods – don’t know if you have them up there) would do something similar?
Were you set on having a sit-down dinner or buffet? Have you thought about having “substantial appetizers” instead? (Dim sum from an Asian restaurant?) That might open up your options on who might do it.
Throwing out some ideas here – maybe someone can piggyback on them.
Is it possible to have you and your guests crash one of the “important people’s” weddings? That way you can expect good, attentive service at a very reasonable cost.
[sub]oftentimes I wonder why my friends don’t come to me for advice[/sub]
Set on having a sit-down dinner? I’m about ready to serve sandwiches from the local 7-11. This has been the biggest hassle I’ve ever run into in planning anything. I keep telling Jim that a sandwich buffet with really good cold cuts, buns, cheeses and salads would be perfect for a summer wedding, but he wants a hot meal. Since he hasn’t really made a fuss one way or the other about anything else, I have to give him this one.
Good idea about the hotel, bernse, but we’ve already booked a small community hall.
Hot sandwiches? No wait-most of them are messy…
Maybe-maybe a local church can help? Don’t they have church ladies who do cooking for weddings or something?
Do you want sympathy or suggestion? I’m gonna roll ahead with suggestion, hope that’s ok…
I was married at 1 pm in September. We self-catered.
The menu:
4 kinds of punch (ala Martha)
funny mixes of fruit juice and crystal light with juice ice cubes
invented in the aisle at Safeway
Meat Trays from store
Cheese Trays from store
Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Olives
Condiments to make sandwiches of above
Condiments to make salads of above
Enchiladas, Enchiladas, Enchiladas
We made the enchiladas two days before, heated them to 90% done. After they cooled, we added cheese to the top. The reheating only took 20 minutes and the cheese melted nicely.
We went with enchiladas because they taste just as good lukewarm as piping hot, and the leftovers are better than the original.
It went great, I highly recommend the summer salad/sandwich menu with one hot dish. We thought of adding sushi or shrimp, but decided the above was enough, well, plus cake
Have you considered finding a small local place you like that has a take-out menu? At most Chinese, Cajun, and barbecue (mmm, mutton…) places you can buy stuff by the quart at a decent price to take home. That way you not only save money and have the peace of mind that comes with knowing for sure your food will be there on the big day, you can have a wide variety of dishes and it’s really easy to tailor the amount of food to the number of guests.
Then again, you could go the route Dr. J and I are taking…taking everyone out to a wonderful but fairly inexpensive restaurant afterward.
Since I’m cheap and tacky, my wedding “Catering” will probably end up being hot dogs, hamburgers and a tray of mixed sub sandwiches, with the cheap red wine that comes in gigantic bottles and you keep it in the fridge, and three kinds of kool-aid with sherbert in it. It will basically be a Big-Ass Family Picnic wedding. This doesn’t work if you actually have taste, though.
(Note: the above post ostensibly made by me was actually made by CrazyCatLady. I have no plans to marry myself in the near future, although the sex has always been good.)
Thumb through the “Catering” section of your Yellow Pages. Gather all the pages together in your dominant hand. Yank strongly, yet firmly. Put torn-out pages in wastebasket.
What type of food do you like? Look in the “Restaurant” section of your Yellow Pages and select restaurants featuring that cuisine. In my experience, more than half of restaurants will cater, and will do it cheaper than a catering company. You might have to supply labor to serve and such, but you’ll get good food at a lower price (usually).
The completely evil part of me is thinking, “Hey, if Jim is so set on a hot meal for the reception, let Jim make the arrangements.”
(Sound of me seriously reconsidering this wedding thing) Ugh. Yeah, I second everyone who suggested restaurant catering. I’m having hors d’ouevres at my wedding for this exact reason. Have you noticed that the bridal industry is the biggest rip-off ever? I’m sure you have. Blech.
Okay, so far I think Sauron’s suggestion is the winner. I finally got a call back from one of the caterers I’ve been chasing for a couple of months, so I think they’re going to get our business. They’re only mildly outrageously priced. Next time I have to book something like this, I’m going to take everyone’s suggestion and go with either a restaurant or a hotel.
Al, I don’t even have a list of all the caterers I’ve tried to talk to. The first couple of pages of the yellow page section, basically. The ones that we’re probably going to go with are R.S.V.P. Caterers (a recommendation from a friend). Do you have any inside info on them?
I use Gourtmet Royal on a regular basis, as well as CandleLight. If RSVP doesn’t work out, let me know and I can call for you if you like. (I know the Grand Poobah’s at both places - sometimes that helps to grease the wheels a little. )
I finally got a call back from one of the caterers I’ve been chasing for a couple of months, so I think they’re going to get our business. They’re only mildly outrageously priced. Next time I have to book something like this, I’m going to take everyone’s suggestion and go with either a restaurant or a hotel.
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