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Portsmouth Pearl Catering?

ashandtipoashandtipo member
First Anniversary First Comment
in New Hampshire
My fiancee and I are very close in choosing our caterer. The Portsmouth Pearl catering service seems to be exactly what we want, but we can't find any reviews on them. 

Has anyone used them before? They said they usually do local Portsmouth events and don't ask for testimonials. I should be getting a reference to call soon, but in the meantime...
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Re: Portsmouth Pearl Catering?

  • MOG730MOG730 member
    First Comment
    Get a reference or 2 or 3 from them.  It's your $$, but I'm just sayin.............
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  • DrPB2b13DrPB2b13 member
    First Comment
    I've never heard of them but I agree with MOG - don't settle for just one reference, ask for several.  Not that I think they're a bad service, but tt's easy to give you the name and number of the ONE event they did right; if you ask for several references, it becomes harder to hide problems.
    Mrs. Abbe Peanut Butter || Planning Bio
    June 2012 February Signature: Favorite picture of you & FI
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  • PatjerDPatjerD member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://black-and-white.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-hampshire_portsmouth-pearl-catering?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:101Discussion:2993ca31-c248-4d17-b86c-9f588c64ab0bPost:5bf1d621-ab37-4a70-a4df-da7a29526ea3">Portsmouth Pearl Catering?</a>:
    [QUOTE]My fiancee and I are very close in choosing our caterer. The Portsmouth Pearl catering service seems to be exactly what we want, but we can't find any reviews on them.  Has anyone used them before? They said they usually do local Portsmouth events and don't ask for testimonials. I should be getting a reference to call soon, but in the meantime...
    Posted by ashandtipo[/QUOTE]

    We attended a wedding a the Portsmouth Pearl on 8/11/2012.  JUst a word of warning.....it was the worst wedding food that we have encountered in many years....meal was chintzy...tasteless and poorly prepared....came out of the kitchen late.....and the service was totally amateur....the waitresses were iinappropriately dressed.....they never cleared the tables after the meal...there was no coffee after the dinner...the ushers ended up serving the wedding cake...no plates because they were cupcakes....they just put them on a tray and passed them around....because the servers didn't.....the DJs assistant was passing cupckes too.....the DJ was awesome and kept her finger on the pulse of the evening the entire time....she helped everything to flow....when the kitchen staff couldn't......they set 1 bar for over 100 people upstairs in the far corner.....and word was around that the bartender was sampling the vodka as he was pouring the drinks......Sadly, the beautiful wedding couple did not get what they paid for on any level......the day ended up being wonderful because they are.....and the Portsmouth Perl catering did nothing to help them have a beautifyl day!!!!!
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  • ashandtipoashandtipo member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-hampshire_portsmouth-pearl-catering?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:101Discussion:2993ca31-c248-4d17-b86c-9f588c64ab0bPost:544b33e3-3fd3-4749-ba60-bd06fe081e14">Re: Portsmouth Pearl Catering?</a>:
    [QUOTE]JUst a word of warning.....it was the worst wedding food that we have encountered in many years.....Sadly, the beautiful wedding couple did not get what they paid for on any level......the day ended up being wonderful because they are.....and the Portsmouth Perl catering did nothing to help them have a beautifyl day!!!!!
    Posted by PatjerD[/QUOTE]<div>
    </div><div>Thank you for your post, I appreciate your opinion, however I have a few questions. When working with the Pearl to talk about a menu for our wedding and services, we discussed many of the issues you addressed in your post--the passing of cake, the coffee at the end of the meal--and these were all extras that we had to ask about. Could it be possible that the bride and groom opted out of these services? It sounds like they already made some cuts on their own that you knew about, and that maybe you were just unhappy with ones you didn't know about. I was wondering if you could tell me what the wait staff was wearing because you had mentioned it was inappropriate? Thank you so much, the more specific you can be the better so I can iron out details with the caterer. 

    </div>
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  • ConwayhrConwayhr member
    First Comment
    This actually was my wedding the previous post was about. We had a few meeting with the pearl and discussed all of the details that were mentioned in the post. None of what we discussed was done the way we had planned. We were very disappointed with the service provided. Not worth what we paid....
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  • PatjerDPatjerD member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-hampshire_portsmouth-pearl-catering?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:101Discussion:2993ca31-c248-4d17-b86c-9f588c64ab0bPost:8668ad00-3e76-4562-bbf8-3e99f2e0ad96">Re:Portsmouth Pearl Catering?</a>:
    [QUOTE]This actually was my wedding the previous post was about. We had a few meeting with the pearl and discussed all of the details that were mentioned in the post. None of what we discussed was done the way we had planned. We were very disappointed with the service provided. Not worth what we paid....
    Posted by Conwayhr[/QUOTE]
    actually, we had nothing against whatever concessions had been made for this wedding...we know that the wedding couple had worked really hard to make the day memorable for themselves and for their guests....our only issue ws exactly as the bride had stated ...they definitely did not get their monies worth....as for what the wait stafff was wearing,,,one of the girls had a mini skirt on that was so tight and short she would not have been to bend over if she was asked to...we have been to many events prior to this one and had never seen such messy people serving guests....on the bright side...they are a beautiful, happy couple and their lives will not be changed by the poor service and attention to detail provided buy the caterers at the wedding....it just seems a shame that this wedding venue would take advantage of such an important day to this young couple....
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  • 00McGee0000McGee00
    First Comment
    I know this is late and you probably already had your wedding (congrats by the way!) but I felt it was imperative to get my review out there as well. Its been 2 years since my wedding and I used Portsmouth Pearl as my caterer. This is the feedback email I sent to them the month following my wedding, with multiple follow up emails to get a response and 2 years later I HAVE NOT HEARD BACK ONCE:

    Hey Cindy,
         I just wanted to give you some feedback on the event now that some time has passed and I have been getting reviews from friends and family on aspects of the wedding.
         For starters, hands down everyone LOVED each and every passed app. The only mistake was that the mushrooms were supposed to be a vegetarian version of the chorizo mushrooms. So in the end the vegetarians didnt get any appetizers. But taste and presentation blew them away! 
         As for main courses, people raaaaaaved about the Beef. Lauren ordered the beef and just like you said, it was cooked perfectly. It held up wonderfully even though dinner was running late. The flavors were delicious and we got the most positive reviews from that dish! 
         Most people really liked the chicken. A few people said it was dry but im chalking that up to dinner running late too :) 
         The fish, on the other hand, was absolutely inedible. No exaggeration. Unfortunately it is what I ordered so I had to share Lauren's beef in order to eat because it didnt occur to me in the moment to flag down a waiter and ask for a different plate- my emotions were running too high. I asked around and it turns out the general consensus was that the fish was awful. Im sure it was ok when it was first made but it turns out that dish specifically did not hold up well. 
         As for the vegetarian platter- my mom got a dish full of vegetables. I dont know what happened to the Eggplant Parm idea that we had agreed upon but that was the issue that actually made me mad. I was embarrassed about the fish because I had talked up the food so much and that dish didnt hold up at all, but when my mom told me that she merely got a side dish as her main I was pissed. I looked back on our previous emails and it was agreed upon by both parties- even suggested by you- so what happened?
         Coffee- broken machine. Cake- left on the side table and practically no one got any. Now I know that we agreed that a buffet style cake service would be better than plated but no one was told about it. The DJ didnt make an announcement, waiters did not do a good job of getting the word out, and in the end our $600 wedding cake was a lost cause. I thought you guys were supposed to take care of organizing that and if I knew that it was going to be my job to tell the DJ to announce the cake I would have. Where was the fruit display for the diabetics?
         We spent twice as much on the bar as we had planned which was ok because everyone was talking about how impressed they were that there was an open bar the whole night, and it was our fault for not capping it. But in the end it made us look good, it allowed people to have a good time, and drunk people are kinder about any shortcomings :) I heard that the bar staff was on point and that people loved the head bartender. Please pass on our thanks!
         Your table side manner and preliminary planning were outstanding. You were so accommodating and professional and I had every faith in the Portsmouth Pearl. But after the night ended and we had a chance to take a reflective look on the evening we found out that most of it was a major fail. I dont know exactly what was so confusing or complicated about our wedding but I cant in good conscious pass on recommendations of the Pearl. I will also not say anything bad because I know all of the intentions were good and the staff were professional, you were accommodating, and up until the wedding it was almost stress-less, but the result was in short- disappointing. Too much went wrong. Too much was left out. Too much was promised and not delivered.

    I regret spending so much money on the Portsmouth Pearl. I do not feel like I got my money's worth. In fact I feel like we deserve compensation for all that was not delivered but I dont even know how to begin with that. My mom, the person who paid for the wedding was let down at every turn. No main dinner, no coffee, no dessert. What am I supposed to say to her?

    I wish you the best of luck and hope that you take this constructive criticism to heart and use it to improve your service. I would like to know what happened on your part if you can explain. It would at least help to improve the taste that is left im my mouth.

    Sincerely,
    The Bride"

    I felt that I gave very professional feedback to a company that let me down but because I have not heard back in over 2 years- and gave them fair warning that I would post reviews if I didnt hear back from anyone on multiple occasions- here is my heartfelt review for anyone who googles Portsmouth Pearl. The bride is heartbroken...
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  • FutureMr&MrsGFutureMr&MrsG member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Thank you for the review, I am looking around for venues and will definately not consider the Portsmouth Pearl now.
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