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Wedding Etiquette Forum
Buyer's remorse?
Ok, so FI and I met with our caterer when we first got engaged. We liked that she was blunt and honest with us so we decided to book. BAM. done. $200 deposit given. Mind you we had never met with anyone else.
Then more recently I've been trying to look around for reviews anywhere online of her food/service. I can't find anything really--there are maybe 2 reviews for a company that has been around for 15 years or so. That made me a little uneasy because I like to read those to get a real idea of the company/person you're dealing with.
Then I email her the other day to ask about a tasting before the wedding. We don't get a tasting. I also ask when my final numbers need to be submitted to her. She says 6 weeks before the event..which seems a bit ridiculous to me.
I can't tell if I'm just being sensitive and uneasy because the wedding stuff is picking up the pace now or if this is something I should be worried about and maybe start looking into other options.
Any thoughts?
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Re: Buyer's remorse?
Honestly, $200 isn't much of a deposit for a caterer, IMO, and I'd eat it and try to find someone else, especially if you're not comfortable with these things.
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If you can afford to lose the $200, I would try to find a different caterer.
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But really, if you kept her and found on the day of the wedding that her food tasted like shiit, you might think it would have been worth $200 to go somewhere else. Sometimes it's easier to be safer than sorry.
However, she needed my final count one week before. Six weeks is completely ridiculous.
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[QUOTE]Ok, so FI and I met with our caterer when we first got engaged. We liked that she was blunt and honest with us so we decided to book. BAM. done. $200 deposit given. Mind you we had never met with anyone else. Then more recently I've been trying to look around for reviews anywhere online of her food/service. I can't find anything really--there are maybe 2 reviews for a company that has been around for 15 years or so. That made me a little uneasy because I like to read those to get a real idea of the company/person you're dealing with. Then I email her the other day to ask about a tasting before the wedding. We don't get a tasting. I also ask when my final numbers need to be submitted to her. She says 6 weeks before the event..which seems a bit ridiculous to me. I can't tell if I'm just being sensitive and uneasy because the wedding stuff is picking up the pace now or if this is something I should be worried about and maybe start looking into other options. Any thoughts?
Posted by laurenpm[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>You put a deposit down without actually tasting the food??? I'd suck up the deposit and go elsewhere and consider it a lesson learned. Any caterer worth jack is going to let you TASTE their food.
</div>
Whatever you hatters be hattin. -Tay Prince
ETA: Ouch, Lauren. Well, lesson learned. Get EVERYTHING in writing before you put any money down.
ETA again: I'm an idiot who put the wrong name in.
Books read in 2012: 21/50
I would be on the lookout for a new caterer. You might find that with differences in pricing, you won't end up eating that much of the deposit. It would be worth $200 to me to get to taste the food beforehand and have a more reasonable deadline (we wouldn't sign until we tasted the caterer's food).
ETA: Nevermind, you don't have a contract. About the tastings--for our reception, we ate in the venue's restaurant, but we didn't try our actual food, like LC said. For our day before BBQ, we went to the caterer's home (she works out of her home), and she cooked us burgers, hot dogs, and the side dish and dessert choices we were deciding between.
[QUOTE]Ditto about the tasting. I agree with the others that $200 isn't that big of a deal if you have to walk away from it. She might even offer a tasting once you tell her that you have decided to go with a caterer that will let you taste the food first. <strong>As for the final count, do they mean the "offical" final count that you'll be charged for? </strong> Our venue wanted an invite estimate at about 6 weeks out just to start their planning, then an estimated guest total at 2 weeks out. We didn't have to give the number that we were officially charged for until 3 days before the wedding.
Posted by dnbeach12[/QUOTE]
She said that after the 6 week count my number can go up but not down. I'm assuming that would be considered the final-ish at least?
Books read in 2012: 21/50
You'll only be out the $200. Some contracts make you pay xx amount of what the bill would have been if you back out.
[QUOTE]I wouldn't get food from a place for a big event if I couldn't taste it before. I also don't think I would go with someone who needs numbers 6 weeks before the wedding. <strong>Honestly, $200 isn't much of a deposit for a caterer, IMO, and I'd eat it</strong> and try to find someone else, especially if you're not comfortable with these things.
Posted by J&K10910[/QUOTE]
No pun intended? ;)
OP - sounds like you've already decided to look around more. Good idea. We didn't taste anything for our reception either, but the golf club has a restaurant and we've eaten there before as well as attended other functions so we had a pretty good idea.
Our rehearsal dinner is at a restaurant, and they didn't include a tasting (as anticipated). We went to dinner ourselves there to try the food; perhaps she will do a tasting for you if you offer to pay for it? I know it's not ideal, but if the food is good and you are happy with it, and it comes in under $200, you might save yourself in the long run.
I do think the deadline for a count is ridiculous, but if I were you I'd give her (if you decide to stay) a ridiculously low minimum and up it after the fact, as long as she doesn't put a maximum on how much you can increase it.
Just a thought.
Our Venue did the catering and we had a tasting. The tasting actually cost $ (I think like $50 or so per person) but if we decided to sign the contract, then that money was put towards the deposit.
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Signing a contract before a tasting is actually common in hotel/resort policies. They're not going to prepare food, ie: spending their money, before having confirmation that this event is actually going to take place.
That being said, once a contract is signed they usually do tastings. I've seen tastings done as far out as 8 months and as close in as 6 weeks. You should talk to your caterer and at least see if she'll concede on the rsvp deadline, ask for some people you can call that used her in the past, and if she'll let you, pay for a tasting. I wouldn't give up on her just yet. But if she won't do any of those three things I would definitely find someone else.