Catering suggestions

motogrl13 · January 2011

My fiance and I are getting married in Chicago, June 2012 and are hoping to have the ceremony and reception site at Prairie Productions or some place similar. Because the space is completely empty, we would need to bring in a caterer as well as tables/chairs/linens/china/glasses/silverware/etc. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good caterer that is relatively cheap, ~$6500 for all of that?

We are open to buffet or heavy apps for food, as long as the apps fill people up and don't leave them feeling hungry.

Thanks so much!

Taylor

Golfer09 · January 2011

I had my wedding at Prairie Productions - IMHO I think getting everything within your budget of $6500 will be a challenge. The cost of rentals and labor is pretty high when you don't do a hotel of banquet hall plus assuming that you have 100 guests finding a per person cost of $40 and under will be challenging the other $25 per guest would be towards your service and rentals.

When I was researching caterers in 2008 for my wedding at Prairie at the end of 2009, many of them had minimums around $15-$20 thousand and that did not include rentals. I recommend reaching out to D'Absolute Catering - they provided the bartenders and labor at my wedding at Prairie. I hear good things about Chris and that he is reasonable from a cost perspective.

thealphabride · January 2011

I totally disagree with the PP.
There are caterers out there do your research. Unless you are having 300 people or some ridiculous amout of guests

I used a caterer that had good food and INCLUDED IN THE PRICE OF ALL THE FAMILY DINNERS AND BUFFET PACKAGES THE FOLLOWING:

CHINA- LINEN- GLASSWEAR- SILVERWARE- WATER GLASSES- CHAMPAIGNE GLASSES- table numbers

tHEY WILL EVEN SET UP YOUR CENTERPIECES, ESCORT CARDS, and favors,.

We had a custom menu, we had A 2 entree family dinner that included:
Fruit cup to start, you can have soup if you want
Plated Greek Salad
Greek Chicken it was GREAT!!!
Roast Beef with Gravy LOVED IT
Greek Oven Roasted Potatoes
Greek ORZO, (rice)
Desert
Coffee Service
We ordered a yummy simple cake from them too.
Saved on bakery delivery and set up costs and extra taxes.

They did a beautiful job setting up our tables.....

Total cost: 25 per plate.

Full bar package with bottled beer for 3 hours 16 per person.

The service was excellent, they also do rent tables and chairs. The bar service was excellent, my guests loved the food I got my cake from them too.

I don't know how many guests you are having but they have a HUGE menu and many buffet packages too. WE LOVED THEM AND THE FOOD AND THE SERVICE.
Not a fance place at all, but will do a tasing for you.

I loved the fact they don't put a gratuity on your contract and charge you 18% automatically. they let you decide how much to give and you pay the tip at the end of the night.
They have a huge extensive website too -----
www.mariosevents.com check em out
.....................and PM me for more info...

alexilyse · January 2011

I had my wedding at Prairie Production in August of 2010. We used J&L catering. We did a buffet, service, and rentals for around $7000. However, our wedding was 60 people. I think with enough research you can definitely find someone. Definitely contact Rachel at J&L though. She was a huge help with our budget.

Good luck. Enjoy Prairie! I loved working with Kristin and Michael!

erehn · January 2011

Hi! I unfortunately had a very negative experience with Prairie Productions. I thought I had my date booked (credit card was charged for the deposit), only to find out that Kristin and Michael apparently hadn't communicated with each other. My date had been booked by Kristen 3 days prior and I was communicating with Michael. This of course was after I had been willing to sign the contract 2 weeks prior and Michael had encouraged me to "take my time." Honestly the worst part was that neither Michael nor Kristen had the courtesy to call me, they e-mailed me and offered a Friday date because there were no more Saturdays available. My credit card was refunded but I was out a reception site! Needless to say, the whole thing still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

So, just a little background as to where I'm coming from! We ended up going with the Newberry library and are very happy now. We are using D'Absolute catering and while the rental fee for the Newberry is higher, not having to rent tables/chairs/decorations ends up being cheaper and so much easier!! Best of luck.

Golfer09 · January 2011

I want to clarify on my post - I did not say that this could not be done but that it would be a challenge. This was based on me calling many well known caterers and doing research when I was trying to book a caterer for my wedding. In some cases, the catering managers were somewhat mean to me and dismissive making me feel like Vivian from Pretty Woman.

The OP asked for caterer suggestions and I provided one that I felt could accommodate or assist with that price point.

I ended up paying around $11,000 for my buffet catering (includes holiday labor rates and rentals) and we had over 120 people. All the major catering companies were quoting me around $17-20 grand (much of which was due to the fact that my wedding was on NYE so labor was double overtime rates and also charged for buffet equipment which was insanely expensive).

We did not offer coffee/tea service as the equipment alone woud have cost me an extra $250 for the urns, creamers, cups, etc. When you have to bring everything in, you get a new perspective on how much you really are saving/not saving by not having your wedding at a banquet hall or hotel where it's easy to procure another fork, table or chair.

I am happy to hear that there are caterers that will meet a tight budget and completely agree with Alpha to do research but I will still stand by my original statement that it would be a challenge to find many caterers to meet that price point.

thealphabride · January 2011

Agreed Golfer, I was very surprised to find the caterer I used. The pricing of most rentals are very high and no one that I found had so many inclusions in their package. I also wanted to go with someone who could do the alcohol as well.

There are pros and cons to all. I still had to pay a hefty rental fee for my venue. All in all with venue costs included with the food it came out to 72 per person for the reception.

Allison8879 · January 2011

based on positive recommendations from a few sources, i've been communicating w/ D'Absolute catering (Chris) and he said they could do "all in" passed apps, sit down dinner w/ app/main/desert plus all the servers, tables, chairs, plates, glasses, equipment, etc... at about $100/person (which is cheaper than quotes i've received from other caterers) and then you BYO alcohol which is about $10/person. so for my 100 person wedding, i'm guessing it would be about $11K plus the venue fee. i've also been looking at prairie productions and newberry library but neither have saturday dates this august which is when we're hoping to get married. on a related note - does anyone have suggestions for similar places that don't cost more than $5-6K to rent??

Golfer09 · January 2011

Loft on Lake
West Loop Studios
West Grand Studios
Ravenswood Event Center
Room 1520 (currently have a special for $500 off venue rental):
http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/real-estate/PHOTOS-Aeree-Loft-Grand-Opening-room-1520-114604194.html

I just got an email from my DOC @ Liven It Up Events about a new space in the South Loop called Britten Loft. It's at 1420 South Michigan Ave (2 blocks south of Roosevelt). I don't know what the rates are or what it looks like but it might be worth contacting them since they are pretty new. The flyer had the contact name as Laura Nash and she can be reached at lnash@brittenchicago.com.

Good luck!

motogrl13 · February 2011

Thanks everyone for the advice! I've heard really great things about Chris, but he hasn't really been willing to communicate with me (he told me he'd call me back to schedule a meeting, but I've yet to hear from him)...anyone have a similar experience? (As an aside, this seems to be a problem for me with all of the caterers I've been in contact with, except Marcello's and the people at Ravenswood event center).

Has anyone heard of or worked with Beyond Events? Their website looks good, but I can't find any info on them.

Also, for the ladies that have done the ceremony and reception at the same location, did you have a time lapse between the end of the ceremony and start of the reception? If so, how long was it?

Thanks again everyone!

Taylor

Golfer09 · February 2011

We had our ceremony and reception at the same location. As soon as the ceremony was over, our guests headed to the bar for cocktail hour which lasted 45 minutes so the crew could "flip" the room to a dining room. Here was our timeline:

7pm - Ceremony (actual start time: 7:15)
7:45-8:30 pm - Cocktail hour
8:40 - Intros/cake cutting/first dance/speeches/grace
9:00 - Dinner
10:15 - Dancing

slouise23 · February 2011

We used Chef's Palette. Our guests were so impressed with the food, and Chef Sashah is super accommodating!

http://www.thechefspalette.com/

thealphabride · February 2011

We also had our ceremony and reception at the same place. We did the ceremony at 4:15 and finished at 4:45. We did a receiving line immediately following. Got some great pics and video from that!!!!

The guests went from the line.. straight to the cocktail hour, and it worked perfectly.

There was no gap between wedding and cocktail hour. We did all of our pics before the wedding, took a few after the ceremony, and essentially we were able to enjoy the cocktail hour with our guests.

We used 3 different areas of the venue:
Ceremony was at the Chapel
Cocktail Hour was in the foyer of the Event Hall
Reception was in the Event Hall

Pics are posted of our wedding on the website www.mayslakepeabody.com
We had the long gold table in the center of the room. Ou escort card table was blue linen with an arrangement in the center..by kiokreations.com

aimers1525 · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_catering-suggestions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:ed4cc26b-3c50-4dde-a90c-7657167a5946Post:8e69b8f0-dfdc-4a46-b27d-90b7d7edadde">Re: Catering suggestions</a>:
[QUOTE]Loft on Lake West Loop Studios West Grand Studios Ravenswood Event Center Room 1520 (currently have a special for $500 off venue rental): <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/real-estate/PHOTOS-Aeree-Loft-Grand-Opening-room-1520-114604194.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.nbcchicago.com/around-town/real-estate/PHOTOS-Aeree-Loft-Grand-Opening-room-1520-114604194.html</a><strong> I just got an email from my DOC @ Liven It Up Events about a new space in the South Loop called Britten Loft. It's at 1420 South Michigan Ave (2 blocks south of Roosevelt).</strong> I don't know what the rates are or what it looks like but it might be worth contacting them since they are pretty new. The flyer had the contact name as Laura Nash and she can be reached at lnash@brittenchicago.com. Good luck!
Posted by Golfer09[/QUOTE]
I live right around the corner from there; had no idea they had event space! I have no idea what the space is like, but I would be concerned about parking. There are a few public pay lots, but otherwise it's street parking.

arrabelle · February 2011

hi guys!

i'm totally looking into marios events, thanks pp!

we're looking at room 1520, venue fee is $3900 haley is the contact person there, she's so patient and responsive in her emails, i feel like i should make her a bridesmaid.

we originally looked at prairie but i also had a really awkward experience there. we just got the feeling they didn't like us since others give them such thumbs up, they were actually super rude to us. but i'm glad it's not just me!!

both of those places allow you to bring your own booze as long as you have bar staff serve it, which is HUGE, if you have drinkers like we do it will save you lots.

a catering option i found is polonia catering. our families are german and polish and we're looking at a family style option - for 200 people with everything included the rough estimate i have is about $13000. keep in mind that doesn't include alcohol or bar staff, but does include tax and gratuity.

wishbone catering doesn't seem too pricey and their restaurant is right there in the west loop. i love their food but i don't know if it will work for our families, we're going to see if they can make pierogi.

i'm going to keep looking back at this thread and see if anybody else has ideas to post, thanks!!!!!!

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