Anybody else think Caterers are crazy?

bchbride062012 · February 2012

My caterer is a freaking fruitloop but her food is amazing so I can deal. But this made me wonder if anyone else find their caterers crazy? I was stumped over the gratuity as part of the deposit. It could be a standard but seriously?!?! I get that 20% is part of the contract but expected in the deposit is a bit much. Why don't they just add it into the price of the plate if it is required. I like my gratuity to be my opinion not a required amount but thats a personal preference. I guess too many people stiff them if they don't include it. I don't know.

Kfudge0714 · February 2012

I'm not using a Caterer but my venue has an automatic 20% gratuity. I think that's a standard thing.

kristin183 · February 2012

That was part of the reason I didn't use a traditional caterer... They were crazy and adding all sorts of things in and wouldn't respond to me. They also added in the 20%.. when it came to food I wanted to be the judge of the gratuity. We ended up using a local bbq place (that is amazing) and they have been awesome to work with. Super easy!

The only thing I pre-paid gratuity on was our transportation. The owner included it at 15% and he mentioned it was easier to include it on the invoice then trying to tip or "settle up" when we got to our final destination.. which I like.. we can just be on our way.

daria24 · February 2012

I have a 20% service charge...and it doesn't even cover the gratuity. So I have to tip ON TOP of that. But the service charge isn't part of the deposit-it's broken up with the 120 day, 90 day, 30 day payments, etc.

tyleet87 · February 2012

That's pretty standard. My caterer is crazy too. She's such a 'space cadet' (as FI would say) and always forgets about our appointments! And she talks a mile a minute. hah But our venue only works with her so...

Zimsgirl · February 2012

My banquet manager is pretty quirky but I know the food's good. I think our gratuity is 15% and 7% service charge or something like that

DrPB2b13 · February 2012

We're also required to pay a 20% gratuity, and I agree that it's kind of crazy that it's up front - we should be able to choose. But I also think that there are a large number of people who would justify not paying the gratuity at all on the cost of the food alone, leaving all of the servers and chefs without any tip at all, so I understand why it's required. I do wish it was closer to 12-15% though, with the option to go higher if the quality of food & service deserve it.

nanciee220 · February 2012

Wow thats nuts. We lucked out...our caterers don't have a gratuity added on. I thought it was kind of odd...but they leave it up to us to decide how much to tip!

julbgordo · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_june-2012-weddings_anybody-else-think-caterers-are-crazy?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:3ae4d68d-f10a-4dec-8810-da13c14a7b86Discussion:e162dc2d-b516-4836-a786-ac6bce7eb146Post:7c7ee5b2-1ff4-4149-a32a-3ebadbd45755">Re: Anybody else think Caterers are crazy?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm not using a Caterer but my venue has an automatic 20% gratuity. I think that's a standard thing.
Posted by Kfudge0714[/QUOTE]

<div>This. For big events, restaurants and caterers will always roll gratuity into the contract. Even at most restaurants if your party is larger than 6 people, they will automatically add gratuity to your bill. That's pretty standard from what I've seen.</div>

Melissa603 · February 2012

I don't think adding in gratuity is crazy. Working a large party is a ridiculous amount of a work. If you go out to a restuarant with a large party gratuity is often added in. I don't find it odd at all that tip be added into the contract.

Anybody else think Caterers are crazy?

Re: Anybody else think Caterers are crazy?

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