Need caterer advice

Re: Need caterer advice

• Pretty Parula

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  We're working with Arthur's, and it's $10/pp for alcohol. I guess if you consider the cost of a couple of drinks, and assume that most of the drinking folks will have 2 or so in a 4-hour time period, I can understand the charge. You may ask if you can bring your own alcohol, though. Most companies probably won't go for it, but Arthur's is letting us bring our own vodka for a signature martini and not charging us for the mixer stuff. I know they're letting at least one other person bring all of their own alcohol. So it may be worth asking the companies you're considering. I see nothing wrong with asking companies if they can match or beat what another company does - the worst that will happen is they'll say they can't and you move on. GL!

  
  Fabulosity in the Works / Rockin' the Rock / For Sale

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• mlharbis

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  That is ridiculous that the other companies have not contacted you. It is really irritating to me when vendors don't get back in a timely fashion.
  I am using Puff n Stuff. It was between puff n stuff and john michael and michael (the owner of john michael) was not very accommodating of offering me a tasting (he said I already had one at his show- my mom did I didn't, and he said I would have to come to a show, I can't I'm in school in Mississippi and he said no until I explained to him that it is my wedding not my mom's and I want to taste the food) and puff n stuff was great from the beginning. I am working with Heidi and she is awesome (I'm sure everyone else there is great too). I am having a full bar and supplying my own liquor and it is $5.25 per person, John Michael was going to charge me $7. Puff n Stuff has been very helpful and willing to work with my budget and gave me an amazing seated meal with passed appetizers for a VERY reasonable price. I am also having wine service with dinner which Puff n Stuff is doing for free (I supply wine) and John MIchael was going to charge me a lot. My reception is at the Farmers Market and John Michael told me it would be so hard for them to work there and hard to get the food out without getting cold (the FM doesnt have a full kitchen) and Puff n Stuff said they had done weddings there and it was no problem. I could go on for hours about how happy I am that I chose Puff n Stuff.
  I feel like everything is negotiable because after I got the bid with the price from puff n stuff I called her and asked if there was anyway to make it $X per person and she said she would try and did it without sacrificing anything!
  Good luck deciding! Also, make sure you have a tasting with all companies before you rule anyone out or decide to keep them in. The tasting is very important and I was blown away at how good the food was and the great presentations at Puff n Stuff.
  Sorry that was kinda long!
  

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• therockisblinding05

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  I'm using Levans and have been very pleased with how well Duane over there is working w/ us. Prices are great! FI and I (who differ greatly in food tastes) had them as a unanimous first choice!

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• ashbosity member

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  Pretty Parula, Aurthur's was actually pretty quick getting back to me too, but they are out of our price range. They quoted us $48pp for their most basic menu with bar setup and fees. We are trying to come in under $40pp (preferably $35ish). 

  
  

  mlh, I'm glad you posted such a long, informative post. Unless they changed their prices recently, Puff 'n Stuff's info sheet says full bar setup for up to 100 people is $6.75 a person, $7.25 for under 75 people. Levan's quoted us $4pp for the same setup. Do you have over 200 people? My venue (LMEC) allows you to bring your own alcohol, so that's good, but we know that most of our guests will not drink at all or have only one drink. Do they let you exclude people under 21 in the number you pay for? Glad to hear they are willing to work with budgets, because mine is small. 

  
  

  therock, thanks for the info. I hadn't heard anything about Levan's. 

  
  

  Anyone else with opinions/stories to share, please keep posting! Thanks!

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• mlharbis

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  My budget is very small too. I am having between 60 and 80 ppl. For full bar set up (glasses, napkins, and all the mixers and water) with me providing the alcohol my contract says $5.25, so I bet you can get the same price too. I don't know if they don't count people under 21 because they could still go to the bar and get a soda (which is what you are paying them for, the soda and mixers). I have a big drinking crowd (and only 2 people under 21) so I know a full bar will be much appreciated and used!
  I just got a great feeling when we went to meet with Puff n Stuff that I was willing to give up something to use them (but I didn't have to because she came to my goal of $25 pp for food). My food is $25 pp (butler passed apps and seated dual entree of steak and chicken), $5.25 for bar set up, and then server and bartender costs, so I bet you can get pretty close to your $35 pp to the caterer. It also includes linens on the tables and glasses etc.

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• SRivera09 member

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  what about big city catering?  They contacted me pretty quickly and came back with a good number.  It was definately in your price range.

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• Pretty Parula

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  Yeah Ash, no kidding about Arthur's prices - we didn't have a choice in caterer's, though, since they are the only caterers that contract with Casa Feliz. Good luck finding what you want!

  
  Fabulosity in the Works / Rockin' the Rock / For Sale

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• mlharbis

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  when I was looking at caterers someone also recommended Bjoely (I think thats how it is spelt). I don't remember much about their prices and food selections, but they got back to me really quickly (they were booked on my date).

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• Stoner10 member

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  I'm using John Michael's and I'm really suprised that they took that long to get back with you. They were very quick to respond to my request. They were very willing to work around our budget and you purchase your own alcohol with them, which was a huge cost savings for us.
  Good luck!

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• Dragonfly6191

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  I'm using John Michael's...and I have mixed reviews!
  
  Initally, we went with them because I LOVED Michael and felt like he was very genuine and really wanted to make his clients happy. Their pricing was about in the middle...I got some cheaper quotes elsewhere, but also got some that were much worse. He offered to move our chairs from the ceremony to the reception so that we didn't have to pay for double chair covers...which I thought was impressive that he offered ( I would never have even asked).
  
  The food, I think is ok for the price. I have had some really good stuff, and some blah stuff. I have also noticed that the quality seems to vary a bit each time I have tasted their stuff.
  
  Up unti recently, I was pretty much giving rave reveiws for them. That has changed a little in the last month, due primarily to the way they do their tastings for clients. They do group tastings, where once every couple months they invite all clients to a venue and let you try various things off their menus (never ALL of the options at one time, just some). In theory, this seems fine...but what I didn't realize was that this is the ONLY way they will do a tasting. They will not set up a private tasting for you. So, if you don't get to try something off the menu because you can't make a tasting or there werent enough of them before your wedding, you are SOL. When FI and I sat down to finalize our menu, there were several things we never got to try, but thought we wanted to include. Now we are stuck trying to figure out whether to use items we haven't sampled, or only use ones we have. Kinda sucky.
  
  As far as his response time, it has slowed DRASTICALLY in the past month. He used to get back to me right away. My coordinator and I have been triyng to set up a final meeting with him for a couple weeks, and it hasn't happened yet. She told me that he has been traveling alot. While I understand that...there are still booked clients who need to take care of things!
  
  So, I'm on the fence. I do still really like Michael, and I do mostly like the food...but I do have to say, If I had known in advance that we couldn't try something on the menu prior to putting it on our wedding menu..I would have gone elsewhere, but that's just me!
  
  HTH!
  

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• brit21489

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  I know what you mean about the tastings. He does do private tastings, but they can only happen when he has an event and it is food from that event. So basically we went in and did a tasting of someone else's menu (but he added the chicken parm cuz it was easy to do). But we got lucky and they were having most the stuff we are serving except our veggie medley. I really don't like the way he does that but I get it. Also, he apparently just had surgery so idk if that has anything to do with it. My FI and I really like him as a person and he was the lowest price we were offered. I think I'll continue to give rave reviews if the food is awesome the day of. lol. 
  
  As for all of the others, I have heard some not so great things from my florist about Levans.    Puff n stuff's contract was a lot higher for us and they expect you to tip a lot (according to the side note on the contract I was sent that said something about 50-150 per server or something crazy like that).  We liked Aruther's and Big City (we tried food at BC and it was really really good) and they were part of our final 3. But after meeting Michael, we liked his personality so much that we went with him. Out of the 3 that are left, 1 never responded and two I wasn't so sure about their proposals.
  
  Maybe something is up with Michael that is making him not on his game. He ended up getting our menu down to $19.50pp for food (one entree and drinks only served at the bar) and $4 for the bar set up for beer and wine, which is all we want to do. I'm excited and I really hope it ends up working out for me and you all too!!
  

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• mlharbis

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  My experience with the John Michael tasting was similar to the girls above. He said I couldnt have a tasting because my mom went to his show and got to taste a chicken dish and I told him that I would not book any caterer without tasting the food so he set up a private tasting where we tasted food from an event he had that night. I didnt like the food, it was WAY too garlicy, but FI thought it was ok. (I have a problem and hate garlic). But we would not have been able to taste the food that we would necessarily pick for the wedding, which is a huge problem to me. And was a big negative compared to how we were treated at Puff n Stuff. She scheduled a tasting with what the meal would be before we signed a contract without me asking and the food was AMAZING and is exactly what we will be getting the day of (she took a picture and put it in my file so it would have the exact same presentation too!). I think the big difference between the two caterers is that John Michael is a very small company, he is involved in each wedding and they only do a couple events a weekend, but because it is so small private tastings are costly to them and they may not be as efficient (esp in answering emails) as a large company with work spread out over many people. Puff n Stuff is a large company that has many representatives that handle each wedding or event. Their job is to handle your event and make sure it is exactly what you want. Private tastings are not costly because they are always cooking in their kitchen.
  Hope that helps!

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• ashbosity member

  

  March 2010 edited December 2011

  Thank you guys SO much! I emailed John Michael's again. If he is out, that may be slowing things down, but it does reflect poorly on the company. We'll probably do tastings with atleast Puff 'n Stuff, Levan's and John Michael's (if they ever get back to me). I've heard nothing but good things about Puff 'n Stuff and if they will bend on their bar setup fees, that's awesome. Now, I just have to wait for my tax return so we have money for deposits!

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