Next October I will be a Barclay Villa bride and I couldn't be happier about it. The place is so pretty and Danielle is the sweetest woman I've ever worked with. If you didn't know, Barclay Villa used to require all of their events be catered by Barclay Catering, which a separate entity but they worked together for something like 20 years (I think it's a family thing but I'm not sure). Anyway recently Barclay changed their policy requiring everyone use Barclay Catering and now they're just strongly recommended. I'm getting to the venting, I swear!
Well, we booked Barclay Villa and met with Cathy, the owner of Barclay Catering, but I wanted to check out other caterers. My goal is to find the best caterer at the best price since I have options (duh, right?). So in a nut shell, Barclay Catering doesn't do tastings, they just don't. I could understand that when it was a given that brides who book the venue would have to book them as the caterer but that's not the case anymore. So I sent an email questioning how they could expect to win over perspective clients without letting them taste the food. I also said that I was glad for the choice to check out other options (because I believe that a competitive market is best). The email I sent was literally 3 sentences and I am in total shock by the reply.
The reply came from the owner herself and she completely took everything personal. She went on about how their quality of food is outstanding and their prices are very competitive and how everyone just loves their food. Now I'd just like to point out that I never said they had bad food, in fact everyone I talked to said they have amazing food. My point was that I've never tasted it....that was all! And she said that almost all of her business comes from past clients, word of mouth and internet reviews. This is why they don't need to do tastings, cuz everyone already knows they're good. But I still want to know what does that have to do with me, someone who's never heard of them? I appreciate the reviews I've read but I still need to see some things for myself!
And then she goes on to say how well they treat their couples and how once they sign a contract they are treated to tasting events (she called them gala's) and are taken care of at every turn. Ok.....STILL has nothing to do with my original comment of how they work with prospective clients.
So FINALLY, after all that she finishes her email with something to the effect of, oh by the way, I just noticed that we're already booked on your wedding date.
How insane is that? I mean she already took a whole page defending her business (which I never said a bad thing about) and telling me off over what she construed as a direct insult even though it wasn't (seriously, it wasn't at all) and then she has the nerve to tell me she's booked! Like I really want to work with someone who flies off the handle over 3 sentences! People expect brides to go all bridezilla, not the vendors!!!