Small issues w/ caterer (mostly venting)

julieanne912 · June 2015

So I've booked my caterer and paid the deposit. My MOH recommended this caterer as they did a party for her (non-wedding). We wanted to do BBQ and this place offers it, but is a full service catering company as well, and that's why I picked them, as our wedding is on the larger side and I wasn't comfortable with some of the BBQ companies handling the large volume.

My frustration comes with the event planner they gave me. When I first talked to her she tried to upsell me on stuff because it was a wedding. Fine, I get it, she probably gets paid on how much I spend. I was able to shoot down some of that. Now that we've booked and made a deposit, she can sometimes take forever to get back to me with some simple questions, the latest took her 3 days to respond to an email where I just asked her how much it would cost to add in a bartender, and then she sends a bid that just shows "$600 for bar package" without explaining what all that includes. I've also been trying to arrange a time to meet with her to go over the wait staff needs and some other stuff that would be better to do in person than over email. I'm limited to evenings and weekends, and she pretty much says she's busy all the time, which maybe she is.

I dunno maybe I'm being too demanding but it's starting to get super frustrating. Our quote is already at $6,000 which I know probably isn't a lot to her, but to me it is.

justsie · June 2015

julieanne912 said:

So I've booked my caterer and paid the deposit. My MOH recommended this caterer as they did a party for her (non-wedding). We wanted to do BBQ and this place offers it, but is a full service catering company as well, and that's why I picked them, as our wedding is on the larger side and I wasn't comfortable with some of the BBQ companies handling the large volume.
My frustration comes with the event planner they gave me. When I first talked to her she tried to upsell me on stuff because it was a wedding. Fine, I get it, she probably gets paid on how much I spend. I was able to shoot down some of that. Now that we've booked and made a deposit, she can sometimes take forever to get back to me with some simple questions, the latest took her 3 days to respond to an email where I just asked her how much it would cost to add in a bartender, and then she sends a bid that just shows "$600 for bar package" without explaining what all that includes. I've also been trying to arrange a time to meet with her to go over the wait staff needs and some other stuff that would be better to do in person than over email. I'm limited to evenings and weekends, and she pretty much says she's busy all the time, which maybe she is.
I dunno maybe I'm being too demanding but it's starting to get super frustrating. Our quote is already at $6,000 which I know probably isn't a lot to her, but to me it is.

Does your contract state anything about responding to you or setting up meetings in addition to the intial one?

julieanne912 · June 2015

justsie said:

julieanne912 said:

So I've booked my caterer and paid the deposit. My MOH recommended this caterer as they did a party for her (non-wedding). We wanted to do BBQ and this place offers it, but is a full service catering company as well, and that's why I picked them, as our wedding is on the larger side and I wasn't comfortable with some of the BBQ companies handling the large volume.
My frustration comes with the event planner they gave me. When I first talked to her she tried to upsell me on stuff because it was a wedding. Fine, I get it, she probably gets paid on how much I spend. I was able to shoot down some of that. Now that we've booked and made a deposit, she can sometimes take forever to get back to me with some simple questions, the latest took her 3 days to respond to an email where I just asked her how much it would cost to add in a bartender, and then she sends a bid that just shows "$600 for bar package" without explaining what all that includes. I've also been trying to arrange a time to meet with her to go over the wait staff needs and some other stuff that would be better to do in person than over email. I'm limited to evenings and weekends, and she pretty much says she's busy all the time, which maybe she is.
I dunno maybe I'm being too demanding but it's starting to get super frustrating. Our quote is already at $6,000 which I know probably isn't a lot to her, but to me it is.

Does your contract state anything about responding to you or setting up meetings in addition to the intial one?

No and for a $900ish "admin fee" (which goes up the more money I spend) you'd think she could find an hour to meet with me once before my wedding in 3 months. I've yet to meet her actually, we've done everything via email.

flbride2015 · June 2015

There's a $900 admin fee? Is that standard for caterers (we're using a restaurant to cater so I don't have any experience with catering companies)?

erinlin25 · June 2015

I have never heard of an admin fee.

The wedding industry is busy and its one event to the next unfortunately. And caterers have more than just weddings to deal with. So they do have to focus on one event at a time. 3 days is not horrible. Could it be better, sure, but unless they go weeks without contact I would not get too upset right now. Its not like they are sitting at their computer all day or have their cell phone glued to their hand and can communicate with all of their events on a daily basis. I agree though that it would be nice to be able to set up a meeting time or a time to at least have a phone conversation to get your questions answered. That way you can have time to get details. As it gets closer to your event I am sure you will be their priority. Right now your event is not and that is OK.

my DOC typically returned my emails within 3-5 days. Some days it was faster. The week of my wedding she responded to every email and phone call the same day.

dolewhipper · June 2015

Can you visit them in person?

julieanne912 · June 2015

dolewhipper said:

Can you visit them in person?

That's what I'm trying to do.... problem is they are located about 30-45 minutes away from where I work, and I start a new job next week so I can't take off time during the day to go meet with them.

I know I'm probably being a little nuts but it's just frustrating to not get the answers I'm wanting, and the fact she can't seem to find time to meet with me. The only time she could offer me for next week was Tuesday afternoon.... after I told her I was starting a new job on Monday that was 8-5 and I wouldn't be able to take off early. Last time I tried to book something with her about a month ago, she wasn't available at all either. My MOH is pushing me to meet with her in person but maybe I'll just have to write a long email with all my questions and hope she understands what I'm asking for.

JCbride2015 · June 2015

I actually don't think three days is too bad. Unless your wedding is this weekend, you are back burner for any caterer.

Go with the long email. Try numbering or bulleting your questions so they don't get lost in the shuffle. Email is probably better anyway so you have her responses in writing.

STARMOON44 · June 2015

JCbride2015 said:
I actually don't think three days is too bad. Unless your wedding is this weekend, you are back burner for any caterer.

Go with the long email. Try numbering or bulleting your questions so they don't get lost in the shuffle. Email is probably better anyway so you have her responses in writing.

Completely agree. Three days turn around seems absolutely fine unless your wedding is this week.

novella1186 · June 2015

Yeah I also have to say that getting a response in 3 days is totally fine. I had vendors take over a month to get back to me (now that's pretty damn unacceptable), but 3 days when your wedding is still months away is reasonable.

Sorry if I missed this in the thread, but is it possible to just give her a call? If she's not understanding your question via email or isn't giving you all the info you need, a phone call might be better.

Otherwise, I agree that the long email is the way to go, and definitely number all your questions. Deep breath! I know it can be stressful trying to nail down all the details while you have a busy work schedule and whatnot, but it will get done and it will be fine.

emmaaa · June 2015

JCbride2015 said:

I actually don't think three days is too bad. Unless your wedding is this weekend, you are back burner for any caterer.

Go with the long email. Try numbering or bulleting your questions so they don't get lost in the shuffle. Email is probably better anyway so you have her responses in writing.

I agree with this. If there is somethign that you need an immediate answer for, I would call the planner directly, or the main number to get a fast response.

lyndausvi · June 2015

JCbride2015 said:

I actually don't think three days is too bad. Unless your wedding is this weekend, you are back burner for any caterer.

Go with the long email. Try numbering or bulleting your questions so they don't get lost in the shuffle. Email is probably better anyway so you have her responses in writing.

I agree with this.

Coordinators are not like hotel reservationist that just sits at a computer all day. Nope, they are planning many events, not just yours. They are at the actual events, not sitting at their desk.

My coordinator worked the events on the weekends. So he would take off Monday and Tuesdays. At least his emails said that he will not answer emails on those days.

So if I emailed him on Sat or Sun, it would be Wednesday before he got back to me. I understood. He has no business answering my email while he is coordinating the actual event for someone else. And who doesn't like days off?

At least for him (and a lot of other coordinators I know). At least one of their days off was on a standard weekday. Mid-week were more of their office days (tuesday or wednesday being like their Mondays). Those were the days where they answered emails, meet with clients, stuff like that. Some nights and most weekends they were working on the floor coordinating actual events.

My coordinator communication with me gradually increased the closer we got to the wedding. 3 months out was still a few day lag time. 60 days out responses came more quickly 30 days out, he was answering my calls and emails on his off days.

Maggie0829 · June 2015

Yeah 3 days to get back to you is pretty normal. Sorry to say but your wedding is not top priority at the moment (like it is for you). Instead they have probably event after event every weekend (height of wedding season and lets not forget possible large grad parties and such) so questions about a wedding that is taking place months out is not a priority.

And as lynda said, when our wedding got closer the more I would talk and here back from our coordinator. A lot of the stuff that you may want to talk to her about now, she probably doesn't see as needing to be discussed until closer to your wedding day.

So email your questions in bullet point style like suggested and just relax.

huskypuppy14 · June 2015

Yeah, I think 3 days is fine. When is your wedding?

We had an administrative fee. It was 3 or 4% of the total cost. It was tacked on like gratuity and tax.

Lynda is right, my coordinator had Mondays off, and some Sundays if there wasn't an event, so if I emailed her on a Saturday I wouldn't hear back until at least Tuesday. I was able to meet with her on Saturday mornings or early afternoons because most of the events were in the evening.

lyndausvi · June 2015

We didn't have an admin fee, but I got married almost 7 years ago, I'm thinking this is a new fee venues are taking on.

They use to call them service fees. Where the admins would get a small percentage and the wait staff would get the rest. Well some states called foul and said "service fee" implies the wait staff gets it all. So now it seems they are breaking out the admin fee.

We are throwing a party for my mom's birthday and quite of few quotes I got had a "admin fee". We started off thinking we would have the party in Delaware or Maryland. Then we switched it to a smaller party in NYC. Admin fees were on venues from each of those states (although not every venue). Just based on that I'm guessing it's something new in the industry.

Maggie0829 · June 2015

I believe we had an admin fee on our contract as well. I think this is kind of a standard thing. And as Lynda pointed out, has been standard just listed under different names.

To me I see the admin fee kind of like an overhead cost to the company. That fee covers costs they incur just doing business (insurance, office facilities, office supplies, etc, etc). Also if you don't pay for tastings the company isn't just going to lose out on that money so most likely some of it is recouped through the admin fee. Same with scheduling multiple meetings with your coordinator. So either the company charges you a certain percentage of the total of your bill or they would have to bill out each item in your contract which I don't think most people would like.

julieanne912 · June 2015

Thanks all, I have better perspective on it this morning. I've just been a bit on edge this week with the new job starting up, and then we're actually leaving for 8 days on a vacation the week after that, and the first half I probably won't have any phone service at all. I'm trying to get a lot done this week while I have the downtime. My wedding isn't for 3 more months so there is PLENTY of time, I know.

My MOH is actually the one pushing me to meet with her in person. She used to be an event coordinator for 4 hotels, so she wants to meet with the coordinator in person. I'm happy to send all my questions via email. I'm not very good at conversations like these in person (I always forget something) so I actually feel more comfortable typing it all out in an email so I can make sure I don't forget anything, so I should just do that and let my MOH know that I feel more comfortable doing it that way.

julieanne912 · June 2015

And yes, the admin fee in the contract is listed to cover overhead costs (there's a whole paragraph for it). It's not considered gratuity or anything like that. I can't help but think she gets a cut of that though, and I do find it annoying it's based on a percentage of what I spend, versus a flat rate. Paper clips cost the same no matter how much I'm spending.

lyndausvi · June 2015

julieanne912 said:

And yes, the admin fee in the contract is listed to cover overhead costs (there's a whole paragraph for it). It's not considered gratuity or anything like that. I can't help but think she gets a cut of that though, and I do find it annoying it's based on a percentage of what I spend, versus a flat rate. Paper clips cost the same no matter how much I'm spending.

I've worked a short stint as an event coordinator with a hotel. Generally speaking, the bigger the event, the more time you put into it. So I see where the percentage comes in over a flat rate. They are not doing billable hours like lawyers.

Although there were times where the bride of the less expensive event was more high maintenance then the high end events. Boy did I want to charge them extra, but sadly I could not.

Small issues w/ caterer (mostly venting)

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