caterers...

mege913 · January 2011

Just reviewing four of my proposals for catering that have come in over the past few days and I'm wondering if anyone has any opinons on the caterers I'm thinking of working with. Cozy caterers (their price was highest and seems a bit crazy..), Pranzi (priced high but seem like they might be willing to work with the numbers), Blackstone (seem suprisingly cheap but i'm worried that they might be overlooking something), and Atomic (who seem lackluster and totally uninterested in working with me)...
Has anyone had any experiences they'd like to share about negotiating with caterers?
And is anyone else just positively sick over the seemingly insane costs of rentals (ie a couch and a few arm chairs to rent for $1000!!!)...

nbherrick · January 2011

I negotiated a lot with caterers and spoke to several of the ones you have on your list plus a few additional ones. If you need any tips feel free to email me at nbherrick@yahoo.com. I would also try glorious affairs, I ended up selecting them for our wedding in May. Selecting the caterer was one of the hardest parts of planning the wedding

RoyalOrient · January 2011

For furniture rentals, you might want to try Andria from Infinite-Events. She is also a DOC.

jlsimon56 · January 2011

We also met with Pranzi, Blackstone, and Atomic and went with Atomic b/c their quote was so much less, and we were getting so much more. Pranzi kept adding Italian-based dishes like ziti at every table, antipasto salad, etc. and we aren't Italian and didn't understand why we couldn't have a different salad, etc. AKA they didn't really listen. Blackstone uses all local foods, which really appealed to us, but the menu was boring (b/c we had such a low budget). Glorious Affairs wasn't around when I was looking, but they seem really awesome, might be worth a look if you're not sick of caterer meetings yet. :-) The other one we looked at was West Bay Gourmet, which I've also heard good things about. We never ended up meeting with them b/c I got sick of the meetings very quickly. The lady who runs that place is also the DOC, she is supposed to be insanely thorough. Overall, we were pleased with Atomic and nothing went wrong - the food was AMAZING and people still remember it and comment on it. You do sometimes feel like just a number, but the $$ we saved made it worth it (especially after it is all over and you are shocked that you spent all that money on one day). Some negative comments came out about Atomic just before we signed the contract with them, but again, we had no issues.

mege913 · January 2011

i'm finding that pricing wise all companies are about the same (except cozy was a good $3000 higher)...all the rest are coming in at around 12,000 for a cocktail reception which just seems crazy to me--then again maybe that is normal and i'm just totally off base. It looks like the rentals are what is really adding up. Has anyone done rentals independently of the catering company and found pricing to be better?

kdemos · January 2011

Hi there,

Meg, we're in the same boat, also meeting with caterers including some of the ones you've mentioned. We're trying to find the best deal possible, which has been daunting so far (packages have looked great but prices have been too high!). Suggestions are welcomed!

We're also looking into rentals for tent/table/chair/etc. and yes - it's pricey! We haven't settled on anything yet either. So far, we've seen it go both ways - for chairs the independent rental companies were cheaper than what the caterers have quoted us, so we might just get all of our furniture items from the rental co. and leave the china/glasswear/flatware to the caterer.

Good luck!

KBinRI · January 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_caterers-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:88fff854-89c3-45c0-84e7-1d593507ed73Post:51c44ef6-f231-41c2-a7e7-d18a60aa0214">Re: caterers...</a>:
[QUOTE]i'm finding that pricing wise all companies are about the same (except cozy was a good $3000 higher)...all the rest are coming in at around 12,000 for a cocktail reception which just seems crazy to me--then again maybe that is normal and i'm just totally off base. It looks like the rentals are what is really adding up. Has anyone done rentals independently of the catering company and found pricing to be better?
Posted by mege913[/QUOTE]

How many people is that $12,000 for? Does that include open bar in that price or something?

We fed 61 people a full dinner and four appetizers for $3,000 including linen, etc. rentals and the food was fantastic (and we took home the leftovers, too.) Open beer/wine bar (different vendor) cost us another $800 plus we provided the water/soda for another $50 or so. A tent, nine round tables, three long tables, trhee cocktail tables and about 65 chairs plus a tent heater cost about $2,000.

i2012do · January 2011

Hi Meg,
I am also looking at caterers. I have met with Morin's and Blackstone.
My boss uses morin's all the time and they are our "go to" since she has a ton of events and she always raves about them... but they are on the pricier side- and I haven't had a ton of response when I email them. I feel like just a number there.

I met with Danielle at Blackstone and we really like her, we asked for the exact same menu as morin's.. and they came in a bit less expensive and felt we had a good options for a variety of food. We are doing some "out of the box" stuff and so I wanted to make sure presentation was great so that was important.

I also emailed plantation, west bay gourmet, and glorious affiars and atomic.
I am thinking of meeting with Pranzi- and going to get their flyer this weekend at the bridal show and stop by their booth

West Bay actually never got back to me or sent me a proposal because she said she was busy on 2011 weddings and could't get me anything until April of this year for a 2012 wedding. I thought it was odd because I am working with KC already-- she is the one who rents the South Ferry Church-- so I thought she'd be willing to get me a quote (I mean, everyone else did). I heard they are great,and the food is awesome- but that the presentation and stuff isnt the same as you would get with a more high end caterer. If that's not a big deal to you. I would def. check them out

I keep reading all these great things about glorious affiars... but I didint meet in person. Her price was in the same ball park as Blackstone and Morin's. But she seems to offer a really personalized service.

My pricing from Atomic was the cheapest- but then when I added in all the service charges- and charges for dinnerware, etc, it seemed to be about the same as the other places.
I actually went to a buffet style wedding that used Atomic a few years back and the food was awesome! We had chicken and pasta and a mashed potatoe bar and it was really really good food. So it might be worth giving them a "second chance"

Finally, 'Plantation catering was another who sent a proposal and after I told them what I wanted three times, they sent a proposal that was nothing that I asked for. I dont know if it was a mix up or if they just didint get it. So I told them this and that I was no longer interested. They sent me a snappy email back that maybe my "vision" wasn't clear. I was really offended because all the other caterers seems to have "Figured out" what I wanted.

Finally, the biggest thing that has been making up my mind is the amount of contact the people are willing to have (so you dont seem like a number)... the quality of the food, and their relationship with my reception site.

Where are you getting married? The factor of how "close" their facility was came into play for me as well... becuse god forbid anything goes wrong, I felt if they had a facility close and had to run back there for say...extra steak.. they could do so---but that's probably jusy my paranoia.

Oh one big thing-- be sure you are comparing apples to apples. Make a spreadsheet and compare their administrative charges and their linen rentals etc.
Sometimes, you are paying a lot for things like glasses and admin charges, whereas another catering could be charging less and therefore putting more money intothe quality and quantity of the food...

Oh and one thing you want to check is if they charge if you bring in outside items? This was a big thing for us...because I am bringing in outside wines. and chargers, and italian cookies I wanted served to people... some caterers were doing this for no charge, some charged serving, set up and corkage fees that totals thousands of dollars

mege913 · January 2011

Thanks so much for the responses, good to know that other people are kinda blown away by just how much silly things cost. We are feeding 100 people and there will be five children and i agree that the kids meals should just be included for free...
As far as the rentals, for so much of this stuff it seems as though I can go to ikea and buy stuff myself and then keep it after for cheaper. So for the lounge type area we might do that. I am also going to reconsider bringing my own alcohol and also contacting rental companies independently.

i2012do · January 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_caterers-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:88fff854-89c3-45c0-84e7-1d593507ed73Post:caa7bbd1-195e-4ab8-a1d0-6b248e1ab19d">Re: caterers...</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks so much for the responses, good to know that other people are kinda blown away by just how much silly things cost. We are feeding 100 people and there will be five children and i agree that the kids meals should just be included for free... As far as the rentals, for so much of this stuff it seems as though I can go to ikea and buy stuff myself and then keep it after for cheaper. So for the lounge type area we might do that. I am also going to reconsider bringing my own alcohol and also contacting rental companies independently.
Posted by mege913[/QUOTE]

You are right
IKEA has a couch that looks like it would be great in a "lounge" and its seriosuly $150 .... <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00098389">http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00098389</a>
I thought the same thing when I was ging to get married at the Glen Manor.. that'd I'd buy that couch and two chairs and then when I bought a house use it in the basement or a spare bedroom for extra seating!

This might seem weird to check- but look at Craigslist for furntiure that you could use. You can prob find a cute end table or coffee table thats pretty Ikea style standard. Esp in May when college kids move out. Its worth a shot. I bet those basic ikea 25$ end tables would cost ya 10 bucks.

I seriously thought about starting my own "wedding furniture rental" business after I saw the prices... But then.. I'd be stuck with all that stuff and no where to store it!! We'd have ikea end tables all over our house haha.

Bunnybride79 · January 2011

Our first proposal was with Cozy Caterers...and unfortunately came back highest of all. I came back and told her honestly that it was way out of the budget we discussed. She was willing to work with us but in the end it was still too much $$ for what we were getting.

Second was with Morins-- Holy crap that proposal was like 25 pages long! Lovely sounding food and I've heard lots of good things about them, but they were still too high and I was annoyed with some of their add-on fees...like astronomically priced childrens meals. I mean, come on, If I'm spending THOUSANDS of dollars with your large, well-established company, you can't throw in a few kids meals for free? Pass.

Third was West Bay Gourmet. KC was efficient and organized, and gave me a proposal within a week of request. True, she is very busy and doesn't seem to have time for small talk, but in my experience thus far she has been a true professional and installed confidence at our first meeting. My fiance and I had our tasting in December and were sold. The food and menu is great, presentation looks fab, and she was able to do it all within our budget. Yay!

I feel your pain about rentals....for everyone, it seemed to be the area where everyone was least willing to negotiate. It's totally absurd to be spending so much on borrowing plates and glassware for five hours! The rental companies in RI have it made... We actually are avoiding some of the rental costs by bringing in our own vintage mix and match china for salad plates and dinner plates. It's going to be so cool!

Best of Luck!

mege913 · January 2011

Is it strange that I feel like I'd be better off negotiating with a used car dealer than I do trying to negotiate with those in the wedding world? And the sad thing is eventually I will pick one of these companies and it will be highway robbery but really, what other choice do I have?
Ok, so I do love the idea of just bringing in your own stuff...I'm going to seriously start looking into that. I'm positive I can buy most of this stuff over the next year for cheaper than what they want to lend it to me for five hours.
Thanks again for all the help

RoyalOrient · January 2011

I find that on-site catering from a restaurant is much cheaper. I also think renting from Independent rental companies is cheaper. And serving dinner family style means the best of both worlds - marriage of a sit down plated dinner and buffet without the wait. It was definitely a less expensive alternative for us especially if you want to serve Asian or Italian dishes, this is the way to go!

Restaurants that cater and other catering alternatives

- Wildfire, North Providence, R.I (fabulous food for my cousin's engagement party)

- Blaze, Providence, R.I (off of Hope Street) We love the food there, hoping to see if we can provide food for our cocktail hour

- United BBQ (recent Knottie used them for food for the groom and groomsmen lunches)

- Twist on Angell part of the Panelli Marra restaurant group offers on-site catering too.

- Clam bake route, try Francis Farm in Rehoboth and McGrath's Clam bake (always good!)

- Young's catering, I had great food from at two weddings at Country Gardens in Rehoboth, MA. I hear they are also very reasonable.

Our caterer is Apsara, a restaurant that does most of the Chinese or Cambodian weddings in the area. We also considered a few Thai establishments in Newport too. We do want to offer good ol American fare for cocktail hour.

I mentioned Adria from Infinite Events for furniture rentals but tents and everything else try these smaller companies in the surrounding areas for price quotes.

Kolby Rentals, Swansea, MA

http://kolby-rentals.com/

L & E party rentals. Somerset, MA

http://www.lepartyrentals.com/

[Deleted User] · January 2011

we met with morins, blackstone, and atomic. morins seemed great until they forgot to send us their proposal, and when they did, it was not what we talked about. atomic flat out was difficult to get ahold of in the first place, and then never even bothered to send a proposal even after an email and phone prompt. just when we were getting totally discouraged we met with karen at blackstone, who is a breath of fresh air. we love her upbeat energy and her prompt responses. we have our tasting next weekend but unless the food is hideous they are definitely our choice.

mege913 · January 2011

Agree about the great attitude with Blackstone. I have only dealt with them through email but Karen is so quick to respond and really has been great adjusting the proposal to suit our needs. We meet with her next week to do the tasting and talk more about what exactly the numbers would be (in her proposal there is a lot of use of the word "estimated")..
As far as Atomic, I requested a proposal from them in the begining of December, they did not send it. A week later I again requested it and no response. I just requested it again and I got a response but they have already left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
It is great to hear what other people's experiences are locally because there really aren't a lot of reviews of the different caterers that speak to the very specific things like the initial stages of working with them.
Looking forward to what will come of all these proposals and meetings!!!

cozmo1145 · January 2011

Just wanted to reassure all of you potential Blackstone brides! As far as any "estimates" in the proposal, we actually got them to include several additional things for those estimated prices. So, don't anticipate that the actual pricing will be higher. Ask for what you want & don't be afraid to be honest and upfront with them. I've actually found their pricing to be (surprisingly) quite reasonable. Karen has been amazing to work with throughout the whole process (much better than a car salesperson!

) Best yet-- she has been just as responsive and accomodating even after signing the contract! When I began the search for a caterer for our wedding, I honestly didn't think it would lead us to Blackstone, but thus far-- I couldn't be happier! Good luck!

mege913 · January 2011

Yay! I am looking forward to meeting with Blackstone more and more!!!

jlsimon56 · January 2011

Just adding in that kids meals ARE cheaper, you just have to ask. Our kids meals were $10. AND we did family-style so technically, the kids ate whatever they wanted to! Also, vegetarian and gluten-free meals were less $$.

We also did open bar, but I said it was only going to be for xx number of people. We also had 100 guests, but several were under-21 and a few were non-drinkers. So I just said we wanted open bar for the people who WOULD be drinking. That cut down on cost too.

Our venue supplied tables, chairs, so we didn't have to pay "extra" for that - but it was in the venue fee.

Overall, for our 100 guests, I think it was just over $8K. That included everything, we also did 8 apps (1 stationary, the rest hot and passed). Totally worth it to me. I think $12K is slightly ridiculous considering it's for a cocktail reception! Ours was a full dinner, family style like I said. Separate plated salad though. We had mini meatloaves wrapped in bacon, roasted chicken, roasted veggies, cornbread, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, I forget what else. MORE than enough food. We were up front with our budget and when we tried to knock some apps out to save money, they just knocked the price down but kept the apps. Hey, I didn't complain.
Good luck.

i2012do · January 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_rhode-island_caterers-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:122Discussion:88fff854-89c3-45c0-84e7-1d593507ed73Post:7d6f7052-c6dd-4c1f-9e15-942f1b8ac42c">Re: caterers...</a>:
[QUOTE]we met with morins, blackstone, and atomic. morins seemed great until they forgot to send us their proposal, and when they did, it was not what we talked about. atomic flat out was difficult to get ahold of in the first place, and then never even bothered to send a proposal even after an email and phone prompt. just when we were getting totally discouraged we met with karen at blackstone, who is a breath of fresh air. we love her upbeat energy and her prompt responses. we have our tasting next weekend but unless the food is hideous they are definitely our choice.
Posted by hamlook[/QUOTE]

hamlock you wont be disappointed. We rested their sage chicken but decided to do a beef and fish and a more summery chicken dish
that chicken was the best thing i have ever eaten I swear. It was incredible.

I also liked that we could do a tasting before we signed on the dotted line.

They are super flexible. i really like Blackstone- I think they don't get a ton of credit on here all the time-- but I really liked Daniellle she was awesome

Meg- who are you working with at Blackstone?

devcipps · January 2011

I have to agree that $12,000 seems kind of high for a cocktail reception for $100. We did a variety of passed hor'dourves and a really nice stations style recpeption and a full top shelf bar for 110 people that came in at $10,000 which also included linen and basic silverware and plate rentals (I used glorious affairs). If I were you I would negotiate a little more and definitely buy the furniture off of craigslist or ikea. If you buy the stuff and don't want to keep it you can recoup most of the value by reselling it.

dagsy6 · January 2011

Karen at Blackstone is incredible. We got a proposal from Morin and Blackstone, and hands down Blackstone was the best with communication and negotiation. The tasting set the precident. It was personal and quite a pleasurable experience, not to mention the food was delicious. Karen is wonderful! You can't go wrong. Goodluck!

cicconesp · January 2011

I used Blackstone and yes they were surprisingly cheaper than everyone else and they were absolutely amazing. Honestly they went above and beyond for our wedding including little free surprises that we never even asked for. (It was a little chilly during my outdoor ceremony and they had staff go around with espresso mug sized apple cider)
I wouldn't worry about the fact that they are lower cost. They run a great shop and you won't be disappointed.

cozmo1145 · January 2011

Megan-- Did you have your tasting??

tarawedding100 · January 2011

Ristorante Pizzico in Providence owns Decadent Catering. Dean is the best to work with. Very budget concious. You really should try them out. They do a great tasting at their restaurant.

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