Jan

Step-by-Step Solution to Finding the Right Caterer

We all remember the food from the events we’ve attended – that and the entertainment! It’s a known fact that food is something that creates our memories of significant times in our lives. When you stop and think back to your childhood, you’ll find that food makes its way into many of your memories even if it wasn’t a show stopper. What we know as well, is that if the food was exceptional, our memory turns positive. On the flip side of that, if the food was horrible or made us somehow uncomfortable, our memories are tainted.
So…. how do you end up with an event that inspires great memories? Go all out with your food! That doesn’t necessarily mean going into debt over it, but fall in love with a great caterer and let them be the expert. Here’s a few steps that will help you in finding the perfect caterer for your event:

1) Be reasonable with your budget. Remember that food is just a portion of the cost when it comes to catering – there are rentals, and service, as well as service items and of course, the bar!
2) Understand your guests needs and make sure your caterer does too. 50% of the time that food goes wrong is due to poor planning. Think about the time of day you’ll be serving, special needs of your guests, and what they are expecting based on your invitation, and how exotic you can get.
3) Don’t be afraid of the unique. Everyone has had chicken. What else can they offer? Does the caterer bring some ideas that get you excited about your event?
4) Know what style of service you think you might want – that might change, but going with someone who is an expert at the style of service ensures great timing, hot food, and excellent presentation!
5) Let them inspire you. You might come in with a set idea of what you think you want. Don’t worry about it if it changes. You don’t have to go with their pre-set menus, or what was served at the last event you attended (even if it was fabulous). Caterers love to create – let them create you a one-of-a-kind experience for your guests.
6) Fall in love with your caterer – They should understand your vision and you should feel 100% comfortable with your meal in their hands, from menu to service to all the details.
7) Then, sit back and let them do their job. Make sure you communicate your timeline and any changes that occur, as well as your final guest count, but after that, let them be the ones in charge. You’ve chosen someone you feel you can trust, now you do exactly that.

-Christina, Muse

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131 days ago Short URL Comments

Budgeting Advice/Tips & Tricks/Weddings

Apr

The Groom’s Budget

The groom’s budget is a funny thing and often can get very confusing. You can go completely traditional (Martha Stewart/Peggy Post) and go with the items paid for by the groom’s family, or, like 70% of couples out there today, you can go with a bit more of a pot of money that goes toward whatever you choose.

These are the more traditional items that are included:

· Bride’s engagement and wedding rings
· Groom’s gift to his bride
· Groom’s gifts to his attendants
· Marriage license fee
· Officiant’s fee or donation
· All costs of the rehearsal dinner
· Expenses of the honeymoon
· Groom’s Tux
· Ties and gloves for groom’s attendants, if not part of their clothing rental package.
· Bride’s bouquet (only in those regions where it is a local custom for the groom to pay for it)
·Boutonnieres for groom’s attendants & fathers/grandfathers
· Corsages for immediate family members, unless the bride has included them in her floral order
· Lodging and transportation for Groom’s immediate family & Groom’s attendants (if being paid for by the couple)
· Transportation for the Groom and best man to the ceremony and reception site (if needed)

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390 days ago Short URL Comments

Budgeting Advice/Groom & Groomsmen/Weddings

Feb

The Benefit of a Coordinator

The other day, I was writing an email to a bride of ours who hired us to do design work for her wedding. In working up the detail of the design for her, I was looking at other pieces of the planning process that integrated piece of the design. I was reviewing her catering and rental contracts and noticed some huge gaps in what she had been given.

Now, she had no reason not to trust the quotes or the caterers that had provided them. And, quite honestly, the vendors did not necessarily do anything wrong by giving the quotes they did. Either there was a miscommunication or simply a lack of the knowledge needed for the couple to catch the possible missing piece.

She had two catering quotes, both of which were slightly upcharging her for rental pricing, which is typical and often made up by no delivery fee.

One caterer had quoted her rental package out at $10pp but had not included spoons, coffee spoon, glassware for the bar, napkins, or any of the accessory tables or linens (like cake, guest book, cocktail tables, etc.) and had quoted everything out as round tables when the request had been made for banquet tables.

The other caterer had quoted $17.800pp for the rental package. They had quoted the tables correctly, but had included a ton of cocktail tables which the venue already provides.

In order to get a clear vision for her, we got a quote from two local rental companies for if they were to get rentals on their own that the caterers would use. For the rentals listed in the proposals, and basing things on the HIGHER costs (ie. Round tables vs. 8 foot tables and hammered silverware vs. basic stainless), INCLUDING bistro tables and INCLUDING an estimated cost for delivery, we found they would be looking at $12.79pp or $10.95pp.

If they took the lower quote and just added in the missing items, it would go up 1.75pp unless they also added in the cocktail tables & linens for them, which would make it roughly an additional $2.50-3pp depending on markup. So, with EVERYTHING like above, it would make their quote max $13pp.

That all being said, although they had estimated costs based on the lower quote, due to the fact that it was essentially incorrect, they were left with a deficit for their décor budget which meant they had to take it from somewhere else.

It occurred to me as I was talking to them that most couples do not ever have the opportunity to work with a coordinator to look at the details. See things with an eye of experience that they do not have because they do not do this for a living – there’s no reason they should notice these details. Even a solid day-of coordinator could have assisted with catching this issue, as they looked over the rental orders. Had these details not been caught, their costs would have increased by a minimum of $3 a person at the end of the contract and they would not have even known it was coming. When you multiply that by 200-250 people and your budget has already been allocated, that is not a pleasant surprise!

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467 days ago Short URL Comments

Budgeting Advice

Oct

Why would I want a day-of wedding coordinator?

IMAGINE YOUR WEDDING DAY….

Imagine your wedding day…

You wake up, everything is ready for you. It’s just the way you planned it. You found the perfect site, the day is sunny and your partner is sharing the same excitement for all the memories you are about share together. With everything going so well, all you need to do is get ready to put on the outfits that you very carefully chose, look stunning and get ready to go stand by the side of the person you will share the rest of your life with. This is a day you will want to cherish forever.

This is a beautiful vision of what a wedding day should be. Unfortunately this not what typically happens. Events are so detail-oriented that, without appropriate assistance, even the most perfect of planning may go astray on that big day. You are, hopefully, tucked away with your bridesmaids getting your hair and nails done, with a glass of champagne or coffee in your hand. So, who’s making sure the details come together? Your maid of honor can’t do it, she’s with you. Your mom can’t do it, she’s in the pictures. Do you really want your friends to have to stress over it? You need someone who knows the right questions to ask you long before your wedding day to get that picture of your dream wedding out of your head and into theirs, right?

That’s what a day-of coordinator can do for you. They should be in the business of preventing problems and should have enough experience to know how to do that, what questions to ask you, and how much time things will take to accomplish. Because, whether you plan on it happening or not, a caterer may show up late, or not know where they are setting up the hour d’ourves, the musicians will arrive and need to run a sound check you did not count on. The florist will drop off the flowers and go on her way, and once everyone arrives for pictures, you might suddenly realize that you have forgotten the father of the bride’s boutonniere. What about your plan for bees? Marks on your wedding dress from heels during pictures? Who’s going to look out for Uncle Dan who drinks too much and gets a bit crazy? How are your going to deal with your mom who wants to do everything when you really just want her to enjoy herself? Where are the leftovers going? Who’s cutting the cake? Are you saving the top layer? Who’s car do presents go in? ….Everyone will be asking you what to do and where to go, and you will feel like you might just go crazy before you ever get down the aisle!

Don’t you think your wedding day should be fun!?!?!

True, we are portraying a terrible wedding day. Nonetheless, this portrayal is not that unrealistic. We are the first to hope that nothing goes wrong on your day. But, having planned and coordinated so many weddings, I can tell you that I have seen it all – from electricity going out, hurricanes, veils lighting on fire, and missing vendors whom nobody can locate. Things just go wrong when there are so many details, and even the best plans can go amiss. I’ve seen it too many times to believe that there will be no hiccups – starting with my own wedding from the dishes that showed up shattered, the electrical circuits that were fried, and the airplane that decided to fly right over our head at the exact moment of our I do’s and nobody heard whether we said yes or not?!

You want a day-of coordinator who will be your backup plan, your emergency kit, your stress-prevention, and your captain of a smooth, flawless event. To do that, you have to consider hiring a professional instead of passing the job onto a friend or family member who doesn’t have the experience to forsee all the issues that might pop up. True, it takes out part of your budget, but it is worth every penny in the long-run. Everyone will remember a flawless, fun wedding instead of the disaster that ruined your day.

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1307 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Bride & Bridesmaids/Budgeting Advice/Groom & Groomsmen

day of coordinator/day of planner/day of wedding coordination/day-of coordination/wedding planner/Weddings