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And the other shoe falls

Posted Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:47 PM

Honest to goodness, I'm ready to throw in the towel on this WHOLE THING!!!Angry

We don't need all of this crap to get married.  We've been together for 3 and a half years. We're practically married already.  I could go to city hall tomorrow and be happy to be married.

Well, maybe I want the party a little bit too, but things are just getting ridiculous.

I asked for the contracts from the caterer that we had thought would work.

SURPRISE!! Included in the fee schedule (which wasn't mentioned until I got the contract) is an 18% service charge.

This skyrockets our catering price to $18,031.43!!!!

If we could afford that for the food alone, I would have hired a wedding planner to stress about this FOR ME.

I feel... like I was lied to.  Like every freakin' catering place is trying to rip us off...  Its getting ridiculous.  We shouldn't need to put our entire life on hold for this huge party. 

I REFUSE!!!

Its not what getting married is about!!

So, its back to the drawing board.  We're going to start looking for catering halls.  At least we won't need to rent the furniture.

Although, we'd better hurry, or we might not get our refund from the first venue.

I'd rather have a honeymoon.  Crying

 

Posted by brolvesrice
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Comments

re: And the other shoe falls

Have you thought about getting friends and family to help? We were going to have people bring a dish instead of a gift.  We had a whole list of people ready to go until we found this great place where our catering is only costing $3000

Posted by faemoon    Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5:38 PM


re: And the other shoe falls

I hear ya!!! I don't understand how people are able to afford these weddings! I rather take all the money we are putting INTO the wedding for a 4 hour party, into our NEW HOUSE! It's so bizarre how we are able to come up with so much money in a short span of time, "Because it's for the wedding" yet if we were to do this for a house --- it would take forever. (no deadline I s'pose)...

Anyway, I'd definitely go with another caterer. I'm not sure what kind/type of venue your wedding is, but 18k for food alone is just insane, unless you are eating pure gold...

What about looking for some 'culinary art school students' looking to make some extra cash. Maybe even speak with a local school that would want to do a wedding as a project? Sounds extreme, but you never know.

Posted by maygirljune    Tuesday, March 18, 2008 11:11 PM


re: And the other shoe falls

I don't like the idea of people bringing dishes.  "pot luck wedding reception"??  We are having one of our favorite restaurants cater one of their specialties and then we are hiring the catering services from one of our state colleges to do the rest.  About $4,000 for 150 guests.   I know things cost more in New York, but maybe you could find a deal at a school.

Posted by AyanaO    Saturday, March 22, 2008 11:15 PM


re: And the other shoe falls

It's too bad they didn't mention the 18% service charge - that borders on deceitful. However, no matter which catering company you go with, you should ask if the "tip" is included - if not, you'll need to factor it in yourself.  My caterer feels very strongly that tips should be earned, so they don't include it in the price.  I am factoring in 15% for him (he has been incredible - even called me to tell me he saw an ad on the internet for one of the bridal stores in town which was having a clearance sale - SO sweet!). I don't really know much about these things but I figure 10-20% would be fair, depending on the level of service and how much you can afford!  We're on a super tight budget and our caterer has been really good at figuring out what we can and can't do.  We found a way to do a sit-down meal for cheaper than the h'ors deourves & dessert shindig we were going to do.  Check with little places - our caterer is attached to the hall that we rented, but it's actually a senior's activity centre! They have a small restaurant attached and obviously do outside catering as well.  They were infinitely cheaper than any place I had found via anything wedding-related.

Posted by lc_sar    Monday, March 24, 2008 7:24 PM


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About brolvesrice

I am a stubborn free spirited animal lover who loves music and craves stability. In other words, an enigma, even to myself.


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