Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

VIP September 2020

Unresponsive potential caterers? Smaller wedding getting less priority?

Willow, on October 12, 2019 at 10:43 PM Posted in Planning 0 5

Saved

Flag
Hide content

I emailed 5 different caterers for quotes, through their Contact Us feature on their websites. Each caterer has solid reviews.
Caterer 1 called me a couple weeks after I had initially reached out. She had such a wonderful energy, apologized for the delay, explained she had been on vacation. We had a quick chat, she emailed me to follow up, and ended with, lets touch base after x date! I emailed her a couple weeks after x date, and she hasn't responded to date. It's been more than 13 days. FH and I decided to remove her from consideration. I'm really surprised because our venue manager loves her.
Caterer 2 emailed me back within a day or 2 and got me a very specific quote. She has been very responsive.
Caterer 3 emailed me within a day or 2 with a generic, "We'll contact you soon!"
Caterer 4 and 5 have yet to respond at all, it's been a couple of days.

What has been your experience with the average response time from caterers, when getting a quote, booking a tasting, asking questions, etc? What was the guest count you gave? I always give my 80 person guest count, but the caterer is probably assuming our actual count will be 60 (calculating for 20% decline rate). Do you think caterers hold out for bigger weddings? My wedding is on a Friday and a year out, so I wasn't anticipating much "competition" with other weddings. I am not inclined to wait more than a week or follow up with a phone call because I don't want the added stress of a flaky vendor for my wedding!

Flag
Hide content

5 Comments

Latest activity by Mandee, on October 17, 2019 at 8:25 PM

Savvy November 2021
Paula · on October 12, 2019 at 11:02 PM
Flag

Hide content
I have a similar guest count as you and Getting timely responses from all wedding vendors has been a challenge for me. There could be several reasons for this, including your suspicion that it might be considered a smaller wedding and not get much attention because of that, I have had some anxiety about that as well, but I also think that most vendors don’t sit at a desk all day refreshing their emails, most are on site at venues, doing deliveries and things like that. So they do not have much time in their day for office work and responding to emails. I have found it helpful and would recommend sending follow up emails once a week if you haven’t heard back.
- Reply
Master August 2019
Rebecca · on October 13, 2019 at 3:33 AM
Flag

Hide content
This is a common problem. For some reason, a LOT of people are just really bad at responding.
We did what you did - if you didn't respond, you clearly didn't want our money. So we moved on. You'll always be better off with vendors who actually respond.
- Reply
Super October 2020
Renee · on October 13, 2019 at 4:40 AM
Flag

Hide content
Some people respond faster than others. I have a wonder florist but sometimes she takes awhile to respond. She always apologizes and she's explained that she's had a lot going on in her home life-like moving and such. I think sometimes life just gets busy and they're probably wrapped up in weddings that are going on now. The coordinator for my wedding venue usually gets back to me with in days, the longest I think was a week. He's pretty great at his job and responds fast. It sounds like caterer 2 is a good fit though, especially since they're detailed and responsive
- Reply
VIP September 2020
Willow · on October 13, 2019 at 8:02 PM
Flag

Hide content
Thank you all for your thoughts. I just thought it was odd because all the DJ's, wedding planners, and makeup artists to whom I reached out were very responsive. I suppose quotes for catering are more complicated.
- Reply

Devoted September 2020
Mandee · on October 17, 2019 at 8:25 PM
Flag

Hide content
I have an estimated guest list of 100 and am just starting the process of caterer/venue scouting. I have only done prelim research, and have picked out a group of five caterers that FH and I want to do tastings/quotes with based simply on the advertised menus on their websites and previous reviews.
I've had one caterer that I contacted tell me that they had closed their Orlando office and provide me with another office in a different city, but did not offer any other follow-up. I crossed them off the list because I'm not gonna be stressing over this kinda shennannigans!
- Reply