What are your biggest frustration with caterers?

We got quotes from 6 caterers and did 3 tastings.

First Tasting - The appetizers were straight up NOT good. The overall quote (including linens, china, servers, etc.) was around $11,000 for 125 people so not cheap by any means. We gave her notes & told her to change things (she had the wrong guest count, wrong ceremony time, etc.) and send us an updated quote. She updated the quote with 1 thing we said and left the rest wrong. She also seemed super offended when we didn't like an overcooked mini lamb slider with blueberry sauce, it was gross and I'm pretty sure anyone else who would have tried it would have agreed. We didn't even say it was gross, we just said it wasn't for us, and she still wouldn't replace it with anything else on our quote.

Second Tasting - Amazing. Literally the best caterer ever (we ended up using them). They had a super professional space with a whole team of people, we met the staff & chef & event coordinator. They even had an herb garden outside that their whole team works on throughout the year. The food was great, and they did the best job with coordination.

Third Tasting - We had already scheduled this one prior to the second one, and my husband's mom & sister went with us since they didn't get to go to the other ones. The food was good, don't get me wrong. But there were random things that didn't impress me. For example, the bathroom was basically dirty. Dust on the counters, random matches & hair ties left out. Just overall not very professional. The table had cup stains, etc. Just small things that weren't a super good sign.

The other two sent quotes out of our price range ($15,000+) and basically refused to get it lower unless we wanted something like BBQ - which we didn't for our semi-formal/formal wedding. So overall we had two good experiences.

My photographer is her lack of communication, she doesnt direct for photos very well and her phone broke so i can only communicate with her via my dj her coworker

My venue only works exclusively with 2 caterers so that sucked right off the bat. I went to their open house and tried both of the caterers foods. I liked one more over the other and luckily it's also the cheaper option of the 2.

When I first reached out to my caterer, it was to get the pricing information. All that was fine and then she said when we were ready, to contact her about booking a tasting. I hadn't heard anything for just about a month even after sending a couple follow up emails.

I figured ok, they're popular and busy so I'll give it some time. I finally had enough and contacted my venue manager early one morning about the situation. Not even before the day's end, my caterer emailed me back. That was the most frustrated I was. Things have somewhat been fine since then though.

Sorry Fernando. My caterer is actually pretty great eventhough they're the only caterer my venue works with. A little bit more expensive that I'd like it to be but flexible in adjusting few things to make the overall quote fit my budget more. They also had great communication.

The ones that have been somewhat difficult for me are florists actually. I only have about 60% rate of response.

If you're in a somewhat big area, there should be options. They need your business as much (if not more) as you need them so move on to the next one. Wedding planning is stressful enough so you should find yourself a solid team of vendors!