“You’re not like most brides. You’re so laid back,” said Kim Henderson of Simply the Best to me when we went to our first catering meeting.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been very picky throughout this whole process for a couple of reasons. The first: I already had some ideas of what I wanted, but I can adapt if I need to make adjustments or if something isn’t exactly as I imagined. And second: I absolutely love wedding planning, but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the unity of my groom and me.
Since food is a part of Jordan’s everyday life, I let him choose the foods he wanted to be served at our reception. He, in return, kept in mind some of the foods that I like to come up with our menu.
P.S.: If you’re looking for an off-site caterer, we highly recommend Simply the Best. Jordan was a student of the owner, Rob Best, while he was in culinary school and they have continued to have a professional relationship.
Rob and his team work very closely with their clients. Kim is helping us plan the menu, set up and everything else related to our event that they offer. She presented us with so many ideas and options, allowed us flexibility and showed us overall amazing customer service. She definitely treated us like family and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have them cater our wedding!
Here are some of questions to keep in mind when you have your first meeting with your caterer:
- Do you have my date open? — It may seem silly at first, but caterers book up pretty quickly.
- Do I need to put down a deposit?
- Is there a service charge?
- Do you (or are you affiliated with someone who will) provide linens, dinnerware, décor, etc.?
- Do you work off a preset menu or can we customize?
- How is your pricing broken down?
- Are there any overtime fees if my event lasts longer?
- What is your payment policy? What are preferred methods of payment?
- How much time do you need to set up?
- Do you have pictures of the food and displays from previous events? — Simply the Best has a screen in the meeting room and Kim showed us lots of pictures, which we found especially helpful.
- Are your price quotes final or do you allow flexibility if I need to change something to fit my budget?
- How will you store the food (i.e. “hot boxes,” ice chests, etc.)?
- Do you itemize the costs? What’s included?
Until next week!
– Jordan
Bride-to-be and Benton native Jordan Westbrook graduated from UALR in 2011 with a liberal arts degree with an emphasis in mass media. The former Arkansas Bride intern will be blogging about her adventures in wedding planning right here each week.
