Caterer No-Show
Every so often I stumble upon a great story or experience from one of my friends in another state, that is pretty good and is relevant for my wedding clients. Today’s pick comes from my friend Brian Harris, who is the owner of Brian Harris Entertainment in Dayton, Ohio. Brian was working for a couple who were wed on Saturday, here’s the story:
So I arrive to my wedding on Sept 19, 2009. As I’m introducing myself to the people in the room, the bride can hear me from the bathroom where she is getting her hair done. She calls me in (no worries, she’s decent!) to tell me that her caterer canceled on her last night. I was in shock. He left her a message that Friday evening claiming he had swine flu.
Well that’s horrible if that’s the truth. I hope the best for him and his family and that they get though it and are cured quickly.
But what burns me up is that ONE, he told her in his voice message that he found on Tuesday (4 days before the wedding) that he had swine flu. So why didn’t he call her right then? TWO, he didn’t have a back up plan. Who, in their right mind, has a business without a “PLAN B”? With 4 days from the wedding, there would have been plenty of time to find another caterer to cover for him, or at least give the bride a head start herself to find someone.
If you were to hire me for your wedding and something happened where I wasn’t able to be there, I have local and out of state DJs that I trust would to come in and do a fabulous job. I would literally fly one in if needed. Thankfully since I began my business in 1997, I’ve never missed a wedding. Been under the weather a bit at a few, but put on a smile and sucked it up!
Bottom line: If you are a business owner, have a back up plan, a “PLAN B”, someone you can call on to help you out when life throws you a curve ball. But don’t leave a bride hanging on the most important day of her life. I’m amazed at how calm and collected she was that bright and sunny Saturday afternoon.
THE POSITIVE:
The couple had a guest in from out of town that was a restaurant owner. When she got the word that the caterer canceled, she hustled to the store early in the morning, bought the food needed, and started preparing everything at 11am (4 hours before it was needed to be at the venue). Neighbors donated their ovens to bake all the food as it was being made, and everything turned out great!We applauded the baker and the oven donators at the reception and it was a successful night.
Today’s lesson is…you never know what you’ll get until you DON’T get it.
Brian, excellent points and I could not agree more with you - there is only one chance of getting someone’s wedding right. Why some think it’s OK to roll the dice with someone else’s special day and ultimately their hard-earned money too, I’ll probably never know. But I will reiterate here what I tell my clients all of the time; make sure that you get everything in writing, make sure you know who will actually be there at your wedding and as this story perfectly illustrates, find out what their backup plan is – if any.
Members of the American Disc Jockey Association have a built-in backup plan complete with an emergency phone number to call. There is absolutely no excuse for any DJ to ever do this to a customer, but far too often the story involves a DJ instead of a caterer. Don’t wait until it is too late to find out what a professional DJ is really worth.
*Story reprinted with permission by Brian Harris
Brian Harris Entertainment.
Tags: adja, american disc jockey association, caterer, disc jockey, dj, wedding, wedding horror story, wedding reception, wedding vendor