Catered By Design

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Catered by Design would be absolutely flawless if not for Events Manager, Karen Paszkiewicz. We had our wedding and reception at the Winnetka Community House. The Garden is so beautiful, we hardly needed decorations and at night with the twinkle lights in the trees, it was even more magical. The reception room shaped up very nicely with the addition of centerpieces. The french doors on the south wall let in the cool night air as we were dancing. We opted for using the getting ready rooms upstairs, which was nice because we could overlook the garden as everything was being set up and guests arrived. They even put chairs and a full-length mirror in the room for us.
So, you say, sounds perfect right? Well, only because of our group was so on top of things. Karen consistantly proved that she was not trustworthy. In the months before the event, she could never send me a correct event order/invoice. She would always add items on and when I (happily and politely) would send her an e-mail saying that it looked good other than A,B, and C were not as we discussed. She would write a snippy response and send me a new, incorrect invoice with more add ons and ambiguous charges. When I asked her to break down a $3000 boutique linen charge (we only asked for floor length table cloths), we found not only things we did not ask for, but also poor math. Also, be very diligent to check her against your original contract/discussion. Some of the problems we found in the invoices were charging $3 instead of $2 per chair for the ceremony, $3.50 vs. $2 pp per 1/2 hour for additional bar time, telling us we had to be out by 10:30pm when our event hours were 5-11pm. These are all items that were clearly outlined in our first contract. Beyond these items, Karen was very rude and inconsiderate. She called me once (a month before the wedding) and told me that there was another wedding booked that morning and it ran til 3pm, our ceremony started at 5pm. Also, because we still didn't have a final contract THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING we had a scheduled meeting at 2pm. My parents and I arrived ready to just sign whatever and give her the money, only to find a note on her door "Had to leave, I'll call you later". She did call later, 4:37pm on our way out the door to the rehearsal (which we had to reserve through her, so she was perfectly aware of what she was doing). When I appologized and told her that I couldn't talk because I had guests at my house and we were running out the door to the rehearsal, she snipped "Fine!" and hung up on me! My dad had to go straighten things out with her the morning of the wedding. The afternoon of the wedding, I was told, Karen did nothing to help. I had 2 attendants and they had to recruite a group of 10 family members and friends to help set up and keep the day moving. Karen, wearing a completely too short skirt, was giving tours to new potential customers. I hope they know what they're getting into! Don't use their bakery for Cakes either. They are rude and not tasty at all. We went with Windy city Cakes and were really pleased!

I am planning my wedding with them and they have been nothing but GREAT. Any questions or concerns that I have they answer. They also had so many venues to show me that they cater at. I found the place of my wedding dreams. It has been a breeze planning the wedding and now all I have to do is look forward to the wedding.