The things that most make what I do every day worth it, are the smiles, hugs and sincere thanks we receive from our clients at the end of the day.  I know that may sound cliche, but ours is a very laborious and physically taxing business at times, with long hours invested well before and after each event, and that our clients acknowledge that, matters….ALOT.

That said…I recently read a very scathing diatribe against caterers by Time’s food critic Josh Ozersky, who wrote that essentially caterers aren’t good cooks, but rather ineffectual, hacks who serve cardboard food at premium prices.  He went on to say that most bridal couples would be better serviced by hiring various restaurant chef’s to prepare their wedding food based upon the chef’s area of expertise.  For example– artisan bread from one, authentic lasagne from another, specialty meat from yet another, and so on.

My first reaction was anger at his use of an infinitive to describe the food and service of ALL caterers as a whole.  My second reaction was laughter at the mental picture this take-out style reception elicited as the bridal couple drove from restaurant to restaurant picking up their pre-ordered house specialty and rushing to get it to their reception.  Not to mention the sobering moment I had when I began to contemplate the amount of money (and carbon footprint) that would be spent for the products of these restaurants.

Bear with me as I step up on my soapbox now for just a moment…I wanted to share a weekend in the life of the average caterer because it is ever SO much more than just food prep.

It is preparing, gathering, packing and anticipating the equipment your reception will require, and loading it into vans and trucks.

It is prepping the 1,000′s of stuffed mushroom caps, proofing and baking the 1000′s of freshmade rolls, pre-grilling  the 1,000′s of fillet Mignon medallions, seasoning, sauteing and any other manner of culinary  skill required to prepare the menu items chosen for your reception, in addition to cooking in convection ovens from sun-up the day of your event, as well as grilling on site to ensure quality and freshness.

It is confirming, finalizing and receiving the linen or chiavari chair orders.  Long hours of hard work setting up the event space to your specifications.  Assistance in ensuring your other vendors are completing their contracted tasks that hinge on making the event a success.  Dealing with the surprise DIY projects that you wanted to implement, but now become WDIFY (We do it for you ).  And in the case of a full service event group like ours….it involves baking, basecoating and filling your wedding cake in the early hours of the night/morning.  Decorating and assembling your cake to prepare for transport to the venue.  Baking and traying 1,000′s of cookies for display at your event.

It is working in small or unconventional spaces to create the semblance of a food service kitchen.  It is being the “MaGuyver” of catering when duty calls.  It is being surrounded by dirty dishes.  And it is dismantling the dreamscape at the end of the night.

All so that we can orchestrate….THIS……

Now that’s  priceless.  And so worth it all.