This Saturday I has a wedding that we made the cakes for and also catered. We have catered several weddings int he past for the extended family of this bride. We get there set up they had friends of the family smoking the pork loins too.
We start to serve dinner and as we get into the service I realize that there are more people thatn what they told me to cook for. I know we are oging to run out of food and I quickly send my husband to the store to try and accomodate the extra people. The father of the brise comes in and says are you out of green beans. I explained to him that I have more on the way and I can't understand why we are running out. He said that he counted at least 550 people at thechurch. I told him his wife told me to cook for 500. That's a big difference!!
I have been crying since Saturday!! I work soooo hard to make my business successful and in just a matter of a few minutes they have ruined everything thatI have worked for. Guests at the wedding don't think that the family messed up. THey just see that we are running out of food and who wnats to book a caterer who does that!! The FOB said if it's a matter of more money he would pay more . But it's not that and he couldn't understand how much damage they have done. I am a perfectionist and I have worked so hard to build this business to provide for my family and teach my children a work ethic and an opportunity in the future.
I know I need to let my anger and go and move on to repair the damage, but I don't know how to let this go. I am afraid if I talk to the family I will say something I Shouldn't. I know I just need to give this to God and make peace but it hurts so much.
Thanks for indulging my ramblings. Maybe this can be the beginning of my letting go.

Oh I really feel for you! I use to cater events also, and this has happened to me before. It really is a bad situation, and you are right, the client has no idea what a bad rep it can give you. Hopefully, the client will let the bulk of the guests know that it was their fault for not ordering enough food. I always hated doing weddings, because the brides alway tend to pay for less people then they invite....thinking that some would not show up. I was always a nervous wreck at the serving lines.

Cheer up though....just keep in mind that most people go by the quality of the food, and the service. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure they noticed that you were upset, and were trying frantically to rectify the situation.

Sherry

Well to start off I am terrible sorry this has happened!!

Now my 2 cents worth....It is extremely Rude and Ignorant of the customer to give you a set of numbers and then totally venture away from that.Most caterers will accomodat for 10% above the number given and that's it...If the Bride told you 500 and the guest total was 550 that is well over 10%.This is all heresay now because like you mentioned..people only look at the fact that there isn't enough food and forget the fact they calculated for too few people.Bad palnning on their part but you suffer the blow.You will have to speak to the family sooner or later and I would just be calm and cool and state that you were given 500 as a final count and that you only accomodate for 10-15 extra people.I don't know what else you can say.Don't be so hard on yourself and do let it go .You can't change what the outcome will be but perhaps in the future a more detailed contract as to servings can be added to your final words to the Bride.

I think you did the best you could under the circumstances. 50 more people is a huge amount that was not taken in consideration. They should be ashamed of themselves not you. I think you need to tell the person that hired you it was a huge embarrassment on your part for their mistake. It it has hurt not only your business but yourself. Be strong. and learn from this that's all we can do. Cheer up and don't beat yourself anymore.
You are in my prayers

You know you can only do so much and it sounds as if you covered all your bases. You have nothing to feel guilty about because you were working under the assumption of a 500 headcount. The only thing I can suggest is that in the future you make sure the family (i.e. people paying for the food) understand about catering/headcount/overage and what the consequences are. Once that happens it is out of your hands if they overinvite. Sounds like you did everything possible to compensate for their error and have nothing to feel bad about. Try to let this go and move on...so many more cakes to bake and besides you are on your way to building a fabulous business!

I'm sooo sorry that this happend to you. But golly, since you have already done several events for the extended family with success, don't worry.

What is more important is how you handle the situation with this one and what you show in example to your children. If they think that you are devastated by this one thing then all of your teaching will be for naught. Of course it hurts and of course it's something that you can't really point to the family and say it all their fault, but you can show your kids that it's not something to roll up and die for. Use it as a teaching time for them. This is what the real world is like. People goof up, they make mistakes, bad decisions, etc. Learn from them. If they see you in control of yourself (even when the situation is out of your control) it will have a bigger impact than all of the "came off perfect" events you have or will do. God allows these things for a purpose, who knows why...maybe just simply to teach us to trust Him, to learn to live like He desires us to. Forgive them and never forget....always make more!

Hang in there! I once shot a wedding and my daughter assisted. We found out later that I had forgotten to load her camera with film! Then, when I got my negs back so I could do the printing, they had been severely scratched by the processor and I had to hand repair each one. What a nightmare. Can't say I totally handled it with grace but in the end it all came out well and we learned from it!

I don't cater, but my sister does and I can say that most people are good and understanding and can see what is really going on for themselves. Many of these people have had events in their own lives and know that these things happen. I think you did great! You worked very, very hard and were willing to work even harder to make more food. Like quadcrew said, those that ate their fill will remember how good it was. Most people will just think how nice it was. I am sorry, but please keep your chin up and know that you did the best you could with the information you were given. Take care.

I also agree that 10% extra food at a minimum is a good buffer zone...especially if it's a buffet...people always go overboard. I purposely overshoot the amount of servings beacause I never want to be told there wasn't enough cake!

Don't feel bad, though....The way I see it, people will compliment the family on how great the food was. They can't say anything negative about it...if they have tasted your stuff in the past, they obviously like it. If the FOB is a decent man...or if he even knows the situation (maybe he didn't know his daughter invited so many more), he will tell everyone that they had more guests than were expected. If not, well, unfortunately that is part of the business world. Don't dwell on it....just learn a lesson from it....always better to have too much than too little!

I know it's hard to think like this now, but it is a learning experience. I always see all the bad stuff in my cakes, but everyone else thinks it's great and they love them. Well, I think we, as perfectionists, think too much about what so and so thought. You can only move forward. I really doubt that people think it's your fault. I've been to a couple of wedding where this same thing happened and I, along with everyone else I talked to, just figured that the bride's parents were being cheap and not wanting to order more food, so they go too little. It happens and people understand.