Thursday, February 5, 2015

Supplier Review - Caterer: Josiah


This is looong overdue. I try not to think about it kasi, kasi everytime maalala ko naiinis ako sobra.  Pero may magandang nangyari pa rin naman sa church wedding namin and I try my best na wag na isipin yung mga negative na nangyari, which is the reason bakit ang tagal kong hindi gumawa ng supplier reviews.

Anyway, so this is a review/rant/complain about our caterer. The rest would be to follow. This would be taglish para mas feel nyo emotions ko, haha

Josiah:

1. Make sure someone checks the servers stuff at make sure may naka-assign na magbabantay sa server kasi nagsisimula silang maglagay sa container ng food kahit nde pa sila 6 hours na nag-serve tapos
sasabihin ubos na.

It was unfortunate that I found out about this a month after the wedding na and what's stated on their contract is you can complain within 24 hours after the event.

So here's the story. A few of my guests complained that they served super tiny portion which, sabi nila,  they understand. Sabi nila baka they just want to make sure everyone gets fed. Pero I don't agree sa small portion, dapat yung regular portion nise-serve nila, hindi pang-kids portion. Binayaran namin yun! So anyway,  they gave the servers a heads-up that they will come back for second helping which they did. But when they did sabi ng servers wala nang food and they blamed my Mom na kinuha na raw kasi ng Mom ko. But someone reported to me that when my Mom was asking for left overs sinabihan sya na wala ng natira. Eh anak ng talong, what do you mean wala nang natira. E kakarampot na nga sila mag-serve, hindi na sila nag-allow ng second helpings at eto pa, they usually allot 10-20% buffer for guests who eats more than some. Wait, there's more! I have 1 table na walang guests (kasi nang-indian sila! pero that's another story), one table has 8 guests, so asan napunta food na para dapat sa kanila? Sino hindi maiimbyerna nyan. 

Tapos may nag-report din na guests sa akin na nakita nilang naglalagay sa plastic containers ng left over food yung mga servers. Anak ng torta talaga. And to think na nung nanghingi Mom ko ang binigay lang nila Macaroni (which is a side dish) at mga 1-2 servings nang 2 dishes at nilagay lang nila sa plastic ng isda (alam nyo yung plastic na ginagamit pag bumibili ka ng isda sa palenke, ganun), pero ang mga servers naka-container! Ang saya nila di ba! 

Now, I'm not sure kung Josiah may kasalanan neto or hindi nila na sakop yun. Ang mahirap kasi, feeling ko hindi nila regular employees yung mga servers. Tipong mga dumaan lang sa harap siguro ng office nila at tinanong nila kung free sila sa January 19 at kung pede sila mag-food serve yun na, hire na. So hindi na nila responsibility ung acts nila. Pero naman! Ano ba yun. Nag-upgrade pa man din kami ng menu para matuwa guests namin tapos hindi rin na-enjoy ng guests, yung servers ang nag-enjoy! Kaya pala sa contract may nakalagay na responsibility namin na i-check gamit nila before they leave. Hmm. 


Nagreklamo na ako sa Josiah nga pala. I sent them an email (si Mherlyn AE namin). Pero dedma sila. Mga biwisit. Siguro dahil nga sa contract nila within 24 hours ka lang pede mag-complain. Which I really think is stupid, kasi hindi naman agad malalaman ng couple ano nangyari in a span of 24 hours. At kahit na may mga inutusan ang couple mag-report ano nangyari during the wedding, I don't think sasabihin nila sa couple yung mga bad stuff dahil ayaw nila ma-bad trip ang couple during their honeymoon. Anyway, I digress.

Eto pa. Naubusan ng desserts yung last two tables. Ganun? Hindi sila nag-refill? Kahit na sabihin nating nagtakaw yung ibang guests at kinuha nila lahat ng flavors ng dessert, like I mentioned may 1 table na walang laman. Meaning, may extra desserts dapat for those people. Medyo maiintindihan ko pa kung 1 table nawalan ng desserts pero two!? Two!!!!!????

Eto pa, dahil tinago na nila yung left overs wala nang nakain mga coordinators ko. Ang deal e, they would eat left overs, dahil sabi nila usually naman may mga hindi sumisipot. Pero kapag walang natira, we have to give them xx amount per person. So ngayon, nagbayad pa ako ng extra dahil sa katakawan ng Josiah servers for the Coordinator's food allowance. Sabi pa ng Coordinator, because your mom bagged all the food already and nothing's left for us. See, kasi nga yun ang sinabi ng mga sinungaling na servers, when the truth is nasa mga bag na nila  yung left overs.

2. Wine toast. Wala pa lang wine ang VIP! Well, eto siguro kasalanan namin to. In-assume namin na yung wine for toasting e available din para sa VIP eh hindi pala. Gets namin na yung regular guests hindi kasali sa bibigyan ng wine pero yung sa VIP?! Sana man lang nilinaw nila yun sa contract. Para sa amin big deal yun. Nakakahiya na walang wine ang VIP at tubig lang sila nung toasting. So ayun, make sure you ask your caterer about this. Kami lang ni groom at yung dalawang nag-toast (best man at matron of honor) ang may wine.


3. Assign someone to check the list of food na ipapa-pirma sa inyo. Ang mali ko, ni-browse ko lang. Nung tinanong ko ano yun, sabi: "yan po yung food na natira at binigay namin sa mom nyo". Alam ko kasi na kinukuha nga ni mama yung left overs so pinirmahan ko na. Ang hindi ko alam yung nasa listahan hindi yun ang binigay nila! Hindi ko naisip na nenenokin ng mga servers yung left over. I was so happy and so trusting that day kasi. Tsk. So lesson, wag kayo mag-pirma unless may someone na magbabasa nun at iintindi for you. Nasa cloud 9 ka pa nung mga oras na yun kaya wala ka sa tamang pag-iisip, haha, kaya delegate.


4. Napansin ko na hindi masarap yung food during our reception. Parang ang sarap nya during our food tasting pero sa reception parang hindi na. Ang tabang! Hindi ko alam kung dahil wala lang talaga akong gana kumain that day. Yung nanay ko hindi rin kumain kasi hindi raw masarap, pero yung guests ko naman nasarapan, sa I guess that's what matters. 2 against 80 something guests.


So ayan ang aming war story about our caterer. We didn't know kung kasama ba to sa tasks ng  coordinator kaya hindi na namin tinanong kung bakit nangyari yun dahil obviously hindi nila binabantayan yun dahil they should have caught all that. I suggest you ask your coordinator to man the buffet area and watch the servers. Kung sabihin ng coordinator it's not part of their job ask a friend/family member/entourage member. 

The only thing that I liked about Josiah is how they decorate our reception venue. They followed my instructions about what flowers to use, what color of flowers, what the napkin ring is, etc and it was really pretty. So I'll give them credit for that. For more pix please go to: M & R Wedding Details Pix




























Monday, January 26, 2015

How We Designed our (Church) Wedding Cake

I have been getting inquiries about how we designed our cake.

Since we are an overseas couple, we have to do everything by email.
Below is the Word document I sent Judy Uson. It wasn't as complicated as the Document I sent our caterer (Josiah), lol



we thought it through before we decided to really get a customized cake....that's why it was after a year and a half before we finally bite the bullet and ordered "the cake"...and below is the contract detailing the request  (mini cakes for primary sponsors and cupcakes for entourage is a separate contract)...







and here again is the finished product.....  Judy Uson followed my design to the dot! We love her!