Gut instincts

I am so incredibly relieved and happy to say that we booked our caterer!  We decided to choose #4- Cravings Catering. 

Of all the major decisions we've had to make so far, this was one that gave us the most difficulty.  One of the main reasons being that it is the most expensive component of the wedding, and also because it's important to have good food.  With the other decisions that we've made, we knew right off the bat that it was what we wanted- no questions asked.  Douglas and I have both had very emotional responses to booking our venue {I cried, lol} and the photographer {he's awesome}, but the catering left us feeling a little strange. 

We were all but ready to book with catering #3- we had that instant emotional attachment like we had with our venue and our photographer.  Everything was presented and tasted exactly like what we had imagined for our wedding.  However, after our tasting it became extremely difficult to get in touch with the catering coordinator.  I asked several times for an estimate as to how much it was going to cost us, and was left with no solid answers.  After being *promised* an estimate by a certain day, I was sitting there 3 weeks after the day with no reply.  I completely understand that summer is a busy time, but I really hated feeling like our business was not a priority for them.  After almost a month had gone by with no contact, I finally got a reply from the coordinator.  It went along the lines of, "sorry, we were all on vacation".  I felt ignored, unimportant, and naggy {since I had to constantly send emails multiple times regarding the same subject}.  I began to worry if this sort of thing were to happen at this time NEXT year, how I would be able to handle it.  I also became concerned why they weren't forthcoming with an itemized estimate, as I've heard horror stories of mysterious fees slipping their way into the final cost since they weren't discussed previously.  After discussing my feelings with Douglas, we then made the decision that we would no longer consider giving them our business.

Cravings catering does a really fantastic job at what they do.  The food tasted great, it looked beautiful, the manager was friendly {and very responsive to emails and phone calls!}, and everything fit absolutely perfectly into our budget.  I am so happy we chose them to cater our wedding and I know they will do a great job.  However after the emotional letdown from caterer #3, it was less of an exciting decision to make for us.  I think it was a really good learning experience for us though, that sometimes we have to make decisions that go more on gut instinct and logic rather than pure emotion.  If something doesn't feel right, don't do it.

One day we'll have to make lots of major decisions in our life, like where to live, or what house to buy, or what school to put the kids in.  I feel like planning a wedding together is providing us the baby steps in learning how to make big decisions together {more than just what colors the napkins will be!}  We're learning how to negotiate, and how to communicate effectively with one another to make sure both our needs are satisfied and we are both comfortable with large financial decisions.  Douglas is the best life partner I could ever ask for, and I'm excited for all this learning that we're doing together!

In other fun news, we will be having our engagement photos taken in a few weeks!  I'm also going wedding dress shopping with my mom and sister next month, and will hopefully find something I really like!  Now that all the big things are taken care of, we can focus on more of the fun parts of wedding planning and just enjoy the next 387 days until our wedding! {But who's counting.... ;) }

<3 J