I Signed a Contract with a Caterer and Paid 50%

Dear Dorothy,

I signed a contract with a caterer and I paid 50% deposit on a choice of menus I liked. Several weeks before my wedding day, I tried to call her to finalize arrangements. When she did not answer her telephone, I visited her business premises where I had first met her. Her shop neighbors told me that she had closed the business and moved back to her home county!

It is now four weeks to my wedding day and I do not have a caterer. I had also used a large portion of my savings and have little to contract a new one. What do I do?

Wangari Kangethe, Thika, Kenya

Answer:

Dear Anna

The first thing we advice couples is never to pay more than 10% when booking any vendors. Secondly, contract vendors who have been in business for more than five years, which means they have a proven track record. Thirdly, only contract vendors who are known to someone close to you. Should they do a disappearing act like your caterer, it will be easy even to track them down to their home town and places they visit when not at work.

Even if it is only four weeks to your wedding day, and you have paid a large amount of money from your savings, take heart. You can still have a memorable wedding and you have plenty of time to rectify the situation.

Gather around your cousins, aunties, your mother and sisters and come up with a new food menu. Calculate the cost of the food. Purchase the items fresh from the market and make the food yourselves on the day one/two days before the day. Arrange to either borrow or hire a pick-up or a van to transport the food to your venue site.

Contact an event planning company that hires out chaffing dishes, plates, glasses and cutlery. They are usually in contact with people who can act as servers/waiters at your reception party.