The Caterer

This weekend we went on more wedding appointments! I’m going to break the posts up, because I’ve noticed my posts are a little too long. So here’s the first:

Refresher: we decided to get married in NJ because it’s the most convenient for the majority of our families and a good portion of our friends as well. Being a burgeoning foodie, my snobbish fear was that we wouldn’t be able to find any of the top notch food we’ve been spoiled by access to in Brooklyn- at least not at our price point. I mentioned before that, like many others, I wanted to have a wedding that reflected our style- which is a little offbeat. Therefore, we were looking for a reception site a little off the beaten path- which usually translates to hiring your own caterer. I’ve been cautioned about the hidden costs of using outside caterers- not necessarily their hidden costs, but the many different rentals you might not realize you need until you’re already in too deep. So while I’ve been researching and finding a number of awesome venues, in the back of my mind I’ve been aware that we may not be able to afford them at all. (Hence our initial visit to an all inclusive venue.)

So the good news is- we might be able to pull this off!

On Saturday we met with Mumford’s Culinary Center, my absolute first choice of caterer. Located in our hometown of Tinton Falls, I first tried their food when they catered an event for a bank I worked for in Rumson 8 years ago. I can still remember biting into one of their petite crab cakes and subsequently hounding the waiters to bring each new tray directly to me for the rest of the evening. Later I worked right around the corner from the restaurant and ordered Mumford’s Caribbean Club sandwich for lunch more times than I can count. When I first started thinking about constructing our wedding from scratch (well, choosing something other than an all inclusive, anyway) I immediately thought of Mumford’s and hoped they’d work out for us.

And it looks like they will! It sounds like everything will fall within our budget, and there are options to make adjustments if we need to. And costs aside, the meeting was great. Their catering manager, Kristin, as well as the owner himself, Chris Mumford, met us for the initial consultation. Their menu is expansive (and sounds delicious). They were able to give us some ballpark figures for rentals, and they will handle all of it for us without an upcharge (common in the industry). They can recommend liquor stores who work on consignment, send orders to rental companies with our choices for everything from chairs to linens to glassware, and, most importantly, they’ll orchestrate it all for us the day of. Which is AWESOME. Because as much as I want this, I do NOT want to be worrying about anything more taxing than not crying my mascara off on the day of my wedding.

So, I’m excited. I’ve practically memorized the menu already and I'm really looking forward to picking out every last bite. The decision as to whether we’re having a cocktail party, standard dinner, or buffet will be made after we decide on a location (and finalize the guest list- oy) but it looks like, regardless of those decisions, Mumford’s is going to work for us!