Apologies & Departures

And it continues. . .

I understand that you were upset by what you felt was a rude tone to my responses to you. First of all, let me apologize if my response seemed that way to you. That was not my intention.  

Because of the number of questions we receive in our business, we always reply in CAPS and some different color to client questions so that it is easier for them to find the responses to their very own questions. I replied to your questions very honestly and, to the best of my knowledge, in a an accurate manner. Please understand that off premise catering is very different from having an event in a restaurant or catering facility that already has furniture, flatware, stemware and chinaware in their stock. We must bring almost everything in to the museum. The wedding packages I sent you were built for the Brooklyn market that has budget concerns. They are the most economical way to go due to the fact that we use existing round tables, 6’ tables for the kitchen and screens that the museum has. Typically, a party rental budget for an event like yours comes in at around $60-$70 per person depending on the equipment ordered. When you go with something like rectangular chairs for seating, they must be a wider table in order to fit the place setting and flowers or décor. This requires that  a custom cloth is cut to fit the table. This increases the rental budget tremendously (not even taking into account that we also have to rent the tables). The packages we had are based on a 3 course dinner. You had requested a 4-course dinner. Again this would raise not only the rental budget but also your menu price. At the end of the day, about 55% of your complete budget will be for rentals and labor for the event. I can go into this more in depth when we meet, but at the end of the day, we will order for you whatever it is you would like to have for your event. It’s a matter of your budget being able to accommodate those cost increases.

I did send you a meeting request for our meeting after my return. Let me know if that still works for you. Have a great 4^th of July.

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Did you catch that Brooklyn Market comment??? Whatevs! In the end we never met Mr. Fong. As luck would have it he resigned. I don't think it had to do with me though.

Then you know what happened a month or so later? The events manager decided to leave the Museum to pursue other career opportunities. I really liked her so that was a shock and a shame. She was amazing to work with and I do wish her all the best. Sigh.

Is my dream venue turning into a nightmare?