Question to Vineyard Caterers Brides

Hi Ladies,

I am new to the forums (just got engaged last week). My fiancee and I are looking at a bunch of North Fork Vineyards (Vineyard Caterers, Raphael, Martha Clara). I just got off the phone with Bill from VC and it seriously sounds too good to be true. I was just wondering if any of you looked at the other vineyards in the area and what you thought (specifically about Raphael).

I'm really leaning towards VC but havent looked anywhere yet... I am worried about things booking up!

Thanks in advance!
Michelle

Here is my link to my Vineyard Caterers Review. I cannot rave enough about them. It's crazy how much they include in their price and the food is fantastic.
http://www.liweddings.com/chat/topic-577450-1.html

I used to be the bridal attendant at Raphael and would have had my wedding there if I hadn't worked there for 5 years (wanted something 'new'). It is GORGEOUS and was still my top choice even though it was so familiar. But bc of the site fee, it is very pricey. You could get a better deal if you are more willing to get married in the off season. One of the daughters of the owners runs the special events (Julie) and she plans and works every wedding. They are great to work with and you don't have to worry about anything they will take care of whatever you need.

Martha Clara is nice too but more of a rustic look, it wouldn't be my taste for my wedding but it depends on what you are looking for.

VC from what I hear does a great job but it's not a real winery so it depends on if you want a real vineyard wedding or not. Any questions feel free to ask.

First, Congrats!!!!

VC was the first place I went to... I got pricing for 10/4/09 in the afternoon and it was pretty good, but we weren't sure- we didn't want to book the first place we went to- so we decided to stop at a few other places. We went to an event planning service who brought us to a few vineyards (including Martha Clara- their site fee was very good but it was a little too informal for me). Our last stop was Duck Walk and we fell in love. We joined their wine club so we could get a discount on the site fee. We were so excited!! Since they're still a public vineyard we needed to change the date to 10/2 so we could have the wedding in the evening, and we did so without a problem.

We had a few meetings with the event planner and they were also hooked up to a caterer. Each time we dealt with someone they were gone the next week, so we felt a little uneasy. After about 4 months of going back and forth (not all their fault- but mostly) we finally met to talk about food. We told them our budget and said we wanted to do a cocktail wedding reception. We were assured that we would remain fully within our budget for everything and we felt really confident. Almost a month went by and I got an e-mail with a quote for the food and rentals-- and it was $10,000 over my budget FOR THE WHOLE WEDDING!! It didn't include the site fee or florist, photog, video, dj, etc. This was just for food and rentals.

We decided to cancel Duck Walk because although we could have found a less expensive caterer it still would have been over our budget and it's too much stress to worry about having enough forks and glasses throughout the whole wedding. Unfortunately we lost our $1,000 deposit, but that's the way it goes. I have to say that Kerry was excellent to deal with there, and every time I go the bartenders still know me and are always very nice.

The day I canceled Duck Walk I called Bill and he had us come in right away. He didn't have our date available, but he did have October 3rd and the price was $25 less a head since we decided to do an afternoon wedding. Luckily, the photographer and videographer that we HAD to have wasn't available the 2nd but was on the 3rd- so that helped seal the deal :)

Anyway, Bill and Johnny have been amazing ever since I first called to make an appointment and every time i have a question they are so great with getting back to me. I went to drop off a payment a few weeks ago and Johnny had us come in and gave my FBIL a tour of the estate and he even remembered our date!!!

Long story short, it would be wonderful to have a 'real' vineyard wedding, but I'm happy knowing that I don't need to be a millionaire to have a beautiful wine country wedding and have outstanding food and service along the way.

HTH, and let me know if you have any questions!! Good luck with the planning process!!!