31 North Banquets & Catering

Reviews 3

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Zoe Boxlietner

The only thing I will say I like about our experience with 31 North is Bridgette, Regina and Ashley. The rest was inexcusable. I had planned my sons wedding reception for 8 months with them. During the planning process they were wonderful. 9 days prior to the event the owner Bernice called to chastise me as to where my final payment was. She indicated that her staff had been trying to call me and I wasnt responding to messages. Which was completely untrue as I had received one Email from Bridgette and I responded promptly making arrangements when I would be in. Now mind you I had been in frequently brining our decorations in and chatting with the girls there. The message I received from the owner was so rude and unprofessional I couldnt believe what I was hearing. I called the owner who then started to apologize, saying she had had a bad morning and she should had not left that message and so on. The cafe is very stressful she said. So I moved past that. However, lets talk about the day of event. We had been told we my daughter in law could use the bridal room to get ready. We said we would be there at 3:00. We didnt come until 3:30. When we walked in I truly think my daughter in law was going to faint. They were still partially set up as the cafe. The chairs had not been covered or sashed tables had not been set up. It was crazy. So much so that I set up the entire head table decor, the sign in table and ended up working some on the guest table decor. I did this until 5:00. Which I then had to dress. For the amount of money I paid for this it was supposed to all be done by them. It would had never been ready in time if myself and her maid of honor didnt help. My son and daughter in laws name was supposed to be on the marquee never done. Dinner was supposed to be served at 7:00. Well the soup and salad was. But the actual main course was not served until 8:20. Ridiculous. Their staff did not clean away salad plates or soup dishes. They just say on the tables. I had to ask for this To get done. One of my friends at her table did it herself it was such a mess. On a side note my son wasnt even served his salad or soup, he had to ask. The cake was not brought out til about 9:10 and then It was not served to the guests they had to go take it off of trays. The sashes on The chairs were not tied properly. As soon as you sat down it came undone on most chairs. My 85 year old Aunt fell because of the a sash that was laying on the floor. They were all the place. There was a room off the main room that was supposed to be set up for cocktail hour and then later for little ones to color etc. it was never setup for either. Two bare 8 ft tables and one unorganized table with brochures for 31 North in it. The little ones goody bags were not set out for them. We had nine people who were unable to attend the reception and had been told those that did not show we would get the meals wrapped to go home. At the end of the night I asked Bridgett for them and I was told there were none left. I know who didnt come and now we do not get the food we paid for. Unbelievable The bridal room for my daughter in law was used as a storage room for the decorations. She had not much room to get ready. The icing on the cake is the bridal room was supposed to be secured. My daughter in law left her wallet in the room. At the end of the night the $300.00 she had in her wallet had been taken. By who we do not know. Overall it truly was sub par. The owner Bernice had relayed that there is nothing she can do about everything that happened. So please folks beware you will deal with a owner that doesnt care when there are problems and you may get an experience that will not be near what you expected.

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Alex Binanti

Maybe they just dropped the ball with us...alot. Seemed to meet a new coordinator every time we talked or dropped off payments who told us different stories. First, we were quoted very wrong to the actual bill. Then as the brochure stated and the first coordinator stated it was an open bar fully stocked top shelf for 5 hours...they failed to mention ever that the top shelf was yes stocked but charged to my guests. That was a bit surprising and when we were paying 90 dollars a plate, I find that unacceptable and sneaky. Also, even though this issue was semi rectified, it should have been a red flag. We scheduled our food tasting and it seemed to only be written down on the paper calendar, not the computer. We arrived and sat down to find out, they scheduled another tasting instead. The owner did apologize profusely and offered us a signature drink option to make up for it. That was appreciated and we let it go knowing mistakes happen. The way she addressed the issue was timely, professional, and left me thinking we were in competent hands. The tasting we had following that was delicious and we looked forward to the wedding day. However, the day of, most my guests had no clue there was a signature cocktail as nothing was posted. Part of the menu was advertised wrong to the guests; I heard the appetizers were good, but I didnt try them since the servers never came around to the bridal suite for the btidal party. For 130 guests there was only 1 bartender so the line was a bit long. The food, which was the most important reason we picked this place for, arrived and unfortunately it was bland. The carmelized onion potatoes tasted like boiled potato and the steaks had no seasoning on it...the total opposite of our tasting. The raving review I gave of the food as a professional chef and catering coordinator was almost embarrassing. Then no one displayed the dessert table until much after dinner so most my guests didnt even know it was there. The trays and decor I was told I could bring in for the sweet table were not used and was just left to the side empty which was a bit weird and not photogenic. Sort of a let down since the sweets were the best tasting things there. There were many minor issues but luckily the guests didnt notice and they didnt seem to care that they had to pay for the top shelf stuff (I hadnt found out until the next day otherwise I would have just paid a tab for that myself). Our dj was awesome and kept the party going. Our bartender was funny and worked really hard. The decor was beautiful and maybe if we werent professionals, we wouldnt have minded how unorganized they seem to be behind closed doors. There were no total disasters and Im happily married so thats what counts right?

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Alexis Elsner

We celebrated our wedding ceremony and reception at 31 North in May 2015. The planning process upfront was fairly easy – the contract and pricing packages are laid out in a convenient manner. My husband and I live out of state, so they offered for our extended family members in the area to come by for a food tasting, which helped us decide on our menu. Also, our final head count came in under the guaranteed number, so 31 North allowed us to choose an upgrade for free, which was a nice gesture. One thing that could have been better was the communication. They were good about answering emails and returning phone calls; however, the information was not always passed along. For example, my husband and I both have severe food allergies, and though we had decided on the dinner options, the appetizers were to be chosen by the chef based on season and availability. Therefore, I notified 31 North of our allergies. The next four times I spoke with them, no allergies had been recorded, and we were assured each time that they would put it in our file. On the wedding day, not only was there a vegetarian first course containing foods to which my husband is allergic, but the waiter apologized to me in the bridal suite for serving strawberries (I am only allergic to eggplant, so it seems the wrong foods had been written down). No one had an allergic reaction, and the rest of the day was lovely. It concerns me that I had to relay important health condition information several times. Perhaps one of the problems was that I spoke to someone different each time I called. Our day-of wedding coordinator was a woman we had neither met nor heard from in the months leading up to the wedding, which seemed a bit impersonal and risky. When we called to put in our down payment, we were put on hold several times and the woman sounded disinterested or distracted. In all, the wedding was very nice; the ceremony and reception setup looked great, the wait staff was competent, and the food was good. If I booked another event with 31 North, I would make sure to try to speak with the same person every time and send follow-up emails for confirmation and reassurance.

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