What's the Number one thing you look for in a Caterer???

I was hoping that all of you Event and Meeting planners might be able to help me out here...

For those of you that have been to my website you will understand how Perfect Productions has grown over the past 25 years. We Started as a small family owned Event Coordination company with roots in Connecticut and Clients all over the United States. Our vision was simple, to provide our Clients with Unique and consistent Event Opportunities that met not only their goals, but also their dreams and budgets.

Each event was a series of strategic partnerships pulled together to provide the client an event that could never be duplicated and would always be remembered.

That vision remains in tact today - and we still use a group of vendors that provide exemplary services to out clients, however i have found throughout the years that by providing as many event services as I can, under one roof, makes the planning process easier on the client in the long run.

In the Past 6 years perfect Productions has established

• Luxury Travel and Vacations - booking corporate & leisure travel as well as incentive trips.
• The Perfect Affair - Wedding and Destination Wedding Coordination Planning
  
• The Perfect Petal - a full service Floral division
  
• Perfectly Packaged - a division offering amenities from pens to gift baskets & everything in between
• The Perfect Pen - Representing 10 stationary lines and complete with a graphic designer to customize invitations and stationary from the exquisite to the all occasion.
• Perfect On-Call the social networking based event planning subscription (see previous blog)
  

And The Newest Venture is:

Perfect Productions is currently working on the Perfect Palate its newest project set to launch in the Fall of 2009.

The Perfect Palate will be a 2 phase project to include a retail space offering a variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, and gourmet to go foods. The Cafe will also feature a penny candy bar, a showcase of baskets and gifts and fresh cut flowers by the dozen.

Combining the know how of 25 years in the Event Production business, with the fine cooking of our award winning Executive Chef, the project will also offer full service catering for any event large or small.

So What am I asking you for.....???

The Answer to that is a simple one - Perfect Productions has been hiring caterers for years, we pride ourselves in knowing fine food and good service and we insist upon it in for our clients - because really noting short of Perfect will do. We have taken this knowledge of what works and what does not and used it to create the new catering division - but our scope is only limited to what we have seen, done and accomplished.

So I was hoping some of you may be able to broaden our spectrum - what works for you when you hire a caterer, and what doesn't. What do you insist upon? What is the one thing you think your favorite caterer could change that would make him/her that much better. I'm looking for the things, other than taste that make or break the deal...I'd love to see some comments!!!!