Caribbean Catering

I am writing this review to share my disappointing experience with Caribbean Catering (Trinity VanSteenburg, owner and lead planner). Unfortunately, my recent encounter with their services fell far short of my expectations, and I feel it's important to provide feedback for the benefit of future customers. Event Details: Wedding at Private Estate in Florida Keys • Event Date: 12/09/2023 • Type of Service: Catering, rentals, décor, planning Issues Encountered: 1. Lack of Communication: Despite multiple attempts to communicate my specific preferences and requirements, there was a noticeable lack of responsiveness from Trinity. This created unnecessary stress in the weeks leading up to the event and added cost to me. See examples below. 2. Did not follow through with what was promised. 3. Over-billing/deceptive billing practices/pressure-billing 4. Lack of professionalism 5. Very poor execution of my vision The following examples illustrate why I would not recommend this company: 1. I booked their services in early June and at this time had initial conversations with Trinity regarding my vision and planning/designing services that Trinity was going to facilitate. Then on July 5th, I sent a follow up email confirm décor options/cake etc. An entire month went by without any response from Trinity or her team, which prompted me to write another email on August 10th expressing my frustration; finally, Trinity called me that day. I was asked to create a pinterest board for her so she had a better idea of my vision which I worked very hard on in order to paint a clear picture and completed promptly. On September 5th, I once again had to initiate contact in order to go over MANY specifics that were still not confirmed on her end (flowers, stage, dance floor, lighting etc.). I made multiple requests to see the décor options she had available so I could finalize my tablescape vision, and was told that I could view them in their warehouse in Oct the day of our tasting, didn’t happen. Now just weeks before my wedding in November, I still haven’t received any confirmation regarding flowers, staging, dance floor, lighting, or their optional décor items! I sent another text asking to confirm flowers on November 1st, she responded that she would confirm that following day. A week goes by and still no follow up. I request to set another phone call, she responded 5 days later, we set a time to chat, she never called. Now just 3 weeks before my wedding, I still don’t have any quote for lighting, staging, dance floor, or flowers! Not to mention, I had to send pictures of my vision multiple times (why did I work so hard on my pinterest board??). Finally, on November 22, two weeks before my wedding, I receive a quote for the rental items previously mentioned and flowers which resulted in an increase of approx.. $10,000 to our final invoice!! Because she waited until last minute to provide me with this quote, I had literally no time to get other quotes, and had to just eliminate a lot of what I wanted. Upon expressing my frustration of the lack of communication and the pressure placed on upon me due to limited timing, she used the excuse that “no one is responding, because they are so busy”; keep in my mind that she had MONTHS to receive these quotes but SHE waited last minute to confirm them. I ended up reaching out to the rental company she was using for the dance floor and lighting, and immediately got a response and a new quote that was $1,000 less! That turned out to be the best decision, because working directly with this rental company was a breeze and the responded to me IMMEDIATELY. 2. On my original signed contract, the invoice delineated bartender costs as $55/unit. On my final invoice, the cost increased to $275/unit. 3. On the original signed contract, the invoice delineated set up/breakdown cost as $0. This was consistent with their website and contract stating that set up and breakdown was included and at no additional cost. However, on my final invoice my set up/breakdown cost was now $525. Trinity stated that the cost was “always” $500, and that she only charged an additional $25 for the extra roses and 5 extra people, which is a frankly a complete lie. I saved pdf’s of all the invoices, including the original one signed in June and all the subsequent versions up until the final invoice provided on Dec. 7th. It went from $0, to $300, to $525, with the latter increased price only appearing on the FINAL invoice I received. 4. On the day of my wedding, not only did Trinity’s team arrive 2 hours late to set up (Trinity herself didn’t get there till much later even), but multiple of these extra helpers were kids! There were two young girls setting up the décor for my reception tables, with no direction mind you. Absolutely unacceptable. 5. In addition, I bought hundreds of candles for my tablescape décor and was very clear of my vision and adamant that I wanted a lot of candles to be placed on the tables; Trinity ignored my request, stating “she didn’t want to overload the tables”. So instead, my round tables had maybe 4-5 candles and looked pathetic, and wasted my money due to numerous unused candles! 6. Outsourced rentals (dance floor, staging, lighting): The quote I received from Caribbean catering was significantly higher (each item was increased by $600) than the quote I received directly from the source for the same thing. Trinity states that she had more lighting and a bigger dance floor but that is simply not true. I even added additional lighting and it was still cheaper than her quote 7. For the bar they were to bring ice and coolers, they brought ONE old cooler with NO LID! My family ended up having to supply a cooler so the ice didn't melt. Which they ran out of by the way. 8. Left a HUGE mess of boxes after setting up for the ceremony and reception and behind the bar. It looked so tacky and unprofessional. I encourage potential customers to thoroughly research and consider their options before choosing Caribbean Catering for their special day. It is my sincere hope that others have a more positive experience, but I felt it necessary to share my honest feedback.