Here's what I had to say to the owner of Splendid Fare Catering in response to my refusal to be used as a referral:
"Susan,
To be completely honest it was your attitude when I questioned the necessity of me paying 2 adults for a 3-4 hour bar set up for a 65 person wedding that really turned me off from using your services. I still believe this was an insane amount of time to pay 2 women to set up a bar which had mostly plastic glasses and cans of beer. You also in the same email, claimed you had free of charge set up the dessert table even though my mother-in-law was supposed to do it and treated it as some huge favor. You forgot the fact that at our meeting a few weeks before the event, you had told my mother-in-law that you would take care of it and there was no need for her to handle it at all.
Add to that I found out later that some of my guests were eating on paper plates because you ran out of china - when I know we actually came in under our final guest count - was completely unacceptable to me. My husband and I were already unhappy that we had been rushed to start dinner before we were ready and then my husband and I got to eat ice cold/ stale food because it had been sitting for so long and all the food wasn't even out when we went through the line.
I'm not looking for anything from you which is why I did not address these issues previously. I'd honestly like to just forget about the whole thing, but I can't in good conscience recommend you to another bride. I'm sure you have clients who adore what you do. I did not.
Sincerely,
Kristen McDowell"