Merri-Makers Catering

Merrimakers wasn’t supposed to be one of my favorite vendors. Our venue uses Merrimakers Catering exclusively, so this was the only vendor that we did not actively select. And things got off to a rocky start- we didn't fall in love with the sample food at our group tasting and called Laura to ask her how to proceed. She suggested we design our own menu and then come up to Edison, NJ and try the proposed hors d’oeuvres and 3-course dinner. We did just that, even providing a few family recipes, and were thrilled with the results. Merrimakers was flexible, even allowing us to change from duck to chicken a few weeks before the big day to accommodate someone in the wedding party with a new dietary restriction. The salad was perfect- and I loved that they served the dressing in a small glass so that no one had wilted lettuce or needed to wait for the wait staff to bring them extra dressing- perfect! The golden roasted capon was moist and delicious and the Madeira wine sauce, mushrooms and asparagus/ truffle cake were so good that I wish I had leftovers the next day! Broccolini was crisp and flavorful, cheese plate was supposedly wonderful- although I was too busy dancing to eat mine- and the crème fraiche that accompanied the cake was dense and sour, just like in Paris! The only tiny piece of constructive criticism I have is that timing was a little bit off. I know that the wait staff was being polite by not putting dinner down during speeches- but I had planned it that way so that there would be no down time when speeches were over. We ended up running about an hour behind- luckily the photographer was kind enough to stay for cake cutting. All in all, I would hire Merrimakers again to cater my wedding- the food was FABULOUS.

Merri-makers provided wonderful food during cocktail hour that everyone raved about. They also provided us tastings prior to the event so we had some ideas of what the food would taste like. I will say that the quality does vary from chef to chef so make sure you go to the tastings. They try to be responsive but take a few days to get back to you. Once they get back to you they work with you but to tend to up-charge a lot for changes even though they tell you to forget their pre-made menu and they'll do whatever you want. All and all for a wedding caterer, they are excellent and one of their special things is they make the bride and groom whatever they want to eat for their special day. I would recommend merri-makers to others, but depending on which chef they got.

Laura and Mary are an amazing team and literally gave me everything I asked for. They were very organized, which I appreciated and really listened to what I wanted. They also had great recommendations about what works well, but were never pushy or impatient with us despite constantly changing our menu. I wanted a few items that weren't on their menu and they were more than happy to accommodate us including filling 150 cannollis from a bakery in my hometown. Their food is amazing and they have such a great variety to choose from, but also are very flexible with changes you want to make.

The location is incredibly beautiful, and everyone who was working the night of our wedding was very nice, friendly, and professional. Everything went perfectly. We had no stress at all dealing with them.

Fabulous job! We dealt with Laura from MerriMakers and she made our day absolutely wonderful. I must have emailed her 72,000 times before the big day and she was extremely helpful through each one. She went above and beyond to calm our nerves and make the day of the wedding flawless. She was there with us throughout the night and made sure everything went smoothly. As for MerriMakers as a whole, the food and service were more than we could have imagined. So many of our guests simply raved about the food, especially cocktail hour! They were worth every penny, I highly recommend them!!

My husband and I got married on a farm with no heat or electricity, let alone a proper cook's kitchen. We knew we needed to hire a catering company that could handle such a difficult event, so Merri-Makers was the obvious choice. Laura Daly was so easy to work with, and she always offered fresh, creative menu ideas. She came to the farm to do a walk-through with us to determine where the cook tent needed to go with all of their equipment, where our reception tent would go, how far away the cook tent would be from the reception tent to make sure the food stayed hot... she really cared about making sure our wedding would be perfect. She helped us create the menu for a traditional New England clambake (a tribute to my home state), as well as the best cocktail hour menu our guests had ever seen. Rick did a great job directing the Merri-Makers staff on our wedding day, and everyone was dressed very professionally. The staff was polite, and the bartenders knew how to make drinks well. In addition to working hard for our guests' experience, they also made sure we, as well as our bridal party, were well taken care of. They had our drinks of choice ready and waiting for us as we arrived at our cocktail hour, and while we were mingling with guests, they were thoughtful enough to make my husband and I plates of food, as we didn't have time to make our own plates. That type of service continued the entire night. I never had to get my own drink or serving of food, as it was all provided for me and my family, before we could even ask for it. If they can handle our wedding, on a farm, with no electricity, heat, or even a roof over their heads, they can handle your wedding! Merri-Makers is THE best catering company in the state of New Jersey, period.

We had our wedding at the Neshanic Valley Golf Course through Merri-Makers. There were some good things and bad things about using this vendor. BAD: We booked the site about 10-11 months before our wedding date, and during the course of that time our wedding coordinator changed 4 times. Not once, did Merri-Makers notify us of these changes. I would just call or email to ask a question, and would get a "no longer works her response". I found this to be a bit frustrating, especially having to re-confirm everything. There were definitely discrepancies between what one said and what the next said. Because this was a new site for MM, there were a lot of other changes throughout the process: They changed the ballroom chairs (I personally loved the original ones from when I booked), They didn't decide till two weeks before my wedding whether the tent was going to be up or down, etc.... The site is beautiful, but the site is owned by the county not MM, so 1) Despite the fact that they show pictures of bride and groom on the golf course taking pictures, they will not let you on the course to take pics. This was told to us about 2 weeks before the wedding, which was annoying, but we still managed to get some good pics with the course in the background. 2) If you have the ceremony there, the parking lot is RIGHT there. Our first coordinator told us they block off the area closest to the ceremony for cars--Our final coordinator told us that was not possible. Needless to say a car alarm went off during our ceremony, which of course I had to laugh at! They also didn't get our cake right, we were given vanilla instead of chocolate filling. Not a big deal. GOOD: The food was excellent! This was extremely important to me, and one of the primary reasons I chose this vendor. I was not disappointed. I made sure to enjoy our cocktail hour, and was quite pleased with the selection and arrangement of food. Our day-of coordinator made sure we were taken care of all day! She would check in with us often, get us drinks, etc. They had food, champagne, and drinks ready for us in the bridal room as soon as the ceremony was over too. The ceremony site, golf course, reception room, and deck for cocktail hour was beautiful!! Our guests loved that they had the deck to use throughout the night for fresh air.

When we first booked Bonnet Island Estate, we were a little concerned that we did not have a choice of caterers. Coming from an Italian family where food is EVERYTHING at a wedding, I am very happy to report that the food was delicious and my whole Italian family agreed! Laura Daly was our coordinator and she was amazing as was her assistant Mary. Mary was so attentive to my husband and I are on wedding day. We constantly had fresh drinks in our hands. Laura was very accommodating to the many changes I made to our menu and drink order as the wedding got closer. She made sure everything was taken care of on our wedding day.

Merri Makers Neshanic- It was really important for us to find a reception hall that "fit" us. This was definitely it. The food was amazing! It is a relatively new wedding site, and they are still ironing out kinks (I had dealt with a few different salespeople due to turnover). The only issue I really had was that the girl who was supposed to be waiting on us all night wasn't very attentive. The maitre 'd was great and the room looked absolutely perfect. My wedding reception was amazing due in large part to Merri Makers!

Merri-Makers was such a pleasure to work with and they were absolutely fantastic at everything they do! Laura Daly was our coordinator and she was so amazing and accommodating and helped us to achieve our exact vision for our wedding. We had several meetings over the course of several months to help fine tune our wedding menu. We loved working with them because they really allowed us total freedom to start from scratch and create our own culinary dream for our wedding. We gave them several home recipes that they very willingly helped us to recreate for our wedding which gave such a wonderful and personal touch...we even created an international cocktail hour with flavours from India, Vietnam, Cuba, etc. It was incredible to have them say yes to anything we asked when it came to food. And come wedding day, everything was executed so beautifully and several guests came up to us telling us how amazing the food tasted. Even though we didn't get to eat as much as we would have liked to at our own wedding, everything we tasted was a pure delight. Merri-Makers is wonderful if you're looking for a catering group that is willing to work with you to create your own culinary vision.

We had our reception at Merri Makers in Sea bright, nj. They were unbelievable! THey did everything we asked, and made sure we were as comfortable as possible. Sally was our coordinator, Sal was our MAter D' and Tara was the bridal parties own waitress. The staff was phenomenal and the reception hall looked gorgeous. All of our guest were raving about the food and beauty of the place. They made my day the best day of my life. I would recommend them for your special day!

What can I say? They were perfect! The food was amazing and the service impeccable. They went over and above in every area. From planning to flexibility, to the day before and night of. People even commented to me afterward regarding the "on point" service they received. Bruce and Sheri at Neshanic Valley Golf Club were wonderful to work with and really made our day very special. I did not have a florist and created my own tables and bouquets but b/c there was a party the night before, I could not set everything up for them. They did so for me exactly how I pictured everything and really went above expectations! And the food!! Amazing....I am still getting compliments on the food! I just wish I could enjoy the night all over again! Thank you Merrimakers!

MerriMakers provided great food and service at our wedding, but we were treated very poorly, arguably taken advantage of, when there was a dispute with our contract. We had a ZERO balance on the day of our wedding. Several months later, we received a nasty letter from MerriMakers saying our account was sent to collections and that, if she didn’t pay the balance due, she would be reported to our local police department for theft of services. MerriMakers “forgot” to put the sales tax on our initial contract, or any of the subsequent balance statements. We decided to split the balance with MerriMakers, since it was their mistake and we didn’t budget for this cost. It was almost impossible to get them to apologize for their mistake. We were more concerned about how my wife and I were treated than the money itself. MerriMakers was more concerned about the money itself over how they treated a well paying customer.

We worked with Laura Daly and she really pulled it all together for us. Food was great, service was great, and Laura went above and beyond to manage every little detail for us! She made the day stress free so we could enjoy our wedding day! We highly recommend her and the Merri Makers team!

Bruce was very helpful in making my day perfect. Merimakers did a great job renovating Neshanic Valley Golf Course, and it looks great! All the guests loved it.

We loved the food and service, and we got great feedback from our guests.

Amazing food, very friendly and accommodating staff serving our every need! Laura Daly is awesome and excellent at her job. We picked our own menu with cultural flares. Thanks so much for making our day even more special! HIGHLY recommend.

You get more than you pay for and the Holmdel location sells itself, its stunning. The coordinators cater to you and have great communication. Merri Makers food is delicious. I will admit you should choose your bar tender because the two that I met had a sense of humor that my family didnt like too much.

Service was awesome! The food dynamite! They were excellent to work with and wanted nothing but the best and most ideal day for us. Our wish was literally their command. They even went out of their way to get my new husband something that wasn't on the menu---he wanted philsbury biscuts with dinner---they went to the grocery store & purchased them for him!!

We thought we had made the right choice by going with Merri Makers. Their food was excellent as well as their presentation at their tasting. Needless to say we were disappointed when they did not carrythrough on promises made (and paid for ) at our reception. Not to mention that after the wedding we received multiple calls from them after our bill had been paid and settled stating that they had "miscalculated" a variety of charges and taxes and wanted more money. I dont know of any company that would be so unprofessional as to go so far and ask couples for additional money after their bill was paid in full and on time.