MANE Catering and Event Services - M.A.N.E. — Local services in Bridgton

We engaged the services of MANE catering for our wedding reception. We had a great tasting experience, during which the owner, Nicholas, was professional and warm. Regrettably, our encounter with the company turned out to be profoundly disappointing. Our guests were served cold food, not even hot, but literally cold, an unfortunate oversight that left us disheartened and extremely disappointed. Especially having expressed to Nicholas at the tasting that my pet-peeve is cold food. To compound matters, several of our guests informed us that they did not receive the full menu that we had diligently arranged for each table to enjoy in a family-style setting and PAID for. After not receiving the full menu a few of our guests took it upon themselves to go speak to the staff to ask for the missing food, to our dismay they were met with an incredibly appalling response from the staff claiming that the rest of the food was for them to eat! Instead of serving the food we paid for to our guests, they insisted any leftovers were for themselves. I could NOT believe this happened and we didn't just hear this from one guest, we heard it from several guests. Furthermore, a perplexing situation arose concerning our elaborate dessert bar. We had thoughtfully supplied a wide array of treats including 4 pies, 5 cakes, imported figs from Central America, rice krispies treats, Iranian delicacies, and ice cream – a grand and exquisite display that catered to our shared sweet tooth. Astonishingly, the dessert bar was either taken/eaten by MANE's staff or unceremoniously discarded, contrary to our explicit instructions to preserve any leftovers for us. In the aftermath of the event, the MANE event manager for the night asserted that the dessert bar had been entirely consumed by a mere 97 guests, a claim that conflicted with the firsthand accounts from attendees who witnessed numerous untouched pies and cakes as the reception concluded. This disparity in information was really disappointing, especially since my husband and I were eagerly anticipating the opportunity to enjoy the remnants of our carefully curated dessert assortment. In addition to these culinary disappointments, the post-event handling of rental items further exacerbated our frustration. Numerous serving tongs, spoons and crates from our rental company mysteriously vanished, and MANE, responsible for the cleanup, shockingly attempted to attribute the loss to us. This unjust accusation added a surreal layer of incredulity, as there was no conceivable motive for us to abscond with these random items. Equally disconcerting was the absence of the head chef and owner, Nick, during the reception, leaving a glaring absence of oversight and accountability for the shortcomings of his staff. Subsequent review of event photographs unveiled further inconsistencies. Even the cocktail hour food, featuring lobster rolls and shrimp cocktail, was mishandled. Instead of the meticulously prepared rolls and shrimp presentation we had selected, the items were served on subpar burger buns and unsightly paper dishes. This was an unexpected departure from our chosen vision for the wedding. Our efforts to address these issues were met with frustrating delays and evasive behavior. Nicholas, the owner, took a full two weeks to respond to our initial post-event concerns. His event manager exhibited an unapologetic attitude, choosing to side with their staff's version of events over our firsthand observations. Despite eventual contact, Nicholas' offer to make amends by catering a future event for up to 10 people, worth $2k, according to him, held little appeal given the profound disappointment we had experienced. Later they instead offered only $1k and a stipulation that we sign an NDA to prevent any negative reviews – a proposition that further strained our already deteriorating relationship. In the months since, attempts to reach a resolution have been met with silence and indifference. They completely ghosted us and the...

Wasted a month talking about our wedding with them for them to suddenly cancel working with us due to high interest in our date/increase in food prices, only to change their minds a week later saying we needed to meet minimum prices and they could in fact do our event. This would have been perfectly fine had it been mentioned to us before abruptly cancelling. Also we had a budget at the beginning and was told this could be accommodated only to receive invoices totaling well over the original agreed upon budget. Was also told we could not try our wedding cake (cheesecake), and to have bar services we were not only required to pay 1 hour for set up, 1 hour for clean up (that’s not including serving hours) but also would cost more to move a bar from outside for cocktail hour to inside for reception. Not to mention we wanted a buffet set up for pizza, and were told originally it was our decision on how many serving staff we could have but minimum of 2, they recommended 3 as for some reason guests at a wedding apparently can’t serve themselves pizza we needed someone standing there to do it for them, something we did not find necessary. We were later told we had to have 3 staff and in fact did not have the “option” of deciding for ourselves anymore. Had they been up front and honest to begin with, we likely would have booked with them, but the quick to cancel mentality and changing of requirements made us choose to go with someone more...

My husband and I found MANE Catering last summer while searching for wedding caterers. We had our tasting and loved absolutely everything we tried - it was a tough choice to pick our meal! We went ahead and booked him for the wedding, which just happened earlier this month. Over the past year, Nick has catered an office Christmas party, a relative's wedding and our own wedding. Our experience with Nick and the entire MANE Catering staff has been nothing short of excellent each time. For our wedding my husband and I used MANE Catering with the Inn at Fogg Farm for a venue and everything went absolutely flawlessly (the combination of that venue with this caterer works beautifully for those of you looking for a venue as well). I went the day before to set up a few decorations and then knew that I could stay away the day of the wedding and just let it all happen knowing everything was in good hands. Everything went perfectly and our guests thoroughly enjoyed their meals. We heard from many guests who have attended lots of weddings that it was the best food that they had ever had at a wedding. So many people were raving about their meals - and no complaints to be heard! Nick is a great guy, easy to work with, and an extremely talented chef. I highly recommend using M.A.N.E. Catering to anyone looking for a catering service. We are so glad we found them for our...