Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Catering St. Louis has been called a one-stop wedding shop. Mark Erker’s 32-year-old events company will gladly orchestrate an entire wedding weekend—rehearsal, reception, Sunday brunch—or any part of it. (In 2016, the company organized 160 wedding ceremonies alone). One thing Erker didn’t anticipate: the impact of a double-edged sword called Pinterest.
How has the catering business changed? Even the word means something else now. Drop off a few pans of food at lunch, and people call that catering. What was once called catering we now refer to as the event business, where we do everything. We recommend florists, photographers, even ministers—people we know are good, people we can trust. Then we manage everything that happens after that.
Describe the difference. Our business now is more contract management work, with kitchens and supplies at each of our 12 properties, so there are fewer moving parts, fewer uncontrollable unknowns. When guests get to the property, everything is ready. They no longer see the setup, the unfamiliar things that often made them nervous. Our venues are more predictable in an industry known for its major unpredictability.
How does a client pick a location when there are a dozen to pick from? Most planners and brides today know pretty much what they want, so it’s easy for us to narrow it down. Oliva [on The Hill] is rustic and Tuscan-feeling, for example, so if someone wants glitz, that’s not the place. Burlap and jars don’t work at a formal spot but are perfect at the farm. The venues each have a built-in theme, so there’s not much else to do. You’re 80 percent there already
How have wedding themes and decorations changed? Pinterest has a lot to do with it. Brides now want to supply so many creative details, they get overwhelmed. Then it’s up to us to stage it all, exactly the way they envisioned it—which may be different than how we envisioned it. Fortunately, at a lot of our venues, their ideal Pinterest picture is already there.
How has Catering St. Louis grown over the years? Twenty years ago, we decided to begin managing—and then acquiring—properties, which gave us exclusivity over them. Our first contract was with Powell Hall, and after that it was the Saint Louis Art Museum. These places approached us, which was an easier way to grow the business. We could do 10 events under one roof instead of doing 10 events off-site—each with a different set of unknowns—and pull them off with less upfront research. We no longer had to go to people’s homes to get the lay of the land.
How many parties will the company cater this year, and how many are weddings? It used to be 50/50, wedding business to corporate events. Now 70 percent of our business is wedding related: rehearsals, receptions, and the wedding ceremonies themselves. We do four to five ceremonies per weekend alone, two to three of those involving a reception. At the [Missouri Botanical]Garden, for example, there are five locations appropriate for a wedding ceremony. Oliva and City Cottage are appropriate for ceremonies, too. Our most popular properties are the ones with that kind of versatility. This year, we’ll do 160 ceremonies, along with 230 receptions.
What differentiates you from other catering companies? Other companies are on venue lists all over town. If we’re on a list, we don’t control the bar, the rentals, and so on. At our venues, we control everything, which results in better cost control and a more consistent experience. Now, if a client insists on the World’s Fair Pavilion or the Jewel Box, we will accommodate, but those are the only exceptions.
Do you do any ancillary wedding events, such as bridal showers? Cost is always a consideration with bridal showers, so informal places—like The Boathouse—make sense when we get requests like that.
Do you have a favorite venue? It’s always the newest project because that’s the one I’m usually most excited about.
Which is currently...? Three Barn Farm in Clarksville, just because the property and the century-old dairy barn is so different. The hour-long drive goes by pretty quickly when you’re partying on a bus.
What’s the best advice you can give a wedding planner? People try to focus on too many things. Concentrate on the three that are most important, and then devote the time and money to them. If the band or flowers are important, so be it. If you want to walk the dog down the aisle, we’re all for it.
How much of your business is second and third marriages? A lot, especially since we have a lot of small boutique properties that lend themselves to receptions for 50 to 75. Same-sex ceremonies are bigger than ever now for us, too.
Do caterers prefer seated or buffet dinners? Opinions vary, but my preference is a seated dinner. Just sit down, and let us take care of you. We’re seeing a lot more of those this year.
Are buffet dinners still popular? As a company, we do very few seated buffet dinners. Our clientele doesn’t want it, and we don’t push it. But we are seeing a lot more cocktail buffets, when people eat when they want, where they want. Young people, especially, don’t want formality; they just want to party. And they want that party to start now—not after dinner. You can still get the toasts in and the first dance, but there’s less structure.
Is a cocktail buffet more cost-effective than a seated dinner? We actually end up putting out more food, but since there’s less labor, it’s less costly.
Is arranging for late night White Castles still a thing? Cases of sliders are still popular, but so are food trucks, and there are a lot of options there. Cupcakes and dessert buffets offer versatility. Donut cakes are big. Clementine’s has both a bicycle and a truck. Both are popular.
Talk about the evolution of wedding cakes. When we started, wedding cake was wedding cake, with what I called Crisco icing; honestly, it brought down what we’d just served. Over the past 15 years, the quality has improved drastically. Choose your pastry chef wisely, and the cake can be as memorable as the meal.
Have other dessert options eroded the popularity of the wedding cake? We still serve wedding cake at 50 percent of the receptions. Our fear is that a couple will look back and regret not having a cake, so we always recommend one, even if it’s small, so they’ll have that moment and that picture.
Have recent health concerns affected what you cook? We cook pretty much gluten-free anyway, so if you stay away from the dinner rolls, you’ll be fine. Most receptions today now offer a choice of two or three items, which cuts down on special requests.
Does offering several different entrées cause more mistakes at serving time? People change their minds, forget what they ordered, an item gets overcooked, something gets dropped. If you drop 10 dinners, you’re down 10 dinners, which is why we always cook at least 10 percent extra.
How has beverage service changed? In the old days, wedding bars served simpler liquors, and people weren’t so concerned with beer and wine. Today, they are, so we offer a selection of five craft beers, a handful of nicer wines, a few specialty cocktails, and some interesting waters, which can cost more than a full bar, because all those things are more expensive. The specialty drinks are suggested and named by the couple, which makes for an interesting bar. And if Dad really likes a certain bourbon, of course we can accommodate for that.
What are current wedding trends? Drones, if any part of the wedding is outside. Big parties held after destination weddings, which are less stressful, because the couple’s already married. And surprise weddings, where the couple hosts a party and two hours into it announce they’re going to get married. Or ceremonies that occur at the rehearsal dinner, which then becomes the reception.
What wedding trend has yet to hit St. Louis? Engagements are now getting staged, which is relatively new. The groom’s in cahoots with the wedding planner, he pops the question, and maybe the groomsmen pop out and break into song, it all gets filmed, and they go out to dinner afterward. I thought I’d see more of that here, but I haven’t.
What’s been the biggest surprise in the last several years? St. Louis is becoming a hub for out-of-town weddings because of the cost. A wedding in Chicago, for example, costs double what it costs here. Many wedding guests come from out of town anyway; St. Louis is in the middle of the country, and finding a hotel room is rarely an issue, so it all makes sense.
What has the internet taught you about the wedding business? Clients are more prepared today because most have done some homework online. And you can learn a lot about a client by looking at their Facebook or Pinterest page.
Do people get married in the fall and winter? The wedding season used to be May and June, but due to unpredictable weather it’s different now. Now our busiest months are September and October, plus a handful in November. January and February are still a bit slow. Two things I know: Brides would rather be a little cold than a little hot, but when it’s pouring down rain no one’s happy.
What’s a question that you just can’t ask a wedding planner? Who’s really making the decisions? We can’t ask if it’s the bride, or mom, or someone else. They can all be talking to us, but not necessarily to each other. We’d love to say, "OK, who’s really calling the shots here?"
