Pushy vendor?

It is normal because they need to know
Your guest count, what type of food you want, how many adults and how many kids, If you’re serving alcohol, etc so they can give you the most accurate quote. I would ask them
To include tax and gratuity and fees as well in the quote. You’ll eventually want quotes from a couple different catering company so you can compare prices and what works best for you before you make a decision. Nothing is “officially” until you sign a contract and put a deposit towards your date. Hope that’s helps you feel better!

You can’t be “contracted” to anyone without a contract. In order to tell you how much things will cost or if they’d be a good fit for your event, they’ll need answers to these questions. How do you expect to get information if you aren’t willing to share the type of event your looking to host? Also, truthfully, you want the caterer to answer questions you have about the catering because while the venue may know some things about them, they won’t necessarily know everything.

View Quoted Comment

That does. I'm sure caterers/venues/etc realize that they are not anyone's first choice. I just do not want a situation where they keep pestering me down the line if I don't choose them, but that probably won't happen. I might be overthinking this whole thing. I tend to do that

That sounds standard to me. Part of their process is to put together a very thorough quote so you know exactly how much things will cost, and they can't do that without the details. To give you a good quote, they need to know what you are looking for - i.e. what type of food you want, types of courses, number of guests, level of formality, etc. And if you don't know the answers to those questions yet, that's ok! Nothing obligates you to anything unless you sign a contract. If you decide this caterer isn't the one for you, a simple "Thank you, but we've decided to go in another direction" is all you need to say. They are used to it - that's business.

Yes, it's pretty standard. They also want to know if they can provide what you're looking for early on. I understand it can be overwhelming but, totally normal.

Yes definitely standard, They can't give an accurate quote without the information above, Better they ask the questions and give a proper quote then a rough estimate and turns out its alot more expensive

Thank you ladies!! This helps a lot

View Quoted Comment If you don’t choose them, simply shoot them an email that says “thank you so much for the information, we decided to go with a different vendor! I really appreciate all of your help”. Problem solved.