Sourcing
Vendor listings are first sourced from public directories, government business registrations, hechsher certifying bodies, and community recommendations. We then attempt to contact every vendor to confirm and expand the listing.
Verification tiers
- Unverified— sourced but not yet contacted. Displayed with an “Unverified” badge. Listings in this tier are clearly labeled as preliminary.
- Vendor-confirmed — vendor has claimed the listing and confirmed their info via verified email.
- Verified — editorial team has reviewed business license, hechsher (if catering), website, and core details. We re-check verification annually.
- Editor’s Pick — Verified plus three independent reputation references. Roughly 5% of listings reach this tier.
Hechsher verification
Kosher caterer listings are never self-attested. Each hechsher claim is verified against the certifying body’s published list. We link directly to the certifying body’s listing on every kosher caterer page. Our supported certifying bodies include OU, Star-K, Kof-K, OK Kosher, KSA, CRC, and others; if a vendor claims a hechsher we can’t verify, we list them as kosher-style until proof is provided.
Search ranking
Search results are ranked by:
- Relevance to the query (category, sub-category, location)
- Verification tier (Editor’s Pick → Verified → Vendor-confirmed → Unverified)
- Recency of editorial review
Payment never affects search rank.Featured placements are clearly visually distinct, labeled “Featured,” and live in their own row above or below organic results — never mixed in.
Reviews
Reviews must be tied to a verifiable event date and vendor. We do not accept anonymous reviews, paid reviews, or reviews from vendors about competitors. Vendors may respond to reviews; they may not delete them.
Corrections
If a listing contains an error, email corrections@themitzvahguide.com. We respond within 5 business days and update the listing within 14 if the correction is verified.
Conflict of interest
Our staff and contributors do not own equity in any listed vendor. When we mention a vendor in editorial content (blog posts, newsletters), we disclose any material relationship.
Affiliate disclosure (hotels)
We earn a small commission when readers book hotel rooms through the “Check rates & book” links on venue, metro, and synagogue pages. These links route through Stay22, an aggregator that splits commission across Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Hotwire — you book at the same nightly rate either way. We chose Stay22 because it lets readers pick their preferred booking platform rather than locking them into one. We surface hotel-block links only where they actually help mitzvah planning — venue pages (for out-of-town guest blocks), metro pages (for weekend logistics), and synagogue pages.
Removal requests
Vendors may request removal of their listing at any time by emailing removals@themitzvahguide.com from a verifiable business address. We honor removal requests within 7 days.
Last updated: 2026-05-03.