Having a really good food experience on the day of our wedding was high on the list of priorities to my partner and me. I am so happy we decided to put this aspect in the hands of the Catering Kalimas, who catered our wedding at He'eia State Park in October 2015. This wife and husband duo, Paula and Mitchell Kalima, is seriously a dream team. They ensured the food at our wedding turned out absolutely perfect!
We worked on all of the logistics and costs ahead of time with Paula, who is as easy to work with as she is keen to the nitty gritty details. She helped make our vision a reality, from our wonderful outdoor cocktail hour (down the hill from the reception hall, so guests could enjoy their drinks and snacks in the same spot overlooking the ocean as the ceremony), to the several-stationed main event, to the kick-ass catering and bartending folks who served us. Paula's coordination skills simply rock. Overall, I also believe she gave us fair, reasonable prices for all that we had at our wedding.
On the day of our wedding, Chef Mitchell (who has worked as a head chef in Waikiki for years) cooked us a feast that had us and our guests raving. We had a poke bar and other pupus (hors d'oeuvres) during the cocktail hour, traditional Hawaiian food at the main event (the works... Mitchell makes it all), a fresh sushi station (nigiri as well as maki, using top-notch, restaurant-quality fish), and mouth-watering prime rib. Nothing fell short of delicious. My partner and I are still defrosting Mitchell's kalua pork leftover from the reception two months later and loving it.
As expected, our reception was a blur for us as the bride and groom and we didn't have all that much time to eat. But what sticks out in my memory was how Paula came up to my partner and I at the beginning of the night, introduced herself and Mitchell (we had not met them until then, since we planned the event from California), personally brought us plates of a little bit of everything (though it was buffet-style for the rest of the guests), and checked in with us throughout the next hour to make sure we were enjoying the food. It was like a personalized, mini-restaurant experience.
All around, the Kalimas excel at carrying out their customer-centered catering business. They are worth 6 out of 5 stars! I highly, HIGHLY recommend them if you are looking for outside caterers for your Oahu wedding. read more