I had planned our wedding from out of state, all the way from Alaska. I had looked online at various catering companies and we got so excited when we came across Christie's Catering. At the time, though, I hadn't met her in person. She had an excellent reputation, years of experience...so we figured we had hit the jackpot.
When we finally flew into town 3 weeks before the wedding, we attended one of her dinners she hosts. Her cooking was wonderful and we had an enjoyable evening, but you could tell she had had a good buzz going. No big deal I guess, but it took me by surprise, nevertheless.
We communicated back and forth numerous times via email. She kept saying in response to a specific request or question I'd ask, "trust me, sweetie, I've been doing this for longer than you've been alive. You don't have to worry about a thing. It will all turn out just great". Very frustrating. Especially because my venue had specific questions for me they needed to know and she would never answer them directly.
On one occurrence, we had set up a time to meet to go over the final payment amount and confirm the wedding details...but she wasn't there when I showed up. I waited, and waited and then I finally called her. She was over at a local bar and said she would be right over. She arrived at her shop after a while, drunk. She could barely focus on numbers or wedding details. What someone does outside of work is one thing, but we had a meeting that evening which we scheduled in advance.
On a second occurrence, I had explained to her I needed the linens 15 minutes prior to my event time so my decorating crew was all ready to get started once doors opened. Christie told me I could meet her over at her shop on Thursday and pick them up so I would have them before the wedding for peace of mind. She said to come by any time before 7pm and that she would be there. She was not there when I arrived to pick them up, and when I called her she said the linens had not come in that day. Why didn't she call me to tell me so I didn't have to make a trip all the way out there??
Initially, Christie made a huge, glorious menu for our wedding. Appetizers, entrees, drinks, cake, and a dessert bar. I was SO excited because I'm a total foodie. But I have to admit, I was sadly unimpressed overall with the food.
Reason #1, I verbally requested TWO flavored lemonades at the above mentioned meeting- we specifically discussed that I wanted 1 blueberry lemonade and one raspberry lemonade. She tried to convince me to just do a giant container of blueberry/raspberry lemonade. I made it clear that was not what I wanted. I ended up with only 1 flavored lemonade. I was bummed, I had always dreamed of having a flavored lemonade bar at my wedding someday. Additionally, I specifically asked at the dinner she hosted if salt and pepper shakers would be provided at each table, and they were not.
Reason #2, one of my entrees, the chicken in pecan sauce or something of the sort...was an absolute disappointing fail. The chicken looked and tasted like the kind you buy in a large bag out of the freezer section and the sauce was very bland.
The other entree we served was lemon and dill salmon and it was excellent. However, my family complained to me they had several bones in their pieces.
Pros: The mashed potatoes were good. The corn casserole dish was alright, my family enjoyed it. Her salads are excellent. There was certainly more than enough food. I had her make my wedding cake and cupcakes, they were delicious (I had to purchase the decor for them though). The dessert buffet was a crowd pleaser. And everyone took home food after the wedding. Her staff were all very friendly. The display was beautiful. Christie has a very kind heart. read more