This is a long review, but if you're considering hiring Christopher Michael Catering for your event, or even eating at the Dimon Estate, I recommend you read the whole thing. The short version is that we booked them for our wedding in 2022, but they were disorganized, then incredibly rude and greedy, and ultimately cancelled everything on us a few months before our wedding date, with no reasonable explanation, apology, or compensation.
We booked Jamesport Manor/Dimon Estate in June 2021 and were so excited to get married there. Fast forward to May 2022 and a sound ordinance was passed in the town of Riverhead that made it very difficult for them to host events. This led them to cancel the venue for all couples in summer 2022- but they promised to still cater at a discounted rate and provide rentals, as well as help everyone find new venues. We rebooked a new venue that they suggested and proceeded as planned.
Then, they canceled everything else (catering, rentals, bathrooms, etc) on us a few weeks later. The excuse was that a chef quit, so they did not have enough staff. But catering and rentals were not cancelled for any other couples (I know because I joined a FB group with many of the other affected brides), and when we called to talk to Matt Kar, he basically told us that we had no right to ask any questions and that we shouldn't be upset-- because while we were losing a wedding, he was losing his business. Our wedding planner and new venue also asked questions, but Matt evaded them as well. We tried to ask for just the rentals (sans catering) since the chef was the issue, but Matt refused.
Well, a little bit of internet sleuthing, and I found social media posts by another couple and their photographer from September 2021, indicating that they were looking forward to their wedding day next year, at Jamesport Manor, on our exact same wedding date. I also found posts from their wedding (on our same date), at a new venue from the list Matt provided, that tagged Christopher Michael Catering as their caterer (and rentals provider based on the photos). In other words, it's very clear that they were double booked on our date for at least one year prior, and that Christopher Michael catered the other wedding at a new venue.
We have not been given any reasonable explanation from Matt Kar, but I can only assume that they made a mistake and then chose the more lucrative wedding to cater, then tried to cover it up by making up an excuse about their chef quitting. We were first ignored, then berated and yelled at by Matt Kar for asking very reasonable questions over the phone. We received no compensation and almost had to cancel our wedding-- but thanks to incredible kindness of some new vendors, we pulled off a wonderful (albeit significantly more expensive) wedding!
Matt Kar, while admittedly a good chef, is a disorganized mess with poor communication skills, who will not make an effort to help you or be reasonable if it's not beneficial to him. All it would have taken for us to let it go was a sincere apology and admission of their mistake, but we never received that from anyone. I hold the entire family/business responsible and recommend you do not trust them or give them your money. read more