I worked with John Michael Weddings through Weddings Inc. Living in Chicago and planning a wedding in Orlando has it's difficulties - like never getting to taste the food that will be served at your own wedding. Luckily my parents were able to attend two of the free tastings this catering company provides. With my parents' careful tasting notes, and the help of Charlene (my contact at JM), everything went off without a hitch. Charlene was very responsive and helpful - which is something every stressed out bride greatly appreciates! As the bride, I ate like a bird that night, but I do remember enjoying what I did eat and we received many compliments from family and friends. I especially loved that they offered Ropa Vieja - a favorite childhood dish of mine. :) read more

Working with the John Michael Catering team was so easy and so great. There menu is massive so putting together a meal that fits for your guests is easy. Giselle was so easy to chat with and answered so many little questions throughout the process. Every single caterer we met through the tastings were kind. For those looking a year out it's really easy to make it to all of the tastings! They're quick and delicious, we took great notes and ranked all of the dishes so it was simple to determine our menu towards the end. Oh and they did an awesome job accommodating our guests allergies and dietary restrictions! The price was great, the ease was excellent, and the food was complimented on over and over again! Oh- and don't skip the corn casserole... it's the best! read more

First time I have reviewed a caterer on Yelp! I never thought to look here for catering reviews until I tried this food at a private event and was quite impressed. So here it goes..... I highly recommend! Everything was absolutely juicy and delicious. read more

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From the perspective of a guest...Buffet line server was rude and inconsiderate. The buffet line did not offer any alternative (I understand this is the bride and groom's decision) choices for dietary needs. However, when it was requested by more than one guest to have additional salad in place of meat entrees, guests were told they had to go to the end of the line until everyone was served. Server acted as though there was food being taken out of her child's mouth when guests did return to the end of the line for more salad. As the server begrudgingly provided the additional salad, she stated there was no more dressing. Clearly there was dressing available. Very surprised this vendor received so many good reviews. Maybe the servers and policies are new? read more

Nothing could be more perfect at my daughter's Quince! Everything was delicious, the team was so friendly and professional, our event coordinator, Justin, were always there when I needed something!! The party was amazing and everyone was impressed! read more

We will be using this company for my daughters wedding in 2018. The first meeting was very nice with an explanation of services offered. It is nice to have a wedding planner who is in charge of all the organizations. They can do as much or as little as you want and there are ways to cut the expenses if you want. I want to relax and enjoy the event so they will be doing it ALL. I would say the sales person/representative that we meet with was definitely NOT pushy. I felt like I was pulling out ideas (Photo Booth $750 and turning that into a guest registry scrap book) and finding out about the extras (chairs, covers, table clothe upgrades,,,) that I can add to the package. Luckily I have researched a bit about what is considered HOT at weddings in preparation for my only daughters event next year. I will update as we go through. read more

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Book this group and you will NOT be sorry! They offer some of the best catering I've ever had, plus their Celebration Gardens venue is the perfect jewel tucked into Winter Park. Our guests can't stop raving about the Boursin mushrooms, bruschetta, and chicken & waffles appetizer, the pear and Roquefort salad, the chicken and steak dual entree with zucchini, and fresh baked carrot cake to end! The farm table they set up with fresh flowers and plating were absolutely beautiful! The serving staff was super attentive and kept everyone's wine glasses full all night. We could not have asked for a more perfect wedding. read more

This place was awesome for my wedding in Nov, 2021. They catered dinner for 100 people at Tavares Pavilion and did a super job. They were able to handle special requests for vegetarian kids meals, they were flexible leading up to the event, the food was good, and the service was phenomenal. Prices were very fair and the bar bill ended up being lower than expected. They did a great job making sure my husband and I were looked after and kept handing me water anytime I walked by and they fixed us plates and packed up leftovers. The vendors, guests, and venue were all happy and I would gladly book again. read more

We hired JM for our wedding in August at Lake Mary Events Center. I would strongly DISCOURAGE you from hiring them for your event. Let me start with the positives: Good quality food, Giselle is responsive almost immediately, willing to flex with us on our budget just a bit to keep it under our spending limit, great tasting events, friendly and courteous serving staff, professional approach, good location for meeting and reviewing plans, knowledgeable about venues and guest flow, accommodating when it came to my food intolerances and only being able to eat a few things on our selected menu, all things leading up to the event were awesome! The not so positives: the day of 1. Served our guests 1/4 a waffle for brunch. We chose salmon and waffles as the entrees- not once did I question the size of the waffle or think it would be any less than a full, regular waffle 2. Our guests felt that they were not able to get more food because the staff was providing such small portions of everything and being "stingy" (our guests words, not mine) 3. Reportedly ran out of a side item (potatoes) though JM swears this did not occur. This was infuriating but not shocking to me as I attended a JM catered event two years ago at the same venue for a friends wedding and JM ran out of an entrée item. That item was waffles. FULL SIZE WAFFLES. 4. There was a small issue with the staff removing unattended drinks from guest tables which left a good majority of our guests without so much as WATER. I understand removing unattended alcohol from time to time. But water? Just silly. Not a reason not to hire them, but something you'll want to set the expectation for if you hire JM. 5. I have newfound food intolerances and as a result, couldn't eat much of what was on our menu. I received half a plate of salad, one piece of salmon, one sausage link and roughly 5 pieces of thin potatoes. It was nearly noon and I had been awake since 5am getting ready for my wedding. I was beyond hungry. When I asked for more salmon and potatoes, we were OUT of potatoes and the server brought back one piece of salmon. We left LMEC and immediately went out to eat. There is no reason I should've been THAT hungry. 6. We paid for 78 guests + vendor meals. We had around 65 guests + 4 vendors that day. We should not have run out or run low on a single item. We paid PER PERSON. Not a rough estimate of attending guests. We had 10+ NOT COME TO OUR WEDDING RECEPTION AND WE STILL RAN OUT OF A FOOD ITEM THAT ALL OF OUR GUESTS COMPLAINED THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH OF. I honestly hate to leave a review like this. JM has reached out to me for a survey and I shared all of this information and more. Giselle and the team contacted me and apologized, but that is all. They recognized/acknowledged the fact that we thought we paid for MORE food than what was served and they basically said "sorry 'bout it." We spent over $3k for 78 (truly about 70, and 3 were under 2y/o, so 67?) people to eat BRUNCH, not including what we paid for alcohol and cake. I don't mind the price but our guests were not served the amount of food we thought we paid for. Would I hire this team again? Not likely. And if for some reason I did, I would be clarifying every single detail and asking to be served a FULL plate of my choices so that my spouse and I would truly understand what we were paying for. I mean, we went on our honeymoon and they were serving full size waffles at the MYO waffle bar! Hire JM at your own risk read more

We used JM for a wedding. Our experience was wonderful until the day of. Our email correspondence was great! The women in the office were always quick to respond, and answered all of my questions in detail. I felt very informed. There were no hidden fees: when going over the contract, they made sure we knew if something we wanted was going to cost. DAY OF: So the positives include the staff's friendliness and the food. Everything looked great: we had a brunch morning wedding, and our guests loved the food...they still mention it to us! The servers were very kind and professional. They made accommodations for two guests with severe allergies who had to bring in separate meals (I was still charged full price for this...it would have been good guest service to have offered perhaps a reduced cost for this plate since they weren't eating, but I didn't push it). The issues came with our waffle bar. The caterer ran out of waffles, so 3 full tables (including the groom's family) did not receive any. Waffles were the staple food item, not just an appetizer, so it was embarrassing to run out. The communication was poor from the kitchen staff: we had guests waiting for a long time until they finally announced there were none left. Our day-of-coordinator was told WE hadn't paid for enough waffles, and that's why this happened. I went back in our contract and saw it was clearly written we had paid for enough for our guests. When I emailed JM about this, I was given very condescending responses that didn't line up with what my coordinator was told: "Our chef indeed admitted an error in calculations that day for waffle mix. Unfortunately in the moment, there wasn't much we could do about it. I am happy that there was plenty of other food as your coordinator admitted." Our coordinator did NOT say this, and it is also a bad point to make. They were essentially saying 'Sorry we didn't give you the main course you paid for, but at least we didn't run out of other food?' He also went on to continue placing blame our way: "It seems like it didn't damper you too much until your coordinator had to point it out. I understand if you feel some compensation is due." We obviously were not informed of this issue on the day of because our coordinator and our guests were professional and kind enough not to bother the newlyweds with issues they cannot fix or control. We did ask for compensation, and in return we were given a cost breakdown of each individual waffle, and again told "There was plenty of other food items for guests to eat." While I understand it's possible we may have asked for too much in compensation, there are much better ways to respond. ALSO, at this point we deserve compensation for the mistake and rudeness, not just the actual cost of the waffles. What JM didn't seem to understand was that THEY made a mistake and should try to fix it, NOT spend the whole time trying to blame others. The mistake is forgivable: we know everyone is human and things can go wrong. But the continued rudeness in the emails? Completely unprofessional. That has led me to write this review. I would now not recommend JM to ANYONE. It is clear that if an issue occurs, JM himself doesn't have the professionalism to solve it or to treat you with respect. I have made sure to inform as many bridal sites about my experience as possible, because I do not want any other brides made to feel like this. read more

Recommended vendor through our wedding venue's approved venders list. We thought they had excellent food and good service. Our major complaint was that the servers kept interrupting the photography session, walking through with trays, even though our photographer had set a table to the side and spoken about leaving our cocktail hour bites there. We also specifically stated in our initial meeting that we (the brides) and our mothers enjoy Chardonnay more than any other option they had for the bar. We provided our own champagne, but what was the one thing we didn't have even though it was the one option discussed? Chardonnay. Other than this mishap, everything else we discussed went off without a hitch. We had two meals prepped and set aside for us to take to the hotel that night (we had been warned that we may not be able to eat much at the reception or be it nerves or time crunch that made it happen), and they cut our cake, distributing it and the champagne wonderfully. The food was delicious, and guests were happy too. read more

Not only is the food and presentation awesome but Michael and his professional and super attentive staff are so wonderful to work with. Our team at OWPR loves working with John Michael Weddings & Events! read more

We used John Michael for a family event. Everyone loved the food and that was for good reason. The food was prepared perfectly and served passionately. The only problem with this catering service is that they forget to bring things that were on the contract and paid for. They showed up to the event missing a couple high chairs, some vegetarian meals and delivered a broken space heater. This was pretty disappointing considering that they knocked it out of the park with what they did deliver on. read more

I can not say enough good things about John Michael's catering!!! The food was absolutely to die for...not to mention beautiful! I highly recommend the team at John Michael's for any occasion, especially a wedding reception! They went above and beyond to make sure our day was exquisite! read more

I have never experienced such rude customer service in my life. My fiancé and I had paid the deposit for them to do the catering for our upcoming wedding. We had received their information from our venue, because they were one of a handful of vendors we were allowed to use. However, in September when the hurricane hit Florida, it also took down much of our venue (Leu Gardens) and we were in a desperate search to find a new venue on the same day and around Orlando. Leu Gardens was so very generous to give us back our deposit with no issues at all. When we found a new venues, that venue did not allow outside caters. I quickly contacted John Michaels letting them know about this unforeseen problem. Their response however back to me was shocking. They told me that I was not going to get my deposit back and that it was up to me to figure out how to use them for the wedding. I asked if I could use the deposit for the linens and was told it could only be used on food, so I responded asking if it could be used for our cake, which is food. However, they stated that the cake was excluded because it is from a separate vendor that they use. I then asked if the owner, John Michael, could be asked if we could receive even half of our deposit. This again was denied. So I went to Todd Ulrich at WFTV, and had him write a letter to try and help me. Again, shockingly I received an email back with him upset with me due to going to Todd Ulrich. My response to him was simple, I just wanted to get some of my deposit back. However, he went ahead and brought in his lawyer. Stating that if we wanted part of the deposit back, we had a certain amount of days to sign a statement that he sent to us. I had a lawyer look the letter over, and after their request to have some of the verbiage changed, emailed my request back. I was denied those changes and told that more money was going to be taken from my deposit since I was taking so long. ALL IN ALL this company has terrible costumer service. How can you deny someone part of their deposit when their venue had to be changed due to an unforeseen natural disaster. read more

They did a Christmas Party recently. Good staff. Food however was expensive and awful. Not good food what so ever. If you use them, get samples and do not go by their menu which is deceptive on what you get or guests get. read more

Absolutely the best in catering....the best food, the best staff, the best ideas, the best clean up. Seriously, they make delicious food and some of their clients include Jerry Seinfeld and Donny Osmond. I've been to a few of their parties because they always promise exquisite food and the hostesses always comment that they do a great job with the planning, execution, and clean up. read more

Charlene and team knocked it out of the park for our wedding! From the live sushi roller to the string quartet and bartenders, everything about our evening was perfect. The food was delicious, too! Highly recommend for any bride-to-be looking for a caterer :) read more

Amazing! As I sit here and read all of these reviews, I'm trying to find something to say that they haven't already said! The food was delicious, the servers were amazing. I had a child at my wedding that is gluten/dairy/corn syrup free. The chef asked what he would like to eat because he didn't want to make anything that he wouldn't eat. John Michael's went above and beyond what I could ever ask for. I would very highly recommend them. You definitely will not be disappointed. I promise! read more

I'd like to start of with thanking Michael and his staff for EVERYTHING!! -- He was there through EVERYTHING from the set up all the way to the end (even our left overs), the service was top notch ! Our menu was a HIT , the venue was awesome and the service was even better! For what we paid for his services it was WAAAAY worth it and some! They definitely delivered --- WHAT AN AMAZING DAY! Thanks guys ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxSGZSO_fR8&t=2s read more

Our outdoor work event was fantastic, thanks to John Michael Weddings! The food was delicious and the service was fantastic; can't wait to work with them again for our next event! read more

I had such a wonderful experience working with John Michael Weddings & Events for my Event, @The Dairing Bride Academy in Orlando, Fl. They were so helpful from the start of the planning process, to the menu preparation, and I was WOWED! on the date of the event from the quality of food to the professionalism of the staff that was sent to service our event! Thank you!! read more

We purchased a wedding package through Weddings, Inc. which was recently acquired by John Michael Weddings (referring to as JM from here on to save space). While there were many other vendors in the package, JM provided the catering for our event. Prior to the wedding, we worked closely with Michael Thomas -- the owner and founder of JJM. We are a lesbian couple and it was important for us to work with an LGBT-friendly company. When we found out that Michael is a married gay man, we were just elated! It was easy and fun working out the details with Michael. JM provided catering, linens, chairs, plates, silverware, and glassware. There was a great selection of colors and styles to choose from, and we worked with Michael in the showroom neighboring their main office, so we were able to see how everything would look set up. Katie was our day-of coordinator and she was very attentive and sweet, and we were amazed with her efficiency. She was always one step ahead, and always working very hard to make everything perfect. Our guests (and us!) absolutely loved the staff, especially Mary who was our bartender. She is so sweet and funny and she seemed to really be enjoying herself. Some of our guests were hoping to dance with her! Dinner service was super quick. The food was absolutely excellent, of course. Our guests loved all of the offerings and we got great comments across the board. JM has tastings (I believe twice a year) at no additional cost to clients, to help with choices. You can also do a paid tasting if you miss the event. Standout offerings include their flounder, corn casserole, stuffed mushroom caps, and the best Caesar salad ever. The one non-positive comment we have is Sasha, one of the waitstaff, seemed super uninterested and in a bad mood. It did not have an adverse effect on the event, but several people noticed, myself included. It was not enough to dock even half a point from this wonderful company, so I rated 5 stars across the board! read more

John Michael Events Catering is superb. It was easy to arrange the event with Michael He laid out the .the plans so that the staff on event day was able to set-up and put on a superb event. Food was great staff was perfection in attending to all our needs and insuring our guest had a great time and cleaned up like they weere never there. Kudos, highly recommended. read more

Loved working with John Michael for our wedding! Our wedding was in May 2011 but I'm new to Yelp, so I want to recognize their hard work. Our wedding at Paradise Cove was complete with their gorgeous catering and set up! Would highly recommend for anyone in the Orlando area. We did buffet setup bc that's what worked best for our particular venue - I was worried about food quality at a buffet but they made everything so gorgeous and was just as delicious as our tasting was! Speaking of tasting, the food was so hard to narrow down - loved all or options! read more

I find myself to be quite particular when it comes to service having worked in hotels for many years now. Everyone was extremely friendly and accommodating during the planning process and the tasting. The service at the wedding exceeded my every expectation by every single person working!!! It was as if they were all there with the very intention to make your day perfect. There were many compliments on the food from all of the guests! They made us a to-go box so when I finally tasted the food several hours after the wedding, it was still so delicious! I would recommend this company to anyone planning any kind of event! read more

John michaels is an amazing catering company!!! They are legit the best deal for the best food. Everyone still talks about the food from our wedding. We loved the tastings as well; they really allow you to see what the food tastes like when cooked for big groups which is what you need for a wedding. Top picks beef and blues, stuffed mushrooms, Caesar salad john Michael way, Pablo crusted chicken, tarragon beef, yeast rolls, corn casserole. They also had really cool things in case you wanted to add things like a candy bar, popcorn bar, etc. (we didn't get that bc we weren't interested in spending on that but I could see where some people would love it) read more

We started planning our wedding about a year in advance. As a result we were able to attended a few of the tastings that are offered. The first at Leu Gardens was very pleasant. The second we were halfway to the location when we called to let JM know we were stuck in traffic and would be late. We were then told by JM that the tasting had been cancelled. Understandable, things happen. However, it would have been nice to have been told. The communication continued to be mediocre throughout the planning phase. Originally we had decided to use them as our day of coordinator as well. But the communication was so poor that we changed our minds. Phone calls would go unanswered and deadlines would pass. We felt under pressure at then end due to this, and always felt like we were the ones initiating the conversations. Because of this, there was absolutely no trust to be had in them helping our day to run smoothly. They also wanted to charge us extra for every little thing we asked about. Some examples being, moving one table from outside to inside and setting up desserts that we were bringing in ourselves- some serious nickle and diming here. The food on the day was again mediocre. Our guests did comment that the hors d'oeuvre were very tasty. However, they were not in ample supply and not everyone got to have them. The salads were, to be kind, "simple". The entrees were hit and miss. The presentation left a lot to be desired. However, the chicken and salmon did taste better than they looked, and our guests said they were "fine" for the most part. The flank steak on the other hand was definitely more Arby's sandwich meat than steak. We also selected the beer and wine package, deluxe coffee station and champagne toast along with the food. The wines used were all good. JM was also good about feeding the other vendors and did make sure they packaged up the leftovers. The day of staff were very personable and professional. Many of our guests commented on the friendliness of the bartenders and servers. The supervisor also checked in with us regularly. This was in contrast to our experience with the office staff who were the complete opposite. Make no mistake JM are cheap in comparison to other available caterers. However, there is a difference between cheap and value for money. Value for money, they were not. If food quality is important to you, then look elsewhere. If you are willing to make the price/quality compromise, then at least you guests will be fed. read more

John Michael Wedding and Events more than exceeded our expectations. They helped us with a cocktail party at the Orlando Musuem of Art. The staff is flawless the food is heavenly. They arranged our DJ, a living statue and a painter who sat and worked on his art and had smalll samples for everyone to take home. This is the second time we used them, we used them three years ago for a wedding. We would never use anyone else. read more

If you are looking for the best in the business - look no further!! John Michael's Catering just did our wedding and I cannot stress enough how amazing the team was from the first moment we inquired to use their services to the end of our wedding day. Superb is all I can say!!! Thank you Michael for everything!!!! read more

Wonderful experience, from initial contact through the end of the event. Excellent service, fabulous food/presentation, professional and personable service staff, and complete clean up. Leftovers were devoured the following day! Highly recommended. read more

John Michael Events made our day truly special!! The whole planning process from start to the day of our wedding was so pleasant and stress free!! The entire staff are true professionals! All our guests raved about the food and service provided!! read more

On March 19, 2016 my husband and I received a fairy-tale, dream come true, exquisite GIFTED wedding at Celebration Gardens in Winter Park - owned and gifted in part largely by John Michael Events. This gift was a generous act of kindness that my husband and I will never forget. We could not have imagined the perfection in catering we were about to receive by John Michael Exquisite Weddings and Catering. John Michael and his team provided us with highly professional guidance and support during our planning stage. When you have so many decisions to make from vegetarians to meat eaters to linens and layout of their gorgeous outdoor venue (Celebration Gardens), things can get stressful. I was amazed at the response time when I had questions or concerns - not to mention gently being put at ease - . I honestly never felt so well cared for by any type of business. John Michael and team have an approach with customers that leaves you feeling like your wedding is the most important event in the world - that is how we felt. As catering goes, our hope was for everyone to simply eat well but instead we were all RAVING about the Food! At our wedding the food was even more delicious then we already thought is was during the 2 taste testing events we were invited to at stunning Leu Gardens. My husband, 9 year old daughter and I couldn't have been happier when our meals were served. Yes, we actually ate at our own wedding! We did not want to miss out on that! Fiesta Chicken, Carved Flank Steak, Fresh Seasonal Vegetables (we requested)...and much much more! A diverse menu to design your wedding (or any event for that matter) from and every item we chose was scrumptious! Our guests showered the catering with compliments during and after our wedding. I cannot tell you how many guests commented that this was the most fun they had at a wedding in a long time! This is what we hoped for. We wanted everyone to have a great time and we all did! No disappointment whatsoever - just incredible! As for the service during our wedding, the staff were nothing but smiles! They were organized, upbeat, fully engaged with us and our guests, friendly and accommodating. this holds true for the wait staff and the bartender! All very hard working and well experienced from our point of view. A very smooth operation without any glitches and the best service ever! I love all of the staff at John Michael's. They are all extremely fine people and professionals. We had a gorgeous, sweet, romantic, amazing wedding made possible by this generous gift! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts to John Michael for his generosity and giving to Dale and Gary...a couple whom the Winter Park community chose to gift this surprise wedding to. To all of the Celebration Garden partners, Power Entertainment and Art Faulkner Photography a heartfelt thank you for all that you did for us. Go to Gary Lambert Salon, Winter Park Florist and Cakes By Design for more reviews on our gifted wedding in the upcoming days. My husband and I Highly Recommend - John Michael Exquisite Weddings and Catering - to anyone planning an event. We had a wedding to remember and pictures to prove it. We plan on sharing those pics with John Michael and Celebration Gardens and allowing them to post any of their choosing to showcase their venue. Best Wishes Everyone, Dale and Gary's Gifted Wedding read more

So... I really didn't shop around. When my husband and I got engaged he said let's go talk to John Michael because they had cater events we've been to and we were impressed with their food. Knowing a bit of the food, we wanted some information on everything else. When they told us about them knowing all the vendors and scheduling meetings with them for us, we were sold. This was possibly one of the easiest things I've ever done in my life and only because JM was so attentive and their design is to reduce stress. Everything was top notch. Another important thing is all of the vendors knew each other. I've heard stories of weddings were all the vendors were separate and they were all flopping over each other. Not the case here, they all under the JM umbrella worked fantastically together. According to our guests, we had the best wedding ever and JM help me achieve that. read more

Every time I have attended an event hosted by John Michael Events, the guests have been delighted. That is why they were my clear choice to cater the winter reception for my company. From the very beginning, the staff made the process easy for me, which I really appreciated. And, when it all came together, the food and decor were just perfect. They are definitely our go-to caterer from now on! read more

The service from this company is absolutely amazing. After attending a tasting event, I knew the food would be excellent, however, I never expected to be floored by the staff. They worked themselves to the bone, always making sure that our buffet was fully stocked, had everything on schedule, and even helped to keep things on schedule when everything got hairy. John Michael saved the day! The bartender was very fast, poured well, and took very good care of my friends and family. I can't recommend this company enough. Very clean, efficient, professional, and fabulous. I will definitely be using this company again. read more

Outstanding and amazing. I set up the event from Chicago and could not attend. Our staff and clients were in great hands. I received texts and emails from them saying how absolutely wonderful the whole event was!!! read more

The event staff both prior to and the day of our event in September 2015 were amazing - so friendly and helpful...they made everything a breeze! Food was fantastic - couldn't be more pleased! read more

John Michael's Catering was one of the only things that went right with my wedding day. The food was spectacular, the customer service was excellent. They followed my directions to the letter, every single detail was perfect. I would highly recommend them. read more