We hired LFA Catering LLC for both our rehearsal dinner and wedding, and unfortunately, the…read moreexperience was extremely disappointing.
Rehearsal Dinner
The first signs of trouble appeared here. Despite our wedding planner reaching out hours before the event, Jason (the owner) never responded. He was responsible for providing tables and chairs for 40 guests but brought enough for less than a third. While the food was acceptable, it did not match the quality we experienced during our tasting.
Wedding Day
Our wedding had about 135 guests; per the contract, the catering team was supposed to arrive 3 hours early to assist with setup, food prep, and drinks. Instead, most staff and food arrived late and during the ceremony. Jason was not on-site and could not be reached until well after the event began. The bartenders arrived on time but with no direction and without mixers (also part of the contract), forcing our planner to purchase them out of pocket. Luckily we provided the alcohol so we at least had beer and wine.
Because of their late arrival and lack of organization, we had to delay happy hour, dinner, and the reception. When food was finally served, many agreed-upon dishes were missing, including gluten-free options for guests with dietary restrictions. Portions were inconsistent, and they ultimately ran out of food, leaving 20+ guests--including our band and planner--without dinner. Jason did not arrive until after 8 PM (seven hours late) and offered no apology or solution to running out of food.
After the Event
The team was contracted to handle cleanup, breakdown and trash removal, but this was minimally worked on. Our planner stayed until midnight to clean what she could, after Jason and his staff had left. The next day, my wife, several guests and I spent the whole morning finishing what Jason hadn't done. Afterwards, while my wife and I are trying to enjoy our honeymoon and recover from the disaster he created with our wedding, he harassed my wife about getting all of the items he had left at the venue (we had to take them and store them in our trailer so we didn't get charged by the venue). He didn't have the decency to communicate during the wedding or make efforts to correct his mistakes, but he sure could call and text us non-stop when it was impacting his pocket book.
You might wonder if there were warning signs. Honestly, there weren't--until the rehearsal dinner. Leading up to the wedding, Jason was responsive and helpful. He provided a wonderful tasting, he even met us a couple months in advance to walk venue and discuss our needs and coordinate with our wedding planner. He even worked with us to design a menu that accommodated multiple dietary restrictions. He seemed professional and committed.
However, on the day of, he was overcommitted and underperformed. The food quality was nowhere near what we had at the tasting. It seemed either Jason didn't prepare the food himself (the head chef onsite was not Jason) or he cannot scale his recipes. Most dishes were bland, poorly cooked, or inedible. Jason may be a fine chef, but he is not a caterer.
Something though that really defines who Jason and LFA Catering is, not once, to this day have we received an apology for everything that happened. In fact, during any conversation, with us or anyone else involved, he has only made excuses and tried to defend his actions saying he did the best he could. I'm sorry, but if that's the attitude you plan to have, I could not in good conscious recommend him to anyone for any catering needs.
After reading another review where he no called and no showed, I feel lucky we at least received some food and services. I truly feel for those people. I hope whoever has spent the time to read this and their review, learn from our mistakes and stay as far away as possible from this company.
