Early Katering Company

I hired Early Katering to do the food for my reception and the staff day of was wonderful! I very much appreciated the woman who was the banquet captain. She had everything running so smoothly and even made sure that I was getting enough water to drink (it was a 93+ degree day on my wedding and I had a ballgown on). The food was delicious and I had a couple of guests tell me it was the best food they had ever eaten at a wedding.

I contacted Laura to notify her we would like to move forward for the rehearsal dinner on Nov 22nd, which she acknowledged. Not until Dec 13th did we receive the contract. In here, it states “…..please reach out with any questions either of you have or any clarification that is needed on any info listed in the contact…” After reviewing the contact, I had questions and concerns. I replied with a list of things I needed clarified and stated, “I will not sign the contract as is. I have a few questions to better understand a couple points” and “I think the contract is written in general terms and not specific to our event, so these questions and changes may be easily reviewed. Thanks for the time.” I sent this on Dec 21st. I emailed multiple times, and called multiple times, with no response until Feb 5th. Not one single update, email, call, or attempt to answer my questions from Dec 21 to Feb 5. And on Feb 5th, they responded that “…to receive an e-mail stating that a client is not willing to sign a contract as is, in the manner and tone the e-mail was received did require senior management……there are several items noted that are almost accusatory and distrusting of how a company handles certain circumstances…” Summarized, they no longer wanted to work with me. Melissa Riley, who sent the email, did not attempt to call me, email me, or better understand the intent of my questions, but assumed I was being derogatory and had to be prodded for a simple response. They assumed bad intent through solely one email exchange. Before I finally got a response, I already found another caterer, since it was over a month since I heard from anyone. To give an idea of my questions/concerns for people looking at Early Katering: - EKC has the final say in head count, and assumes everyone at the event. I asked about people not staying for dinner if they would be counted? - I asked at what age children counted, since I plan to have many kids present from 0-5 years old - I asked for some sort of validation if they derived a different number than I anticipated - I asked them to add if EKC cancelled, I would be refunded the full $500 – basic customer service request - I pushed back on the $1000 requirement and asked if it could be implemented after food was purchased, which I would understand in that case. This is in addition to the $500 upfront deposit. - My biggest concern was the LABOR HOURS. They do not give you a solid number – its estimated and TBD. How do you not quote exact cost knowing a start and finish time, and if it goes long, you add afterwards? They also talked about rotating staff, which I questioned if was needed for a 2 hour event? - Since it was a GENERIC contract (for a wedding, and this isn’t a wedding) I asked them to remove the alcohol section since I would not have them serving. - The entire contact is a form of protecting EKC. I asked they add if damage was caused by EKC, they would be held responsible. I needed some sort of protection for myself, or else you’re 100% liable for their actions. - EKC also states they have to make “NO OBLIGATION TO ATTEMPT to reschedule”. I asked they remove that and if needed, to work with me. I am very unhappy with the response time, incorrect assumptions made through email, and lack of communication. I would understand if they couldn’t meet my request and stated that, but they accused me instead. There are plenty of caterers in the area, and I recommend one other than EKC.

We decided to book our wedding at The Barn at Kline’s Mill so therefore we had to go with Early Katering for our catering needs. Early Katering has so many options to choose from so I was excited for that. Laura was able to help us with saving some money by going with less expensive appetizers during our cocktail hour. The fruit flavored Brie and tortilla pinwheels were good. We decided to do a buffet for our wedding meal. We even did a tasting when we were in town. Everything we had originally chosen we decided to stick with based on how the food tasted. Now when it came to the wedding that was a different story. The venue and catering company had a timeline to work with so they would know when the meal should be set out and ready to go. Well about 45 minutes early the catering staff tells my mom the meal is ready to be served despite the fact that it’s not time. So guess what happens.....we get our food and sit down and it’s barely warm. I would go as far as to say it was cold. We served our wedding guests cold food at our wedding! I never heard anyone complain to us personally but how embarrassing. I asked my parents about it later and they agreed the food was barely warm, which is a real shame for such a special event not to mention the cost.

As my now-husband and I were planning our wedding, we were originally going back and forth between a few catering companies and I am SO incredibly grateful that we went with Early Katering! Planning a wedding on my own, from out of the area was definitely a difficult task and there's no way I could have done it without Early's help. Laura, the client services manager, was absolutely AMAZING and such a HUGE HELP! She was so organized and professional. She answered all my *many* questions quickly and thoroughly and was seriously like my wedding fairy godmother! Not only did Early handle the catering, but they also coordinated all our rental needs, which made planning so much easier. It was so nice to have everything streamlined in one place and to not have to worry about going back and forth with a catering company and numerous rental companies. In addition to all the help they provided in the planning stage, Early Katering totally delivered on our wedding day! The food was DELICIOUS. We got so many compliments from our guests. The staff was so professional and organized. Everything went so smoothly. We truly could not have asked for more. It was absolutely perfect. If you're having a wedding in the Valley, you HAVE to go with Early Katering. They're simply the best and you will not regret it!

Early Katering did a fantastic job. We were concerned about only having one buffet for the quantity of people at our wedding, but it all worked out very well! The food was fantastic, all of the guests absolutely loved it! Some drama ensued and they were even very attentive to that, which definitely isn’t their job. They were easy to work with and did everything and more than what we asked them to do!

Early Katering did a wonderful job for my daughters wedding! They are very professional and the food was delicious. Laura was a real pleasure to work with and was extremely detailed in all aspects of the catering.

Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. Our guests raved about the quality of the food. The entire catering team was really on top of everything at the venue. My parents (who were my default coordinators on the day-of) could not say enough nice things about how they handled the food, service, and more. The bartender that they provided was AWESOME - kept track of drinks, and handled a guest who had a little too much with extreme class and sensitivity -- we cannot thank him enough! Extremely reliable and affordable!

We used Early Katering for our 'breakfast for dinner' wedding. We absolutely LOVED the food, and our guests continue to rave that it was some of the best they've had! We also so appreciated EK's consideration for our budget as a young couple just starting out. All along the way they offered helpful advice on how to minimize cost while still getting the wedding of our dreams. We couldn't be happier!!

We could not have been happier with the service or food. Everyone commented on how delicious everything was! It is a little pricey compared to other services in the area, but the quality and food are at a different level. Well worth it. I only wish I had time to eat more of it at the wedding! I would definitely recommend trying out Early Katering for your special event.

Early Katering did an amazing job! My husband and I were scrambling to find a caterer (because we had some pretty bad tastings before finding Kay), and Early Katering was able to fit us in for a last minute tasting! Their food was amazing during the tasting. For the reception the food turned out as amazing as it was at the tasting. The scalloped potatoes were killer! And their homemade barbeque sauce on the beef brisket was amazing! Chicken was a little dry, but that is to be expected with mass made chicken. The service staff was great and professional. They were all clean cut and tidy, which I greatly appreciate. All of our guests loved the food!

Kay and her team did a fabulous job for our wedding. The food was delicious (we got lots of compliments!) and she worked with me to be sure I was happy with the design and layout of the food etc. The catering staff was calm, cool, and collected on the day of the wedding and got everything right, which helped keep our stress low with many other things to orchestrate that day! Kay was even willing to have us use her staff to clean up our decorations at the end of the night for a small fee, which was a great help to us. The price of Kay's services are an excellent deal considering the quality of the food and we were so pleased we chose her to cater our wedding. I would recommend her to all brides in the area!