Gotta Have it Catering
About This Vendor
Inspired Cuisine. Exceptional Service.
Founding partner Vincent Marra has spent a lifetime in the hospitality industry. Reared in his family’s restaurants, it was no surprise when he enrolled in the prestigious culinary arts program at Johnson & Wales University. After a brief sojourn to academic life to earn additional degrees in English, Philosophy, and Education Vince returned to his culinary roots. For more than 20 years he held prestigious positions in world-class hospitality organizations. Certified as an Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation at age 27, Vince has split time between 5 diamond resorts, national chain restaurants, and hospitality consulting. Vice President of Sales Travis Schamerhorn is a man of many talents. Navy Intelligence Specialist, Insurance Salesman, Computer Hardware Technician, H
Details
Business Attributes
Veteran-owned Business, Woman-owned Business
Cuisine
American, BBQ, Cajun, Eastern European, French, Fusion, Greek, Hawaiian, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin American, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Northeastern, Seafood, Southern, Southwestern, Specialty, Thai
Dietary Options
Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Organic, Sugar Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Food & Catering
Buffet, Catering Clean Up, Catering Delivery & Setup, Chef Stations, Family Style, Food Trucks, Menu Tastings, Passed Appetizers, Seated Meal, Servers
Awards and Affiliations
Pricing for Gotta Have it Catering
Curious to learn more?
Gotta Have it Catering Reviews
4.6 out of 5.0
70 reviews
5 Star
83%
4 Star
7%
3 Star
3%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
7%
Just amazing! GHI is awesome, and Kim (the event coordinator) was so attentive throughout the whole event. With their assistance, we were able to get the event flowing smoothly. Additionally, all of the guests raved about the food and the effic...
iency of the caterer, so I just want to thank them for everything.
Vince, Susan, and the team were magnificent! They took such care of our needs and were very accommodating with our wishes and last-minute pivots. They were kind and professional and we felt very taken care of. We received so many compliments on...
the food, perhaps the biggest being a very picky grandmother finishing her entire plate! And doing a full dinner service for 150 people in under an hour and a half is no small feat! The only improvements that could possibly have been made are very small--the rolls were slightly underwhelming and one of our signature drinks was not made in the way we expected. I mention them mostly to show the caliber of service this team provides--if those are the biggest complaints I could possibly come up with I'd call that a success! Overall, we had a wonderful experience working with them and would recommend them without question.
Response from the Vendor on 05/02/2023
Thanks so much for your honest & complimentary feedback. Working together was a pleasure.
There’s a review on here from 12/6/21 that is eerily similar to our experience. It was really hard trying to find a good caterer for our wedding because of all of the bad COVID reviews. Literally every caterer has them. So that’s how we somewha...
t got into this.
The Good things:
- Food tasted good and was hot
- The DJ did an excellent job and everyone had fun
- Communication with the event manager throughout the evening was great
Like all that is the important stuff right? We had an amazing time and GHI was certainly a part of that.
The Cons:
The situation with the headcount was a mess. Somewhere along the line my dad and Vince got into it over this because it was several thousand dollars. Reading the contract myself, it was very confusing. GHI needs to review how they do this because we are not the only ones here. *See the review from that other person on 12/6/21.
If I was rating this situation on Reddit’s AMTA, it would be an Everyone Sucks Here for me. Like my dad probably could have been more calm, but Vince said some stuff to my dad that legit hurt his feelings. And as a bride already dealing with family drama, I don’t need more being interjected into the whole wedding planning process by the caterer. Like come on, dude.
This whole snafu kind of ruined for them for me because I couldn’t have any conversations with my family (who was paying for this) without Vince’s conduct coming up. And like I said, my dad could have been better but the whole thing just ended up putting a whole lot more pressure on me and I don’t need that energy. All phone calls about stuff ended up going through me and I had delegated this to make my life easier.
And yes, I know Vince is going to read this and my issues with my dad’s role have been addressed with my dad, but as a business owner, you gotta have accountability for your actions. I can’t post a bad review about my dad on The Knot but I can post one about you. My advice to Vince is to get some help with that anger bro. Because you did a REALLY REALLY good job at the event. But all of that goes out the window when you blow up at people. I get that he was pushing your buttons. But your response is EVERYTHING in these moments. People are difficult to deal with. I’m an ER nurse. I get it. And I also know that the vast amount of your clients are going to be easy. But every once in a while you get a difficult one. And that’s what makes the difference between a good business and a GREAT one.
To all you out there reading this – just know that sometimes ish hits the fan, but they show up anyway (which I personally appreciate). That is a level of professionalism I can get behind. But they got some work to do. Hence the 3 stars. I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. If a friend asked me if I would book them again, it’s probably a no. But if they asked if they did a good job, that’s probably a yes.
Response from the Vendor on 05/02/2023
We have genuine remorse for the ugly & unnecessary circumstances that led to your wedding planning process becoming such an unsatisfactory experience. However, we feel as though you are damaging our professional reputation unjustly by misunders...
tanding and/or misrepresenting the events & our actions.
The following are a few points that we would like to make in our own defense:
-Your parents, you, & your then fiancé were specifically advised by GHI at your tasting to book for less guests for the express purpose of avoiding having to pay the under contracted revenue fee clearly written in our contract's list of terms & conditions. Your father decided that was not advisable as he feared that if he contracted for a lower number of guests, we would not be able to scale up the event & was very confident that you would have 100 guests.
-Additionally, the following lines appeared on your signed contract in large, all caps, red letters:
"GHI HAS ADVISED THE CLIENTS TO BOOK FOR LESS GUESTS IN AN EFFORT TO OFFSET ANY POTENTIAL GUEST COUNT SHORTFALL DUE TO PANDEMIC GENERATED ISSUES. THE CLIENT IS INVITING 115 GUESTS , ARE EXPECTING 100 GUESTS TO ATTEND, & HAVE ELECTED TO CONTRACT FOR 100 GUESTS."
-Throughout the long planning process 3 members of our sales staff asked to be relieved of their duties as related to your wedding booking because they could not tolerate your father's condescending & aggressive style of communication. Late in the process, our owner, Vincent Marra, was forced to take over the communications for your booking.
-Your contract stated that final payment was due 15 days before the event. When your father learned that, due to his own insistence on booking for the larger number of guests, that he would be paying for guests that would not be attending, he elected not to pay the final charges in protest of this contractually agreed upon policy. Ultimately, he had to be told directly & aggressively that if failed to make immediate payment, GHI would not be providing service. As this ultimatum was delivered 5 days before the wedding, he had already been in breach of the contract for 10 days.
-Your father was spoken to in this manner as he repeatedly hurled accusations of professional impropriety & lack of scruples at our owner in a confrontational & bellicose manner. Regrettably, our owner was forced to meet fire with fire in order to get your father to pay the bill so your wedding catering service could be carried out. This was the last of a series of such conversations between our staff members & your father.
-Neither you nor any other member of your party was privy to any of the conversations between our owner & your father making your characterization of the actual participants' behavior during these calls less than dependable.
-Your statement that the under contracted revenue fee was, "several thousand dollars" is patently false. In an attempt to placate your father, GHI made several concessions to lower the charge caused by your unfortunate guest count shortfall. The final charge was $1,082.00.
-It makes us happy to read that even after the difficulties of the planning process, you could write that we , "did a REALLY REALLY good job at the event". Please know that we recognize the issues you have raised & will use this experience to better serve future clients. We sincerely wish you health & happiness in your marriage.
Any questions?
GHI is almost your one-stop shop for everything you need regarding catering. They even focus on the small details of things such as folding your napkins if you want and helping to customize your menu with items you wouldn't typically find at a ...
wedding.
OUR MENU: was awesome. We requested the following food items:
Mini Pimento Cheese and Virginia Ham Biscuits
Thai Basil and Heirloom Bruschetta
Apricot BBQ Cocktail Meatballs
Hot House Baby Greens with Oven-Dried Golden Plum Tomatoes (Peach Blinis Vinaigrette and Pesto Ranch Dressing)
12 Hour Brisket with Jim Beam Peppercorn Cream
Hickory Smoked Chicken Thighs with Smoked Peach Salsa
Pasta Primavera
Green Bean Steam with Onion, Pepper, tossed in Garlic and Butter
Buttermilk and Black Pepper Masked Potates
and 5 Pescatarian meals
So regarding the food, I went to a tasting and the food wasn't 100% as it was at the tasting, but it was still great. What was different was the Pasta Primavera at the tasting was more of a cold salad type with bow pasta. However, at the ceremony, we had an elbow pasta dish that was warm with two types of cheese, one that was melted on top. So it was almost like mac and cheese but fancier and with some veggies. I had some that didn't favor it, but I liked it a lot! (lol)
The other thing that was different was that there wasn't any or enough of the Jim Bean Sauce for the brisket. The beef had its own juices, but neither of my plates (not my husband's) had any of the sauce on it. So I am not sure if it was totally missing or just not on all of the meat. But the brisket was flavorful and tender so not a big deal, but I did miss it because it was yummy.
We had a family-style set up at the tables with the salad. The dinner was set up buffet style, as well as, the items for cocktail hour. The venue had a bar, so I had that space set up for their bartender to use. All of that was set up awesomely.
There was a small verbal spat between some staff members on the day of at some point that a couple of family members told me about. I am not sure 100% what that was about, but I didn't know about it until well after the ceremony, so I am pretty sure they were just trying to get things in order.
The salesperson I worked with primarily, his name is Erett. He was great and very personable. Vince the Head Chef is super awesome. He even brought me a horderves plate at my ceremony.
There were some small gestures that Erett mentioned they'd do that weren't done, like special cocktails for the Bride and Groom, as well as, some special hot sauce. We didn't get any of those things, but it wasn't a big deal. At least we were able to taste all of the food and have the signature cocktails that we set up for the bartender to serve.
All and all, I loved using GHI. Their prices were great for the service and we used real china.
We hired Gotta Have It for our Legislative reception and they exceeded our expectations with their professionalism, dedication to ensuring all guests were pleased and amazing food!!! We will most definitely use them again!
Although the world was never especially easy or straightforward in planning a wedding over the past two-plus years, Gotta Have It did all they could to accommodate us in making a huge portion of our event as simple and stress free as possible. ...
To begin, being able to have catering, DJ, and event coordination under one roof was an immense convenience (with no drop-off in quality for any!). Travis, the DJ, was professional and kept the day-of light and fun. Erett, our coordinator, was more than accommodating with our multiple pre-wedding calls, and day-of, there were no hiccups at all or anything that required our attention. He had us covered. Most importantly, the food was wonderful. Several guests came up to me and my wife throughout the night to tell us it was the best food they had ever had at a wedding. Who could ask for anything more?
Response from the Vendor on 12/20/2021
Many thanks for your gracious words. It was a pleasure watching you have so much fun while ignoring Mother Nature's challenges.
Congratulations!
My wife and I can say from day 1, Chef Vince and his team were nothing short of amazing. We had to change venues twice, working around COVID. Vince worked with us and made us feel important throughout the process.
But that's not end of the ...
story, we had our wedding outside, which weather looked good the week or so before. Instead the week of and day of, it rained. Making it a muddy mess, but that did not stop Vince and his team for showing up and delivering a service none of my guest or we will ever forget. We will definitely use Gotta Have It for our future events.
Response from the Vendor on 12/18/2021
I am amazed, thankful, & humbled that you have taken the time to write this review while on your honeymoon. You are a class act.
Congratulations!
After 3 changes of date & 2 changes of venue, we were treated to an awesome catering experience by Chef Vince, DJ Travis, & their team.
While COVID made celebrating our wedding a challenge & ending up with only 70% of the original guest count,...
I can only report that we were treated with respect, professionalism, & empathy. Vince has the patience of an angel.
The food was "hip-exotic" just as we requested. Travis had us dancing all night. Kim was a gracious, efficient, & fun Event Manager.
My brother & his fiance hired them for their big day next year. I cannot wait!
We used GHI for our rehearsal dinner and it could not have gone any better. We still have friends and family talking about the food two years later! One of our friends told us GHI made the best prime rib they have ever tasted. Vince, Travis, an...
d the team were very easy to work with and the night exceeded our expectations in every way. We highly recommend them! Thank you GHI for everything!
Response from the Vendor on 12/17/2021
Thank you for thinking of us so long after the event. Congratulations on the coming baby!
GHI was an excellent selection for catering our wedding. Their service was very professional and the food was amazing! Our guests can't stop talking about the food.
GHI's menu offered a level of elegance we were looking for and the chef deli...
vered!
Response from the Vendor on 12/17/2021
You two are such troopers. Serving your wedding was a true pleasure! Thanks for the kind words.
I have been working with Gotta Have It Catering & Food Truck for the last 8 years as an event planner. During that time I have worked with hundreds of brides to help them with their catering needs and Gotta Have It consistently knocks it out o...
f the park.
From personalizing every menu to fit the bride & groom to providing professional service and outstanding food--they can't be beat. I can't recommend them highly enough.
Response from the Vendor on 12/17/2021
Angie is the owner of Fab Fodd Trucks. If you are planning a food truck event, she is the one to go to!
Thanks Angie. 8 years later & we still love working with you!
We used GHI to cater our rehearsal dinner and welcome reception at Wild Heaven in Avondale. We were looking for an intentionally low-key affair, and GHI absolutely delivered. They served our agreed upon 3 option dinner to 32 guests for the firs...
t hour and a half of our event. Each dinner was served quickly, they accommodated some of our guests quirky requests despite not being forewarned about them (all allergies were taken care of, this was just guest preference!), and did not run out of food. Food was all warm and delicious! Items were plated in disposable picnic trays, which was perfect for our vibe. After dinner, our event opened to all wedding guests and GHI switched to serving some snacks - another set of 3 options. We hadn't tasted the snacks prior to choosing and were impressed with their size and quality. Guests really enjoyed having something to munch on alongside their beers, and serving out of the GHI truck added to the low-key ambiance we were going for.
I can't speak to the wider service of GHI for a full wedding, but they were the perfect vendor for what we were looking for, and a great partner in planning our (twice postponed) event. They provided a bartender for any guests who wanted wine instead of beer, provided quick, kind, and efficient service, and kept all areas clean throughout the night. I would recommend them to anyone interested in catering an event, in particular via their food truck!
Response from the Vendor on 12/17/2021
You two are the coolest! Thank you.
Revised from 2 to 1 star after this from GHI who did not like my review “…I can think of few things that would give me greater satisfaction than going as far as it takes …”
Read their responses to the other negative reviews and you will see a ...
clear picture.
My daughter liked that GHI provided a good selection of tapas, they worked with her as plans developed, and they did seem to be a full-service provider.
Now, onto the many issues. My daughter signed the contract. I got to work with GHI when it came to paying the second installment. It was then that I was introduced to their “contracted Revenue Minimum”. Our guests dropped from 130+ to 100 due to Covid and a travel ban from the UK. In order not to waste money I ordered extra services, but the minimum is not a straight $ for $ affair but rather calculated as a % of total, and labor is not included. I was leaving lots of money on the table. Vince did cut me a small discount, but when I finally said I wanted to return to the original 130 guests and donate the food to a women’s shelter, I was told quite angrily that that would eat into his profits and he would not allow it. While Vince did say he tried to explain to my daughter to reduce the initial headcount, she did not understand how it worked, and neither did I until I saw it in action. It is clearly a way to make more money, for no value, and only protects GHI, not you. Did they really forgo a more profitable deal that weekend?
They couldn't find a bartender. I gave them a recommendation and Vince told me all was taken care of and he would take care of the additional $70 fee. But then came the revised invoice with the increased fee, and when I questioned him he said he needed to leave it on to appease his accountants, and he had deducted it from elsewhere in the contract. I couldn’t find it removed, told him so, and because I questioned him the next email I got was one of the rudest I have ever seen, a diatribe of erroneous statements,
insults, accusations of breach of contract, ending with a “pay up or else”! With less than two weeks to the wedding I had no choice but to pay the extra fee and waste money on the minimum guarantee for which GHI provided me no value. I would not have put it past GHI to cancel the deal or just not show up. Talk about caught between a rock and hard place!
Next, I paid extra for an Event Manager. Never saw one. Don’t know what they did. Could have been the DJ (the co-owner) for all I know. More questionable money.
And while I have no complaints about the DJ himself, ask if he has purchased new speakers. They were terrible, and the DJ even admitted as such - “EDM bass kills the speakers”.
When one of the guests asked for a soft drink, the bartender told me one of the GHI staff took them away because she said the bartender did not have them displayed. Great! Oh, and I paid for those also.
The food was not bad and, and the desserts were quite good. The servers were pleasant and efficient, although Vince had assured me that at the peak time the “event manager” would step in to keep the lines short. Result. Long lines.
I normally make the effort to post a lot of only good reviews, but this has bothered me for several weeks, and I just have to share my experience so that should things turn sour for you, you can be warned and potentially avoid what I went through.
I wish you as good a wedding celebration as we did, only without the distress that I had of dealing with GHI.
We hired GHI for our wedding. This is a great option for catering because you can outsource almost everything. We used them for catering and bartending services and table cloths. Our initial contact was with Amanda. She walked us through the en...
tire process-- worked with us on the menu, helped create a reasonable budget, and offered suggestions on what would work best in a COVID-friendly environment.
The tasting was amazing! Unfortunately, though, what we experienced in the tasting was not what we experienced at our wedding reception. The food wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Some food looked like it sat in a warmer and other food was served cold. As the bride, I was not impressed with my plate, which shouldn't be the case.
I shared this feedback with the owner, Vincent. I'd had such a great experience up until the event I wanted to extend the courtesy. Initially, he was defensive and dismissive. He mentioned that because my wedding was late (which it did start late) they had no option but to serve cold food. In addition, because my husband told the chef "thank you" at the end of the night the food couldn't have been that bad. I ended the call because there was no room for reason with him.
A few days later he offered a refund of ~$300 for the cold food (on a tab of ~$5K). As I explained to him, I appreciate the refund, but I'm more appreciative of quality customer service and accountability. The reason for me contacting GHI was to provide them with constructive feedback before posting a public review. The response I received from the owner was disappointing and borderline disgusting. I wouldn't frequent or recommend this vendor to anyone. It's reasonably priced, but you're better off paying a little more for better customer service and higher quality food.
Amazing… is all I can say. GHI made our food truck dreams come true at our wedding, as foodies we definitely wanted a variety and GHI provided exactly that. Not only did they provide our tapa style reception ( we had 5 different food choices, f...
rom oyster Po’boys, salmon etoufee to chicken and waffles and truffles fries) they provided a great passed hours d’overs during cocktail hour and a late night snack of beignets, ice cream and shaved ice for our guest, all while providing excellent bar tending service. They bussed all the tables and ensured everything was clean before leaving. We worked directly with Amanda, any questions we had she answered and was so open and helpful. Definitely recommend!
Response from the Vendor on 10/05/2021
It is so nice of you to have taken the time to write this. Many, many thanks.
Congratulations!
DO NOT USE!
Let me begin with saying it started out well and my fiancé and I were thrilled to have found GHI, as they were very open to helping us fuse our Russian/Armenian and Southern American food menu & they were also to provide DJ and upli...
ghting services. The issues came when we were doing our final walk-through at the venue TWO weeks before the wedding and THAT is when GHI decided to let us know that they will not be doing our plated dinner as previously discussed and planned (for many months). TWO WEEKS! They very nonchalantly said "We can just do a buffet". As someone who has dreamt of my wedding and ALWAYS wanted a plated dinner, saying this to me just two weeks before the wedding is not appropriate by any means. When I showed my disappointment, I was met with "well what exactly is your issue with buffets?" IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER. We are the clients, and we contracted for a plated dinner and it was agreed by GHI. His reasoning for changing things last minute, was that he didn't want to put his staff at risk due to Covid with having multiple interactions between servers(wearing masks) and our guests & instead thought a buffet (where our guests would have to be crowded around each other in a smaller room) would be safer. Seeing that I had no other option, I agreed to have a stationed dinner instead of the plated that we have planned for and had our guests RSVP for. At this time, we also verbalized a final guest count to all vendors present at the walk-through on that day. This all happened on the 17th of November. It was not until the 20th of November that we received a call from Amanda at GHI to confirm our guest count over the phone (which we did). Then on the 21st of November, we received GHI's final invoice and contract. My fiancé and I looked it over and had follow-up questions that needed answering. After several back and forths via email, we finally signed the contract, at which point I receive a late night email from Vince saying he is going to back out of our wedding and wished us luck. 11 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING.
His reasoning being:
1. He did not feel he could give us what we wanted safely. And felt we were being irresponsible.
2. That we were in breach of contract because we didn't provide him with a guest count.
As you read earlier, we provided his team with our guest count MULTIPLE times. And our wedding followed multiple COVID safety steps to help keep the vendors and guests as safe as possible, as we cannot guarantee 100% safety to anyone. We sent out a safety and exposure questionnaire to all guests the week before the wedding, we did temperature checks at the door, we spaced tables 6ft apart, we provided masks, and provided distance bracelets to everyone.
So the fact that Vince and GHI left us high and dry for a caterer and DJ services just days before our wedding, is absolutely mind blowing. He also showed a high level of rudeness to our wedding planner who tried to take over communications after he stated that "all contact with GHI and the clients will now cease".
This is just NOT a way to do business and I am disgusted with how we were treated by this vendor.
Thankfully ENDIVE Catering stepped up 10 days before our wedding and took over everything. They were amazing and did everything GHI did NOT want to do and did it better. They agreed that plated dinners made more sense. And helped us feel at ease with our plans.
Save yourself some stress and heartache and do NOT use GHI Catering!
Response from the Vendor on 10/05/2021
We would be proud to share the details of our decision to terminate service, refund this client completely, provide an extra $500 for the possible inconveniences, & provide hundreds of dollars worth of specialty, Russian foodstuffs at no charge...
with any client past, present or future.
We would be happy to provide incontrovertible evidence of the client's multiple breaches of contract & easily proven liable.
Planning a wedding during a pandemic was no easy thing. But GHI helped with the process as we navigated numerous changes. They were helpful and flexible. They worked me us as we had to downsize our guest list. They made sure we had all the ...
safety protocols during the wedding. And the food was great! I am so grateful to Vince and his team. Would definitely recommend.
Response from the Vendor on 10/29/2020
Great events start with great clients! You were a great partner.
Congratulations!
Vince & the GHI Team
Vince and his team at GHI have been so accomodating and helpful throughout the whole process. Personable and friendly, we have only ever had a positive experience in our communication with them.
We had to reschedule our event due to COVID-19,...
and we recieved nothing short of professional, 'no-pressure', service. All we had to do was let Vince know and the rest was taken care of.
Prior to confirming GHI as our caterer and DJ we attended a tasting at their premises in Atlanta- the food was exceptionally prepared, extremely tasty, and there was no problem if we decided to swap something out. It was so tasty we even took boxes home to let people try!
Overall we are extremely pleased with GHI's performance as a vendor, and they recieve our highest recommendation for all catering/DJ/coorination needs.
Our wedding isn't until next year, but so far we've had a great experience with Gotta Have It! During our initial consultation Vince created a wonderful, customized menu that fit right into our theme and dietary restrictions. They really made t...
he menu jump to life during the food tasting. The food was absolutely delicious and they were accommodating to our changes/suggestions. Recently, we decided to push our wedding due to COVID concerns, and Vince and Courtney were very understanding considering the circumstances. The process to move the wedding was smooth and they were very kind to us on the phone. I'm very much looking forward to them catering my wedding. With overall amazing food and great customer service I would highly recommend Gotta Have It!
Response from the Vendor on 05/22/2020
You are just the coolest. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
We had a DJ booked for May 16th for our wedding, and we were referred to them by a friend. We should have checked their Yelp review before deciding to book with them. (HINT)
This is what happened. We booked with them and paid 35% as a deposit ...
(pretty high in my opinion). COVID-19 happened and we are all under a lot of pressure and can not have large group gatherings. As you all could guess, we can not wait until the last minute to determine if we should stay with May 16th or push it off to another date. We determined it was in everyone's best interest and safety to push off the date.
We contacted Vince (owner) and Travis (DJ) about this. I can appreciate the stress they are under, but in my opinion, they were very rude. These are the options they gave us:
- Play it by ear and see how things turn out by May 16th.
- pay $150 to get our date rescheduled. This amount goes towards the total. (They were very limited on availability and Travis suggested that we move our wedding to a Sunday to accommodate their schedule.)
- forfeit the 35% deposit and find another vendor.
We were on the fence with paying to reschedule, but we mainly wanted protection. We requested them to add a Force Majeure clause into the contract to protect ourselves in case we can no longer have our wedding at a later day due to uncontrollable circumstances. They did not want to honor this. (RED FLAG). If we moved forward with them, we would have paid over half the total cost without any protection against uncontrollable circumstances such as this pandemic.
We spoke with other vendors that we are working with and friends in the event planning business, and they all did not agree with how this was handled. By the way, all of our other vendors took very good care of us as it was THE RIGHT THING TO DO. We have sent them an official email to cancel their service and requested a full refund of our deposit. I have not heard back from them about our refund as of this writing. I would hope that they do the right thing. We are all tested in these trying times, and our experience with this company is unacceptable (in my opinion).
In conclusion, these are the lessons I learned. 1) Explore more options as there are many business out there that value their customers and not just in it for the cash. 2) Find a vendor with well worded contracts for both parties. 3) I would stay away from these people.
Stay Safe!
Response from the Vendor on 05/04/2020
Our apologies for the length of this response. Understandably, we find it imperative to oppose this reviewer's blatant attempt to damage our company's reputation.
-Mr. Yang's finance first contacted us via text on 4/2/20 asking for assistanc...
e in rescheduling their DJ services for their 5/16/20 wedding. In that correspondence, the couple inquired as to our availability to provide service for 9/26/20, 10/3/20, & 10/10/20.
-On 4/3/20 we replied to let them know that we were available on 9/26/20 to provide service & that they should act quickly to confirm their new date as we are fielding many rescheduling requests for fall weekends to go along with the events previously booked for the desired dates. We blocked 9/26/20 for their event on 4/3/20.
-As a condition of re-booking, we asked the couple on 4/3/2020 to secure the new date by:
-Signing an updated contract with the new date & final payment terms
-Pay $150 toward their final charges on the original final payment due date to secure the second date
(To be clear, the couple was due to make their final payment of $461.29 on 5/1/20. We asked them to pay only $150 of that payment & deferred the remaining, final payment until 10/2/20.)
Here is the exact verbiage of our request:
"For clients whose original booking date is at least 2 weeks beyond the current governmental large event ban date range, we are asking the following to confirm re-booking:
-A revised contract with the new date & terms
-The client agrees to renounce all rights to the original date
-Clients make an additional, non-refundable deposit payment of $150
THIS $150 CHARGE WILL NOT BE ADDING TO THE OVERALL COST FOR THE WEDDING. THE $150 & THE NEW CONTRACT IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF SECURING A SECOND DATE CURRENTLY UNAFFECTED BY COVID-19 CREATED RESTRICTIONS. THE $150 WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM THE FINAL PAYMENT. THIS IS NOT AN "EXTRA" CHARGE.
Our apologies for the red text & caps. We just want to make sure that our clients understand that we are not charging more to service their event. We are offering no-cost rescheduling while incurring costs to do so."
-After agreeing to these terms on 4/5/20 & having trouble syncing-up all of their vendors for 9/26/20, the couple requested, by telephone, to change the date again to 10/17/20. This request was granted immediately & 10/17/20 was blocked for their DJ service.
-We have agreed, in writing, TWICE, to reschedule their DJ service at no additional charge.
-Our contract terms & conditions are consistent with industry standards & are largely comprised of "boilerplate" clauses. There is nothing deceiving or unclear about them. Most importantly, we have repeatedly, politely, & professionally agreed to ignore the central terms of our contract for these clients in the effort to allow them to reschedule their DJ service at no additional cost.
-As of 5/2/20 we have rescheduled approximately 83 events due to the COVID crisis. Each of those clients has signed an updated contract. No other client has demanded that we change the terms of our standard, long-standing contract.
-On 4/13/20 the couple disputed the credit card charges for the original, nonrefundable, security deposit payment made 2/21/20. On 4/14/20 the couple sent an "official" email canceling their event with us. This seemed & seems like a good time to cease communications with the couple.
-After reviewing the contract & the supporting documentation, the credit card company has preliminarily decided the charge dispute in our favor.
-For potential clients reading this review/reply exchange, we would welcome the opportunity to forward the transcripts of all written communications concerning this matter. Likewise, we are always happy to provide our terms & conditions as a preliminary step to engaging in catering or DJ proposal discussions.
We booked Gotta Have It as the caterer for my daughter’s wedding after our tasting. We were “blown away” by Vince’s warmth, attention to detail and of course, the delicious food! The initial wedding date was April 26, 2020. Then came COVID-1...
9. Our venue was shuttered due to mandates for closure of “non-essential businesses”. Vince immediately reached out to ask about our plans and how he could help. When we advised that we were moving the wedding date up and that we would host a COVID compliant small ceremony at our house, the response was that he would be happy to cater our intimate gathering.
Dare I say that the food was even more delicious than we recalled from the tasting? It was AMAZING!!!! Even without the “experts” being able to set up and keep the food warm, the food was a perfect ending to the beautiful ceremony. The food was flavorful and delectable - from the appetizers, salads, salad dressing, sides ( who can make amazing green beans, Brussels sprouts and carrots and potatoes gratin? Gotta Have it can!!!), main courses AND desserts. The younger sister of the groom, who is described as a picky eater, nervously eyed the dishes. She put one meatball on her plate, and then returned for more! The family was amazed that she was eating!
I highly recommend Gotta Have It for your catering needs. The food is delicious, the price is right and the staff is supportive and kind. Thank you all for your contribution to our special day. We can hardly wait for you to cater our reception when COVID is under control!
Response from the Vendor on 04/19/2020
Thank you so much for taking the time to write these kind words. They are extra special to us given the difficult times we are all navigating. Stay safe!
Gotta Have it was absolutely incredible. Several guests told us that the food was the best they had ever had at a wedding. They were very good about communicating with us, and I felt like my questions and concerns were addressed promptly and fu...
lly. The day of staff members were also great and friendly. GHI was worth every penny.
We had the most Amazing experience with Gotta To Have It Catering, From the food tasting to the night of her wedding everything was perfect and the food was incredible if you are in need of great food and amazing service you must give them a tr...
y
My dream was to have a food truck at my wedding and Gotta Have It made that dream come true! Not only did they provide us with the novelty of a gorgeous food truck, but they served our guests with the experience of a full catering company. The ...
process of coordinating with them was seamless and reassuring. The food was delicious, the options were abundant, and the atmosphere they provided was perfect. I would recommend Gotta Have It to anybody who is looking for catering, and more specifically for a delightful food truck experience!
Response from the Vendor on 10/17/2019
Peyton:
It was ABSOLUTELY our pleasure. Thank you so much for making us a part of your special day!!!
Working with Gotta Have It catering was honestly a lifesaver! Planning a wedding is already stressful enough without having to manage multiple vendors, but thankfully Gotta Have It had many services that we needed all in house— and very afforda...
bly priced! They provided us with catering, staff, set up and breakdown, trash removal, bar and mixers, table linens, DJ, and Day Of Coordinator. Shout out to a Courtney (Day Of Coordinator) and Travis (DJ) they were great to work with, kept everything under control and moving smoothly (with a smile!) and kept the dance floor full! All of our guests said it was the most fun they’ve had at a wedding!
And the food! The food was so delicious! Every one of our guests has raved to us (even still some 5 months later) about the food that they ate at our wedding, from cocktail hour on to dinner. The staff was absolutely wonderful, so professional and courteous and thoughtful! The bar tender made it a point to make sure my husband and I always had a drink, even if that meant coming out to us in the midst of playing host and talking to guests (when it’s hard to get away). Everyone at GHI was just awesome.
There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain when you hire GHI, you won’t regret it!
Gotta Have It Catering made our rehearsal dinner dreams come true! The service was impeccable and the food was absolutely amazing! They even embraced our Coca-Cola theme with different types of decorations, coke floats, and desserts.
The serv...
ers and bartenders were attentive and very helpful. The food was hot and tasted fabulous. Our guests were going back for seconds and thirds.
Vince, Travis, Doug and Courtney worked closely with us to capture every detail and request. We were extremely happy with the service and the food and it was the perfect way to kick off our wedding weekend.
Response from the Vendor on 08/15/2019
Congratulations on your wedding! Thank you for these kind words.
GHI did a FANTASTIC job for my wedding last week! I honestly can't say enough good things about how kind and professional they all were, plus the food was amazing! After our tasting with Vince back in January, we knew we were making the right c...
hoice, but it wasn't until the day of that I realized just how necessary they were to making the day perfect. Jo coordinated a beautiful event and went above and beyond - she helped coach us how to cut the cake, fixed the bustle on my dress and even loaned me her hair tie. It's little things like that that make the world of difference on your big day. Again, can't say enough good things! They are amazing!!
Courtney was wonderful to work with during the planning phase - offering menu suggestions and meeting me at the event location beforehand to visualize the setup. On the day of, the staff assisted with the guest table set up and the breakdown an...
d placed the food beautifully for our self-serve stations. The event manager (I can't remember her name, maybe Jennifer?) was so thoughtful and knew we would be busy during the event and made me and my husband a plate while we spoke to our guests. Our guests stopped by our table just to let us know how good the food was! One of the staff members let us borrow her personal bottle opener for the bar. Great food and truly great service. We would highly recommend GHI Catering over and over again.
When we first went for a tasting, we knew this was a company we wanted to work with. From the beginning, Vince, Angie, and Jo were an absolute pleasure to work with. They handled the linens, set and strike, helping with coordinating, and making...
sure my husband and I ate, and always had a drink/ water in hand. Jo was a God sent to us and was so calm and organized even through the last month of my frantic back and forth emails. The room looked incredible and I was just smiling all night seeing how everything went off without a hitch, and that was because of Gotta Have It. I will recommend them again and again to all my friends and family!
Response from the Vendor on 05/25/2019
We had a great time working with you . THANKS!!!!!!!!!
My husband and I cannot rave enough about how awesome GHI is and how instrumental they were to the success of our wedding. GHI team (Vince and Travis) created a menu that was within our budget, included the best brunch menu ever with delicious ...
options, and satisfied all our guests. Our consult with them left an awesome impression; all of their food is so yummy. They also connected us with a day of wedding coordinator that works on their team. Jo was absolutely amazing. Her detail orientation and personality allowed us to carefully plan a beautiful event. She took care of every detail with clarity, grace and support. I would highly recommend GHI team for your wedding. Their team is adaptable, supportive, easy to communicate with and incredibly professional.
Response from the Vendor on 05/25/2019
You were great to work with THANKS!!!!!
We used them for our wedding in February. There were some initial hiccups with the price per person changing since we didn't use their coordinator or DJ (and nor did we lead them on to think so), but we got over that hump. Also, the sales lady,...
Angie was quite aggressive at some points, refusing to answer questions related to menu and pricing until we signed a contract, so Vince had to step in after I told them if we are spending money on a wedding we should be able to ask questions related to menu changes, etc.
Courtney the coordinator was fantastic, took good notes etc. Tony the bartender was great as I emailed Vince and Courtney re him, and the staff made sure we were well attended too. The setup was nice, but the food was inconsistent from the tasting. Things went downhill thereafter.
After the wedding at the Historic Decatur Courthouse I emailed Vince and Courtney twice because we got 3 pieces of cake back from a 62 person wedding and had enough cake for 125 persons. The cake was thrown out. After never receiving a response, we got a curt email from Vince saying he would handle all matters.
My husband spoke with Vince and was told by Vince they should have never taken the job because we were a problem, they knew our coordinator quit because we were a problem (how unprofessional and untrue), and that our contract says they could throw the cake away.
For starters, we asked for all leftovers and signed liability indicating such, provided our own cake stand and utensils, so why would you throw almost $900 worth of cake away? And our contract does NOT stipulate they can throw the cake away. We only had a bite of cake we took in our photo. The staff never even bothered to bring us any.
Furthermore as the owner, Vince should have called us back vs us calling him. He over talked my husband, got loud and was quite rude per my understanding.
Also, I emailed Vince letting him know the food was inconsistent from the tasting. The macaroni and salmon were over cooked and left on burners too long. He told my husband I sent him a rave review and didn't mention the food, but now I wanted to bad mouth him. I didn't mention it because I thought he would be a professional and HANDLE the cake issue. He refused to offer recompense. He also told my husband he didn't care if we wrote a bad review because that's what we people do. Really?!!
We were warned about using GHI Catering from another vendor, yet due to budgetary constraints we used them. I hate we made such a costly error as we never got to enjoy the wedding cakes we paid a lot of money for. I would hesitate to use them as it's apparent Vince lacks professionalism and customer service.
Response from the Vendor on 03/08/2019
We disagree 100% with your characterizations of our communications, goods, & services. This review is an apt reflection of our entire experience of working with you in that it is wildly inaccurate & dishonest.
GHI did a great job! Everyone raves about the food and they worked with us to give us exactly what we wanted. Very easy to work with. Reasonably priced as well!
GHI was fantastic. I actually used them for my catering, DJ and day-of coordinator at the Historic DeKalb Courthouse. I was excited about the cost savings + reduced stress of multiple vendors, and the outcome was even better than I could have i...
magined.
1) Catering - Angie and Vince were awesome! There is no set menu, so you can literally request anything. They were very helpful in recommending certain items and helping me cut costs to stay within budget. I received many compliments from the guests on the food, and the staff (including bartenders) were very kind.
2) Day-of Coordinator - where to begin! Courtney was amazing and kept me sane throughout the wedding planning process. She is the perfect blend of professional and personable, and was available for the smallest of questions. She went above and beyond to make our day perfect, meeting us multiple times before the wedding to help with things like finalizing our decoration list and script. Our officiant was a friend and first-timer, so Courtney was able to provide him with advice and cues to help him feel comfortable. Courtney was so much more than a day-of coordinator for us. I went through her to coordinate final details for the food, bar, decorations, DJ and venue. Even my now-husband, who does not give compliments easily, said "Courtney is awesome at her job." Hire Courtney!
3) DJ - Travis kept us on the dance floor all night! We provided him with a list of requests and he was able to fill in any gaps to fit our style. Travis was also great doing the standard bridal party entrance announcements, cutting of the cake, etc. and he provided uplighting that made the venue look beautiful. I wanted my wedding to be a big party, and he was a huge help in making that come true!
Great company! Food was amazing! We got so many complements from our guests! We ate the leftovers the next day and it was just as good. We mostly conversed with Angie and she was wonderful through the entire process. We made many revisions and ...
she was very attentive to us. Chef Vince is very professional and easy to work with. Highly recommend!
The food,staff and presentation was awesome. They worked hard to meet our needs and did it! I would highly recommend them!
Response from the Vendor on 11/30/2018
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to give us a review. Reviews are our GREATEST marketing!
An absolute PLEASURE to work with. Vince was amazing at helping us build our menu. He really helped me determine what I really wanted. The food was wonderful and their staff was very attentive.
Courtney with GHI did our coordinating and ...
she was a God-Send. It was so nice to have a professional there to make my hectic day run smoothly.
Wow, it's almost hard to put into words how amazing our experience was with Gotta Have It Catering. This is an awesome company and has been since my first interaction with them. Vince, Angie, Courtney and Travis are exceptional at what they do....
They understand how chaotic planning a wedding can be and they are great about easing the stresses with their knowledge, advice, and patience with my updates and changes. They could not have been more accommodating. The tasting was amazing and is what sealed the deal. My husband and I took part in 9 tastings/consultations with other catering companies - Vince and his team wowed us with their food selections, how they presented the food and the taste. They really are awesome to work with and eager to meet with you to problem-solve, plan, and prepare an event you and your guests will be talking about for years to come. Choosing them to be a part of my team was the BEST decision I made during the planning process. I will definitely use them in the future. Absolutely book them as your catering team and let them show you how awesome they are. Travis is a wizard with his mad DJ skills. He kept our guests dancing the entire time and was great at being in charge of the flow of our reception and keeping us on schedule. Obviously, I can't compliment them enough, book them and you will be set : )
Awesome food, attentive service, super-fun DJ & an excellent value. I hope they are around when our daughter gets married!
We used GHI catering for our wedding in October, and I’m still trying to figure out why. I, personally, did not have a reputable, professional, honest experience with this catering company. I will start by saying Tony (bartender) needs to fin...
d another job because he could really excel elsewhere- he was awesome. My fiancé and I had a tasting with their company prior to our wedding – in their hot, cramped location and the food was okay. We reviewed the proposal with Vince and made some changes based on the taste of the food. Shortly after our tasting, I submitted a quote request online thru Thumbtack and to my surprise, I received a quote much lower than what I was given when I emailed the company directly. I submitted the same exact information thru Thumbtack that I submitted thru the Caterer’s website. When I questioned the company about the difference in pricing, I was told by Vince that the lower pricing was an error – that Thumbtack is just a “general” quote. Should have been my sign right there. Vince re-worked the proposal and revised the pricing due to the misunderstanding. The overall price was still out of our budget, so we were presented with a “mystery buffet” option that was $100 cheaper OR an option of the original menu. The mystery buffet conditions were that we would receive a copy of the menu 30 days prior to our wedding and we would need to approve of it to move forward. We received the menu and were presented with some okay options, but also an option that wasn’t even possible due to the shellfish allergy of my husband (which I advised them of on Day #1) – so I’m not even sure why that was included on the menu? We were also told that we could select from the food choices that were included on the very first proposal. All the back & forth just to still let us choose from the first proposal? As the wedding date drew closer, more & more contact needed to be made (scheduling a walk-thru at the venue, discussing set-up, signing a waiver for leftover food, etc). Multiple follow-ups had to be made with Courtney before I could receive an answer on things, which was stressful. We reach the day of the wedding and it went downhill from here. Supposedly, this company was very familiar with my wedding venue and did events there all the time (Historic DeKalb Courthouse). They seemed very unorganized and disheveled – Courtney even became a little rude with one of my wedding coordinators because she was on the phone trying to take care of a parking ticket that they received while working my event (apparently their van wasn’t parked correctly and was blocking a portion of the sidewalk). If this is a venue that you frequent, you should know how/where to park and shouldn’t be getting tickets – nor should you be taking care of them while in the midst of setting up for a wedding. The appearance of the assistants helping with setup was unprofessional and unkempt. The majority of my wedding cake was also thrown in the trash. Why? Good question. When I went looking for cake because I didn’t get any other than the one bite for a photo for cake cutting, I was told by the caterer in a nonchalant way, “Oh, it’s all gone. I threw it away.” Two packages of disposable plates were provided to the caterer for cake. My own cake stand was provided for cake, as well as my own cutting utensils. The cake wasn’t on any of their equipment and the caterer didn’t provide the cake, so why was it thrown out?
Response from the Vendor on 10/26/2018
In 30 years of servicing over 3,000 weddings I have responded, at length, to only 2 such client letters or reviews. The first time I did so was to apologize publicly, for the poor performance of my company. This is a very different situation.
Y...
our review is so full of blatant misrepresentations & outright lies it is difficult to know where to begin. However, I am going to give it a shot.
-You did not & it is not possible to submit "the same exact information" through our website & Thumbtack.com. I can provide both our questionnaire & the Thumbtack request as proof. Further, in the 270 times we have been hired through Thumbtack, I have said the same thing about not having the precise details to give a detailed quote or proposal with the information provided. You are the first client to take issue with this procedure. Here is a quote from our return message to you when we were first contacted, "Our quotes are based on the information communicated by Thumbtack. Our real goal is to talk through the wedding with you & provide a detailed proposal. It is very hard to know exactly how we can best serve you with the information Thumbtack provides. Would you like to schedule a phone call to discuss menu ideas, service style, & equipment needs? I am happy to work around your schedule."
-At your direction, your contract literally read, "-Cake service -client not saving any cake and will have their own cutting set". Furthermore, you directed Courtney to cut the entire thing while making a top to bottom gesture to emphasize your intent. When this was pointed out to you, you still insisted, (and continue to insist), that in cutting your entire cake & disposing of the left-overs, we were doing anything other than following your directions. You have also conveniently left out the fact that you found our disposable cake plates to be too expensive, resolved to provide your own, they were never provided to us, & we provided plates at no charge without mentioning it.
-At your request & beyond the scope of our duties, we provided a detailed diagram for the wedding when your coordinator felt her inexperience with the venue would prevent her from doing so.
-You arrived an hour late for your tasting. Became perturbed when the tasting scheduled after yours needed to be accommodated, & still received an updated proposal by the end of that evening. You followed that up by not making contact with us for 27 days despite repeated attempts to contact you. (Our catering software logs all client calls, texts, & emails.)
-We provided cake service at no charge. That too is on your contract. That includes clean-up. The custom topper was placed in the care of your coordinator as is customary.
-When we spoke after the wedding you said that Courtney & Tony were fantastic, the food was awesome, & that you felt the other staff were lacking. When I asked you how the staff fell short, you agreed that nothing was set incorrectly, all services & equipment were provided on-time & competently but, the demeanor of the other staff was not rude but rather, lacking in enthusiasm.
-I have multiple emails from you directing us to lower the staffing levels before you were willing to sign a contract. I apologized about staff performance because I should have ignored your direction & sent extra staff beyond what you were willing to pay for. I explained that at length.
-The lone item you could point to that was set late was the DJ's table & linen neither of which we were responsible for in any way. We are not in the habit of providing or setting work materials for other vendors. (The parking ticket you referenced came about because of the DJ being both late & improperly parked.)
-Courtney was, at no time, on the phone working on the parking ticket. That assertion is absurd.
-The "Mystery" buffet option was an attempt on our part to help you reach your budgetary goals. In fact, you were given the exact items you originally chose for $438 less than it was originally quoted. Given your very positive comments on the food after the wedding, I feel as though this was a successful solution to the challenge presented by your financial goals.
-Lastly, you have very cleverly made it sound as if you did not receive the $300 refund. You did; the check has been cashed. I particularly enjoy the idea that you waited until the check cleared this morning before posting your review as if we might stop payment based on your review.
-In the end, we are genuinely sorry that your day wasn't all you wanted it to be. That is truly disappointing to me on both a personal & professional level. Happy wedding clients are always the goal. However, I am more sorry that in attempting to accommodate your budgetary challenges, I set my company up to be falsely maligned.
Excellent communication and detail put into planning our menu. Incredible food and very well done. They were exactly what we needed. Very friendly, professional staff.
Vince was great to work with setting up the menu for our event and the food was wonderful. They came early, had everything ready to go and the Chef he sent even had no problem staying late so we could invite the fireman from the fire house up t...
he street to come down and finish off the rest of the GREAT food. Everyone raved about the food although I don’t think very much work got done after lunch, people were full. I highly recommend Gotta Have it catering. Thanks to Vince and his team we had a wonderful event. Do not hesitate to hire this Company.
Vince, Travis and Courtney provided a fabulous wedding luncheon at my wedding on May 19th at the Solarium in Oakhurst. The food was simply delectable and the service was second to none - from the first phone call to clean-up. Attention to detai...
l was spot-on and so many of our guests came up to the groom and I at the reception to comment on how delicious and beautiful the food was. GHI provided perfect family style service with creative culinary ideas to make my southern fixings and entrees mesh with the 25 or so vegetarians present (including the Bride and Groom). Gotta Have It had the experience and expertise to make the food shine in tandem with hard work of the planner, venue and florist with 110 close family and friends attending the event. They even made special care to have my DIY ideas shine with the food service and decor. 5 stars all around. As a customer, I don't know how it could have been any better.
We used GHI for our wedding catering, bar tender, and DJ services and I can't say enough positive things about them. Communication with Angie, Vince and Courtney was all fantastic. They were super helpful from planning the menu to coordinating ...
the timeline of the day and when/where to set everything up. The food was absolutely amazing!! I've had so many compliments on all of the food (in particular - everyone LOVED the brie squash casserole)! We also had a ton of people tell us how great the bartender was; he was keeping everyone entertained at the bar and made sure our parents drinks never emptied.
Gotta Have It Catering provided the food for our wedding reception and they did an amazing job! They incorporated elements from both of our cultures and created a delicious buffet meal that all our guests praised. We're so glad our wedding food...
was not bland!
The food was good, and the presentation was great. We really enjoyed working with Courtney, and DJ Travis was okay (however, we probably should have went with another company for DJing services).
Response from the Vendor on 08/27/2018
Thank you for taking time to give us a review. I am sorry that you were disappointed with the DJ service. Please let me know how we could improve the DJ service so that we may do better in the future.
Highly recommend — very professional, communication is wonderful. We had a small issue with our contract. Once the issue was discovered by Vincent and his team, they contacted us. We were able to handle it; all a week before the wedding. Food i...
s AMAZING! Thank you GHI for your professionalism and great experience.
Very happy with Gotta have it! They were amazing, I’m so glad we had them for the food truck rehearsal and our wedding day food. Our guests raves about how good the food was. My favorite was the brisket and garlic mashed potatoes. Courtney was ...
so great that day in organizing and setting up the food, they all did an awesome job. I would definatley recommend Gotta Have It Catering to my friends and family.
Great experience, food & staff were wonderful!! Rave reviews from our guests for both rehearsal dinner and Wedding reception food. Travis made sure everything went smoothly and DJ skills were top-notch. Highly recommend!
I loved Vince!! The professionalism was great and so patient with my family. They were able to accommodate last minute guests with no issues. They were awesome and I will definitly recommend to all my guests.! Thank You!!
Gotta Have It catering was great, very prompt response to all questions, and they really worked with me to find the best menu within my budget!!! Also hired their DJ which was a great decision!!! He was so much fun and kept people on the dance ...
floor!! Definitely recommend!!
Gotta Have It Catering was *so* incredibly easy to work with from beginning to end. They took care of absolutely everything and could not have been more friendly. Several guests at my party remarked not only on the food, but on the amazingly fr...
iendly and helpful fellow working the food truck!
The staff have been very friendly and willing to work within our budget, offering good suggestions and eager to make sure we're happy.
We had a July wedding and Vince was very helpful and great through the whole process. He was very patient with my family and during all the changes at the event. Everyone loved the food and the service and he was able to work with our budget.
Great food and DJ service! I loved working with Vince to make our personalized menu! I only did 4 stars instead of 5 because my napkins didn't get folded and put on the tables the way we requested.
I found Gotta Have It Catering via The Knot app about a year ago. The wedding planning process can be tedious- using every search engine, social media, and word of mouth to find reliable and affordable vendors. After messaging multiple caterers...
in metro Atlanta and receiving quotes- Gotta Have It Catering had everything that we wanted for our special day, at the best rate.
Travis from Gotta Have It Catering was accommodating and professional. My finance and I spoke with him about out vision- we wanted to do a stationed reception with all of our favorite foods (Greek food, tacos, sushi, shrimp and grits, etc.). Where most caterers were hesitant on such a wide variety of food stations- Travis put together an amazing menu with everything that we had dreamed up at an affordable price. After we created a rough-draft menu, we came in to do a food tasting and we were SOLD! Everything was delicious and the service was excellent.
On the wedding day, our food was phenomenal. The greek salad was AMAZING, and everyone is still complimenting our wide variety of foods- and how awesome everything was! During our cocktail hour pictures, the executive chef (Vincent) made a point to walk down to where we (the bride and groom) were taking pictures and ask if we wanted food to be brought down for us. The entire staff was accommodating and wonderful.
If you are planning your wedding, I would highly recommend using Gotta Have It Catering. They are affordable and easy to work with. They are passionate about what they do, and their food is outstanding. :)
Food was amazing and presentation was phenomenal!!!
Honestly these guys were such an amazing dynamic duo! I really appreciated Travis and Vince's professionalism. We also used Travis as the DJ and boy he did a fantastic job! Honestly the food was even better than our tasting and was presented so...
incredibly beautiful! These guys were so easy to work with and really helped out in anyway possible. They even let us borrow their sweet heart table free of charge and served us dinner instead of us having to go wait in the buffet line! Absolutely amazing price and food, you can't go wrong with Gotta Have It Catering! They are awesome!!
We used GHI for our rehearsal dinner and reception. They are fabulous and so accommodating and so easy to work with I would recommend them to anyone!
We loved how the chef created a menu specifically for us, based off the information we had given him from the initial phone inquiry. It was very creative and went far beyond our expectations. We loved how enthusiastic Vince was and always willi...
ng to adjust to our needs. Communication was great - we always knew where we stood with payments and final details.
We decided to go with their food truck option, and Vince gave some great advice as to what would suit the atmosphere we wanted to create.
Gotta Have It Catering was one of the best decisions I made about my wedding! They were so incredible! We contacted Vince when our planner referred him. Right off the bat, you like him. He is very personable while being professional with a gre...
at sense of humor. We scheduled a meeting to discuss options. My husband and I both come from culinary backgrounds and wanted something a little unique. Vince was very helpful in helping us find our menu and appreciated our minor changes in what we wanted. He is great with communication and responds very quickly to emails and calls. Within an hour or two at the most. His partner, Travis, is also a DJ that we booked as well- at a much less expensive rate than most DJ's we spoke to.
Our menu consisted of apps from my husband and my's heritage (lebanese, polish, and Irish) as well as a few of our favorite bites. We gave him a few things (pork belly, chicken and waffles, etc) and he created a few tapas choices that were very creative and so on point with what we were going for. They even have a food truck, which we included and was a huge success! You can definitely tell that he loves what he does and is so passionate to make everything you can imagine come to life.
On the day of the wedding, everything came together so nicely and people RAVED about the food all night. Everyone complimented on how creative everything was and how delicious it all was. Down to the smallest details- such as the edible orchids that topped the mountain of dolmades (grape leaves) made such a difference!
The staff was fantastic- super friendly! The shining star was Marvin- who worked the food truck at the end of the night.
I cannot rave about Gotta Have It Catering enough! They went above and beyond for everything we could have asked for!
They absolutely nailed it. We were very interested in having an eclectic menu and a food truck for the rehearsal dinner and they pulled it off!. They make it fun and easy.
Vince and Travis were a pleasure to work with and having Travis as the DJ just made things that much easier. They met and exceeded our expectations every chance they got. Their whole team was great.
Chef Vince was one of the first vendors we secured after securing our wedding date and it was one of the best decisions. We used GHC for our rehearsal dinner and wedding. Chef worked with us on both menus and really collaborated with us so we ...
got to the perfect menus for both nights.
Chef Vince and his team were amazing both nights of service. Chef himself walked around and checked on guests, cleared plates, etc. He was amazing and really have it a personal touch! It's like we hired a personal chef for our wedding.
We also secured our bar service through CHG and were so happy. They were awesome!
I would HIGHLY recommend for any event, especially weddings. Chef Vince and his team really know what they're doing and the food is delicious! Everyone came up to us and told us how good the food was... both nights!
"Vince and his staff were wonderful to work with! We really liked how they are full-service (meaning we were able to get the tables and chairs through them as well as the DJ). Everyone complimented us on the food, even the pickiest of eaters, a...
nd many people went back for seconds! I have highly recommended them to everyone, and if/when I have to do another large event, they will most definitely be my first choice."
Our wedding was 10/15/16 & it was a smashing success! I was a bit of a Bridezilla over the 13 months of planning & Vince handled me with compassion & professionalism.
Food was awesome & completely tailored to our out of the ordinary requests....
Ezell the Banquet Captain is the best. Their in-house DJ service is a bargain & was so classy.
"We got married on July 15th and every step of the way Vincent and Gotta Have It Catering was incredibly helpful! We weren't sure what menu we wanted and they helped us craft a wonderful menu and were even open to last minute changes. Our guest...
s loved the mashed potato bar the best followed by the brisket and jerk chicken sliders. I only had a couple of desserts but those were also amazing. So many guests told us how much they loved the food. During the reception itself servers frequently checked in and asked if we needed anything. It was everything we could have wanted on our special day. Would definitely recommend if you were looking for a caterer for any event!"
Ghi catered our intimate wedding and did an excellent job with great food. I had some minor issues with the staff (occasional background noise during the ceremony) but they were very helpful throughout the reception by being polite and clearing...
everyone's plates after they finished eating. Everyone that I asked loved the food. Travis was great with communication and followed up quickly with helpful responses. My only complaint would be that we did not get the fish dish that we had originally discussed, but my guests really enjoyed the one that they had provided, so it isn't a big deal. Overall, I would definitely use them for other catering events. They really helped make our day successful.
Our wedding was catered by Gotta Have It and I can't begin to tell you how great they did. It is rare to find a catering company that provides linens, bartenders, servers, dinnerware and glassware, cake cutting service, clean up and tear down a...
ll in one. Unlike other catering companies, Chef Vincent Marra made me a whole menu perfect for our vision and guest list . My husband is from New Orleans so I was having the hardest time finding creole food here in Atlanta for him and our New Orleans wedding guest. Most catering companies are cookie cutter with their menu options (ex: pick two of these for this price) and if you ask for anything outside of the package options that's a no go, but Gotta Have It created the perfect creole wedding cuisine: Appetizers: fried egg plant with lump crab meat salad, mini gumbo shooter, and caprese skewers. Entrees: salmon with crawfish ettoufee, lemon caper chicken, mashed potato martini bar, wedge salad, green beans. Guest absolutely loved it.
They also made drinks that I curated for our event and provided all the non alcoholic components. Everything was wonderful. We couldn't have been more pleased.
I had to trust my impressions and instincts in choosing a caterer for my daughter's wedding, since it was to be held more than 650 miles away from my home. The online service "Thumbtack" introduced me to "Gotta Have It" caterers. They were wo...
nderful to deal with at every point, giving me a reasonable estimate, a very satisfactory, exciting, and well-rounded menu for a noontime buffet for 61. They took care of every detail, including helping set up tables, providing children-food for some small guests, plating some food for a guest with special dietary needs, setting up for the cake, etc. Vince and Travis were cordial, positive, competent, and listened to me. Their servers were also delightful to deal with. The food was wonderful. I wanted the meal to be memorably delicious, and the guests have told me it was; (I was the M.O.B. and in too altered a state of mind to be fully conscious of the food, unfortunately!) I recommend "Gotta Have It" wholeheartedly.
Response from the Vendor on 01/11/2016
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your review. It means a great deal to us when our clients take time out of their busy schedules to let us know how they feel!
"I always scan reviews when choosing vendors. Some reviews are helpful, and some are not; I hope that this review will prove helpful when deciding on a caterer. Vince and his crew were amazing. I told Vince from the very beginning that I had a ...
budget, and he was more than willing to help me stick to it. My husband and I chose Chef Vince after a tasting for our wedding reception. Vince and his crew went above and beyond to ensure that our wedding reception was flawless. Vince even called on the morning of the wedding just to ask if he could do anything for me or my family. I highly recommend Gotta Have It Catering!"
Response from the Vendor on 01/11/2016
Thanks for the review
Contact Info for Gotta Have it Catering
Atlanta metro area
Meet the Team
Vincent Marra
Owner
Founding partner Vincent Marra has spent a lifetime in the hospitality industry. Reared in his family’s restaurants, it was no surprise when he enrolled in the prestigious culinary arts program at Johnson & Wales University. After a brief sojourn to academic life to earn additional degrees in English, Philosophy, and Education Vince returned to his culinary roots.
For more than 20 years he held prestigious positions in world-class hospitality organizations. Certified as an Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation at age 27, Vince has split time between 5 diamond resorts, nationa
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Gotta Have it Catering