I AM A BELIEVER.
For some background: We hired Memoirs to cater our outdoor wedding at Kualoa Ranch. We started off with a very tight budget with a guest count of 250 (local wedding, this is like a norm right?) While good food was a priority f...or us at our wedding, we were honestly just thinking about ordering from our favorite bento place to keep things easy, affordable, and appeal to the masses. We are a no frills kind of couple anyway, we just want good food for a good price.
Then, our wedding planner recommended Memoirs. I had never heard of Memoirs prior to her recommendation. When I started looking them up, I saw they had a fancy website with fancy dishes and said to myself, "nah, this must be way out of our budget, and our local families probably wouldn't appreciate it even if we could afford it."
But out wedding planner highly recommended them, and we totally trusted her, so we went for it.
BEST DECISION EVER MADE.
TASTING: Totally customizable tasting menu. You e-mail them a list of preferences or menus you like from their website, and they will finalize a tasting menu with you that will fit your budget (key here, they will work with whatever budget you have.) We are self-proclaimed "foodies" (or I'm just picky as heck), so we worked through at least 3 different menus and had 3 or maybe 4 different tastings? before we finalized everything for the big day. Chef John was there at each tasting to get feedback and adjust the menu to exactly what we wanted. We left completely stuffed each time, and even took home boxes of leftovers from our tastings.
FOOD: Our final menu was a hybrid of few of there standard items, and a few custom items based on our preferences. The quality of food is honestly like high-end $$$$ restaurant, but for a way more affordable price. All our guests couldn't stop raving about the food at our wedding, and kept asking us where it was from.
Also, just to note, our venue was completely unplugged, meaning no electricity, bathroom, and just a water hose on site. These guys had to carry in their own oven, power, etc, to PREP THE FOOD ON-SITE. SO IT IS DAMN FRESH.
SERVICE: Impeccable. Throughout the planning process, Taylor (managed most communications) and Chef John were always professional yet down-to-earth, and receptive to our feedback along the way for any changes we requested. On the day of the wedding, the entire team looked real slick and clean, and super professional, very prompt with plating dishes and removing excess trash.
COMMUNICATION: Excellent. They do get busy around peak wedding season, which is understandable. I had many many questions along the way (we were also a COVID wedding, so lots of rescheduling along the way), so the fact that they kept up with me is an accomplishment.
VALUE: Absolutely a steal, diamond in the rough, gem beyond gems, I don't even know how else to emphasize this!!! I am SO grateful our planner recommended these guys. They deliver HIGH QUALITY food and professional service that will work with your budget!
**BONUS: So of course on wedding night, we were too busy/excited to eat, so unfortunately we didn't get to even touch our dessert that night. Chef John heard about this, and personally delivered a box of our wedding desserts to our home a week later. This guy and this team is an absolute GEM. I cannot emphasize this enough. These are wonderful people running an excellent business, and I will definitely be hiring them again for all future catering needs!