Paula catered my wedding at Sunset Hills Vineyard in August. She was on the recommended caterers list for the vineyard (she doesn't advertise - word of mouth only), even though mine was the first event she catered there. The vineyard staff described her as having done a lot of events for the horseriding set in Middleburg, VA, and that clients would "give her a field, and she would turn it into the Taj Mahal." I can't say my budget was quite on that level - I paid around $12,000 total for around 95 guests for a buffet dinner (two entrees, several appetizers, salad, bread), greeting bar with punch/tea/lemonade, additional tables/chairs needed (both for reception and outdoor ceremony), kitchen and wait staff, tablecloths, and all dinnerware and serving pieces (no plastic) - but she did an absolutely fantastic job! I didn't realize what exactly went into catering an event, but Paula did a lot of work, and was a key player in making my wedding run smoothly and look beautiful; she earned her money.

Paula began by inviting me to her house and asking me how I envisioned my wedding, what kind of style I wanted, and she sent me a 12-page list of menu items she has done in the past for me to choose from, or I could suggest any other items I wanted on the menu, and she could accommodate my requests. Her menu items went above and beyond standard wedding fare I have seen in the past (not just Swedish meatballs and stuffed mushrooms), and I circled items that sounded good and crossed through items or ingredients that didn't appeal to me. From that she prepared a sample menu for the wedding, which we tweaked as needed. My fiance and I did a tasting at her house of several items off the sample menu, and we ended up changing one of the entrees, but kept everything else as is. Paula and I also met at the vineyard several times, and she prepared a layout of the space and figured out how best to use the space for the event, which is more complicated than you would think. (There was a wall which would block the guests from seeing each other, so she put the buffet behind the wall, she moved the DJ to the loft upstairs to prevent crowding on one side of the room and allow room for kitchen staff to maneuver around easily, she figured out where to put the greeting bar/guest book/wedding favors/gifts, she figured out where the outdoor ceremony should face, etc., etc.) She had excellent suggestions for things even down to the cocktail napkins (with sunflowers to go with my theme) and the tablecloths (which we changed when Paula realized the original color we had selected looked washed out in the venue, and I agreed); her attention to detail could not be improved upon. She is definitely a bit of an OCD caterer, and I was an OCD bride, so we worked well together, but if you're not OCD or a bit more absentminded, then Paula can really help you out in that department. She made the right inquiries, gave excellent guidance, and kept us both on the same page as for how the wedding would run and all the details that would be necessary to make it work.

The day of the wedding, Paula was there several hours ahead of time (which she worked out with the venue without them charging me extra) to make sure things were set up. We had a bit of a snag, as it rained, so we couldn't have the ceremony outside as originally planned; we had a preliminary rain plan, but Paula suggested a better one and seamlessly set things up for it inside. The reception venue looked absolutely beautiful, her serving pieces were elegant, and I was really pleased with all the choices we'd made. The food was ready on time and delicious, there was plenty of it, she invited people up to the buffet table by table to keep it from getting crowded, the servers kept everyone's glasses full and cleared plates away inobtrusively, the cakes were displayed beautifully, the special wine for the toasts was poured on time, etc., etc.. Paula really took care of a lot of things, and it would be difficult to mention them all. I got a multitude of compliments on the decor and the food, and the vineyard staff said it was their favorite wedding they had hosted, and they put pictures on their website from my wedding, and I have Paula to thank.

In terms of caveats, be careful how many people you estimate you will have, as the estimated catering costs will only go up from there. I wasn't too far off in my estimates, but still, be careful with that. It's probably better to underestimate a little than to overestimate, and you must provide the final count the week before the wedding anyway. Also, Paula doesn't do cakes, soft drinks (you have to bring them yourself), and you have to pay the kitchen and wait staff with separate checks to each of them. However, she told me this ahead of time, but just so you're aware.

All in all, I had a great experience with Paula. She was consistently pleasant and easy to deal with, she was honest, and I feel that I got what I paid for and more. I'm so glad I didn't go with one of the catering "factories" that have constant events, pre-selected menus, and no personalized attention. Paula only takes a certain number of events a year; the week before my wedding was dedicated solely to me. Paula made things very easy for me, things were beautiful, and I can only give her the highest recommendation.