Catering By Design Reviews
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![Ilana]()
Ilana Sent on 10/28/2023Incredible Food, Drinks, Service & Coordination
When beginning our wedding planning, we knew that catering was our #1 priority. After some research, it was clear that Catering By Design (CBD) was the #1 caterer in the Philly area, and was who we wanted to go with. We had fun reviewing the unique venues CBD services, we visited the Michener Art Museum and decided it was a great fit for us as a queer and transgender couple.
Kelly Cloonan was the Event Specialist assigned to our event, and from our first email interaction to the end of our wedding last Saturday was an absolute joy to work with. Kelly was kind, detail-oriented, responsive, transparent, respectful of our LGBTQ+ life and Jewish customs, and caring of our event on a level that surpasses a typical vendor/client relationship. While we did not have a wedding planner and the design was our own, Kelly in MANY ways stepped in and gave us the attention and time that we feel a planner would've given us. Kelly would respond to our (many) emails within 24 hours and even gave us her cell phone number for quick questions and day-of needs. She helped us build a catering menu that suited our needs and met our budget. We wanted to do four signature cocktails named after our four dogs and she helped make sure that the bar staff was fully prepared, having some pre-made leading into cocktail hour. Guests told us that this and keeping the two bars open all night helped ensure there were nearly zero lines all night which is a HUGE deal at 100+ person events. Kelly ensured us that the staff were informed of our guests dietary needs. She allowed us to hang gender neutral bathroom signs to make sure we and our guests felt comfortable. She seamlessly ensured all of our rentals, decor and vendors were set-up. In the middle of our event we were running low on gin, vodka and white wine and Peter the President of CBD ran out to get us more so our guests never knew a thing.
We could go on and on -- but please know that Catering By Design has an incredible team including Kelly Cloonan, which made it easy for our wedding day to not only go to plan, but to exceed our expectations and impress our guests with the food and service. Catering By Design played an integral role in the best day of our life, and undoubtedly will give your special occasion the care and attention you deserve to make it incredibly memorable. -
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![Jon]()
Jon T. Sent on 12/20/2024Everything was perfect!
We cannot recommend Catering by Design highly enough! They absolutely saved the day for us on our wedding day in September, stepping in on short notice when our original caterer couldn’t deliver. Despite the time constraints, they went above and beyond to meet our needs, even accommodating special menu requests that weren’t part of their standard offerings.
Our communication with Ginger was exceptional throughout the entire process, giving us peace of mind during a stressful situation. On the day of the wedding, Ginger’s team executed everything flawlessly. The food was delicious, beautifully presented, and raved about by all of our guests.
If anyone asks for a catering rec in the future, they will easily be our first choice! Five stars all the way!Catering By Design's reply:
Hi Jon,
Happy New Year and thank you so much for your kind words; It truly means the world to us and we were so lucky to be part of you & Janae's special day creating memories to last a lifetime for you and your guests!
Cheers,
Catering By Design Team -
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![Vicki]()
Vicki Sent on 12/02/2024Simply the Best!
Catering By Design at ONE North Broad exceeded all expectations! Helene and her team were incredibly organized and supportive, bringing my vision to life with such attention to detail. Most importantly, our guests couldn’t stop raving about the food—it was the best they’ve ever had at a wedding! The grazing tables, passed hors d'oeuvres, and bite-sized desserts added an extra "wow" factor to an already incredible menu. A huge thanks to the entire CBD team for making our day so seamless, special, and absolutely delicious! -
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![Daniel]()
Daniel Sent on 07/17/2024CBD at The College of Physicians
Michael was phenomenal to work with. The catering staff were incredibly attentive to everyone and everything - not one detail was missed. And the food was even better the night of our event than at our tasting! -
![Hannah]()
Hannah Sent on 05/22/2024Amazing Wedding Venue/ Caterer
I got married in May 2024 at The Michener Art Musuem where CBD is the exclusive caterer. We had a wonderful experience working with Kelly, their event specialist, and were thrilled with how the event and the food turned out. Every step of the way, Kelly was communicative, understanding, helpful and kind. It was clear that her main focus was bringing our dream wedding to life and she did exactly that. We got SO MANY compliments on the food— the selection, presentation, and taste far exceeded everyone’s expectations! I am so happy that we decided to get married at the Michener and that we had the opportunity to work with Kelly and CBD— I would highly recommend this venue and caterer. -
![Gina]()
Gina Sent on 02/07/2024Catering By Design made our wedding unforgettable
Wow, just wow. Catering by Design and Michael Mitloff truly made our wedding dreams come true! From the very beginning, we knew we were in good hands. When Michael first showed us the venue at the College of Physicians and explained how CBD works, we had complete confidence that our wedding day would be everything we'd envisioned - and it was. Throughout the entire planning process, Michael and his team went above and beyond to make our lives easier. From helping us to select the perfect menu to coordinating every last detail, they were there every step of the way. On the day of the wedding, we were absolutely blown away by how seamlessly everything came together. Michael and his team set up the venue and made it even more beautiful than we could have imagined. The service was impeccable - friendly and professional. And let's talk about the food - where do I even begin? It was nothing short of incredible. Our guests are still raving about how delicious everything was, and I have to agree - I've never had wedding food taste this good!! At the end of the night, Michael and his team took care of the tear down, which was unexpected and made our lives so much easier. Every single thing went off without a hitch, and our wedding day was perfect in every way. I cannot stress this enough-it was truly seamless and absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Michael Mitloff and the entire Catering By Design team, for exceeding our expectations and making our wedding day absolutely unforgettable!!! -
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![Molly]()
Molly Sent on 12/11/2023Wonderful!
Everything from beginning to end was easy working with Kelly Cloonan at the Michener Museum. Her professionalism, knowledge, and kindness made the process of planning our big day fun, happy, and stress-free. Kelly and the staff of catering by design went above and beyond for our wedding and we could not have been more blown away by the end result. The food was amazing, both in taste and presentation, and everything was seamless. If you're considering working with catering by design, I would not hesitate - they are a fantastic partner for any event. Even better if you get lucky enough to work with Kelly :) -
![Lindsey]()
Lindsey Sent on 11/05/2023Best I could have asked for
Food was unbelievable, the staff was incredible, and everything went so smooth! I HIGHLY recommend Catering By Design and the entire staff there. -
![Megan]()
Megan Sent on 11/02/2022Absolutely incredible
We of course used catering by design for catering as they’re the exclusive company for the venue. The catering by design team are incredible! Everyone who works there really loves what they are doing and it really shows. The service is amazing, they made every single one of our guests feel like it was their party. I can not say enough about the chef! My partner and I never had a chance to make it to a tasting since we live 4 hours away. We were a little scared going into the wedding because of that but we had heard nothing but high praises about the chef. Both my partner and myself are vegan, so we were pretty excited to collaborate on a menu with the chef.
We chose a lot of items from the pre offered menu because a lot of the food were our favorite foods anyways.
We added a few items for them to make at our request and they freaking killed it!
Same with the sangria they made for our wedding. Everything is made from scratch and you can really taste the amount of passion coming out of that kitchen. Our guests were raving about the food and telling us how they were scared going to an all vegan wedding and weren’t sure what to expect but they were more than surprised with the amount of flavor and creativeness they tasted that night.
My brother who says he is a meat-a-tarian just to make me mad snarfed so many horderves during the cocktail hour… he said he’s never had good vegan food and he was obsessed!
Catering by design also has a florist division ( garnish) which we used for the night. I personally have a hard time with the idea of cutting a bunch of flowers to be possibly tossed the next day and I expressed my concerns about that with her, showed her my mood board and my vision of what I was looking for and Carolyn freaking knocked it put of the park. There were enough flowers to make it look beautiful and like a wedding but subbed things like candles and vines to help make me feel a little better about it all.
Over all this was the best wedding I have been to in a very long time. And I’m not saying that because it was mine but I am saying that because of the staff, the building and the city it was in. They take pride in what they do here and it is worth every dollar.Catering By Design's reply:
Megan! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us! Our team loved preparing an entirely vegan menu and are thrilled your guests, including the meat lovers, enjoyed everything. And you said it, Carolyn knocks it out of the park too! -
![Kelly]()
Kelly Sent on 07/26/2022Simply the best!
I used to hate it when people said that their wedding day was the best day of their lives, but ours truly was, and much in part thanks to Terri and the entire Catering By Design team! We worked with CBD for nearly two years due to COVID reschedules, and the professionalism and expertise that we saw throughout the entire planning process was absolutely wonderful. There were very few stressors from start to finish, that culminated in the most perfect and stress-free day. I honestly didn’t have to worry about a single thing once the day came as the entire CBD team was prepared and ready to go. The entire staff was friendly and helpful and we received an abundance of compliments from our guests about how attentive everyone was to them. We had the pleasure of working with Michael throughout the day who made sure that we as the bride and groom had everything we needed. He was already ready with a drink order and to box up some cocktail hour food to make sure we got to taste everything throughout the day. I’m so thankful to the entire crew, and especially Michael, for making us feel so special.
The food itself was absolutely spectacular. We got so many compliments about the quality of the food both at cocktail hour and at dinner (especially recommend the short rib for dinner and the crab cakes, Nashville hot chicken and dim sum bar for cocktail hour). We opted for wedding pie as opposed to wedding cake, and each flavor was more delicious than the last! I would highly recommend Catering By Design for any catering needs, but especially trusting them with one of the most important days of your life. Thank you to the entire team -
![Addison]()
Addison Sent on 05/18/2022Cannot recommend enough
We could not have had a better experience with Catering by Design. As a wedding photographer myself I interact with countless vendors and CBD is among the best of the best. We were lucky enough to work with Kelly and she was extremely attentive and always quick to answer questions kindly and thoroughly. Our guests were blown away by the selection for cocktail hour and they raved about the awesome staff, service and food during dinner. We highly recommend them! -
![Reyna]()
Reyna Sent on 11/22/2021Incredible food, service, and atmosphere!
The Catering by Design team was amazing! We loved the food at the tasting, but you never know how it will turn out day of - we had nothing to worry about. All of the food was delicious, and our guests are still texting us about some of the appetizers! Everyone on the staff team was so great, people had great energy and everyone was super friendly and professional. Highly recommend!! -
![Tracey]()
Tracey Sent on 08/26/2021Awesome service and food
Liz with Catering by Design was an amazing help to us during the entire process of wedding planning. Even though she's not an official "planner" per se she was so great at helping me find vendors, even last minute! She was quick to respond to emails which was great as a covid bride who had to postpone my wedding once. Catering by Design has awesome food that everyone raved about. I will say I was nervous because the tasting was only "ok" but the salmon and the short rib were AMAZING! Also everyone was talking about the hor d'oeuvres as well. I was very relieved that the food was such a hit because next to music, it was the most important thing to us. Thanks Liz and CBD Events! -
![Rachel]()
Rachel Sent on 02/05/2021Amazing team
CBD helped me put on the Covid wedding of my dreams - all of our plans changed within 13 days before our wedding day and Terri and team helped create a magical experience. They were there for us throughout the entire process while we were navigating these everchanging times. We didn't want to postpone and they were so flexible in making our wedding day a reality - intimate or not!
We cannot recommend Catering By Design enough. Food was amazing, team was amazing - overall incredible people to work with! -
![DeAnna]()
Deanna Sent on 04/23/2020Best of the Best!
Our wedding was truly a masterpiece. I know everyone says and thinks that of their wedding day, but it truly was--and so much of that has to do with the One North Broad Team and Catering By Design. My husband and I met in Philadelphia (where I am also from) so we wanted our wedding in Philly even though we live in New York City. For this reason, we knew that we needed a solid/responsive team to work with because so many of our interactions would be virtual. ONB and CBD were it!
Catering By Design is ONB's exclusive caterer. Initially, we were hesitant about venues that had exclusive caterers because we are FOODIES and we wanted the venue and catering decisions to be separate. However, CBD did not come to play! Knowing how passionate we were about choosing ONB as our venue, but unsure of CBD as our caterer, Terri Fair arranged for us to have a tasting BEFORE we made the official commitment. To me that gesture alone demonstrated that they were not just invested in receiving our money/business, but committed to proving they could be the perfect fit for our perfect day. What also sold us on CBD was their many many catering options. A lot of catering companies have their set menu tiers with set prices, and you just pick from a list. CBD, however, works within your budget and food preferences to make your dreams reality! While we still opted for a traditional seated dinner, we had the option to do family-style, buffet, etc... And the range of food options from their hors d'oeuvres to their entrees were overwhelming in the best way imaginable! A foodie heaven!
The staff that worked our wedding was out of this world. From the way they dressed to the way they interacted with our guests-- folks are still talking about how impressed they were with the team. My husband and I had a dedicated staff member who made sure we had everything we needed BEFORE we even needed, and that small detail truly made a world of difference. The set-up and break-down of our reception was seamless and efficient, and before we were ready to head out of the door we had all of our extra food packaged and ready to go with us-- which was much appreciated the morning after!
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![Ashleigh]()
Ashleigh Sent on 04/09/2020CBD is the exclusive caterer for One North Broad
We got married at One North Broad and Catering by Design is the exclusive caterer. That being said, CBD was exceptional. Terri is awesome and very helpful from start to finish. Sue works for the venue, and handles the venue expenses as well as alcohol. Terri is in charge of food, glassware, barware, table settings, linens, tables, chairs, etc. They both work as a team to help the entire process be stress-free. The food is amazing. There are a million options for the bar set-ups, and the staff is exceptional. All of our guests raved about the food and beverage options. We had the best day ever, and our guests did too. You won't be disappointed with Catering By Design! -
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![Alison]()
Alison Sent on 10/13/2019Incredible food, even better service!
CBD is incredible in every part of the planning process. Terri could not have been more helpful or responsive. Terri helped us design a perfect meal, even bringing in an ice cream bar and soft pretzels as a late night snack for our guests. The food was absolutely incredible, and our guests are still talking about the tater tot bar. Thank you for the most magical day! -
![Britt]()
Britt Sent on 09/13/2019Awesome Catering!
Catering by Design was awesome to work with. Terri made the process of selecting food for our wedding enjoyable and easy. The food was delicious - guests were commenting on how great everything tasted! Cake was awesome, too. Highly recommend! -
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![Jeffrey]()
Jeffrey Sent on 06/27/2019Amazing wedding experience!
I am not exaggerating when I say that my wife and I couldn’t have thrown the wedding celebration at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia that we did without Kristen Medici and her amazing staff. We’ve had many, many guests come up to us and say nothing but the nicest things about their interactions with the staff across the board, and we feel the same way. From our first interaction with Kristen, we knew that we wanted her in charge of our wedding day, and she did not disappoint. It was a perfect day, and a lot of that is due to Catering By Design's tremendous efforts. We look forward to working with them again, and couldn't recommend them more! -
![Alexa]()
Alexa Sent on 01/15/2019Most Amazing Experience
I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful Catering By Design is, Liz Savits specifically!! From the moment I met Liz, I knew she was the perfect person to coordinate everything for my wedding. She was laid back and made me feel comfortable every step of the way. Catering by Design provided the most amazing food and service on our wedding day at the College of Physicians. From the butlered appetizers, to the stations, to the entrees, to dessert - everything went seamlessly! I truly hope I get to attend a wedding in the future so I can experience it all over again! Cannot thank them enough! -
![Megan]()
Megan Sent on 02/06/2018We had a great experience with Terri Fair and Catering By Design at our wedding at the Michener Museum this past October. They were able to work within our budget while still making the event fabulous and memorable! The evening went smoothly, the floral was beautiful and we received many compliments on the food! -
![Koch Bride]()
Siobhan Sent on 09/18/2014I cannot thank Dan Love and the rest of the team at Catering by Design for their impeccable work on our wedding at the College of Physicians.
From our first meeting with Dan during a tour of the venue, he made me feel comfortable and most of all excited about planning our wedding. Shortly after our meeting, I was invited to go to a bridal show at the venue that Dan was catering and Dan treated myself, my mother and mother in law like we were VIPs that day. I was completely sold on Catering by Design from that moment on.
Dan helped make my husband and I an incredible menu for our wedding and answered all of our questions so quickly. We never had to worry about communication with Dan and best of all, he never made me feel like I was bothering him with my questions.
The food is by far the best catering experience I have ever had. There is no need to worry about the typical churned out wedding fare that can sometimes be expected at weddings, CBD knows how to cook for a crowd and your guests will be thirsting for more. The team nailed a family recipe for us which wowed our guests. So many of our guests reached out to us to comment about how impressed they were with the food and service provided.
Lastly, the team also was great with last minute requests. We have a family member who has had recent health issues and was put on a very restrictive diet. Days before the wedding, we were able to reach out to Dan about this request and he took the time to speak with our family member about her needs and put her at ease which is something I could not be more grateful for. Also, my parents contacted Dan with a request to surprise everyone with a cheese steak station at the end of the night which to my delight had all of the Philly fixings.
Seriously, I cannot recommend Catering by Design more. They are worth their weight in gold! -
![User1747808]()
User1747808 Sent on 08/04/2014Peter and his whole team are amazing! I would use them for any event at all, not just weddings. And they dealt with my Celiac Disease particularly well. I whole-heartedly recommend them. -
Katherine Sent on 08/01/2024
Excellent and Worth Every Penny
Fred and the team at CBD were truly incredible. I was not a very strong planning bride working a challenging job and they were everything we needed and more. They invested time, attention, and thought more than I expected in advance and on the day of! We loved working with them and Garnish - truly made my flower dreams come true. I would recommend CBD to anyone and everyone - weddings and beyond, and I am so grateful we used them for both the rehearsal and day of our wedding.Catering By Design's reply:
Hi Katherine,
Thank you so much for your kind words! It was an honor to be apart of your big day. Congratulations to the Ladds once again!
Best,
Catering By Design Team -
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