Matters of Taste

Hiring Matters of Taste was the best decision we made for our wedding.

Christina was amazing to work with, from start to finish - professional, personable, and committed to making our wedding great. Matters of Taste was below our budget, the food was terrific and creative (many guests commented on how delicious the food was), and the Matters of Taste Staff were all friendly and responsive during the event.

We had a passed hors d'oeurvre and pasta/salad station for our evening wedding. Everyone loved it! Matters of Taste got very creative with the hors d'oeuvres, and had vegan options for some guests. At the end of the night Christina packed my husband and I a to-go platter for our room, including a sample of everything.

Christina knew the venue (Oxon Hill Manor in Oxon Hill MD) very well, and even can recall the dimensions of each room by memory. Her understanding and relationship with the venue was absolutely priceless. She also took such good care of my DJ and photographer - my photog even called me after the wedding asking for her number because he wanted to recommend Matters of Taste.

I loved every moment of working with Matters of Taste!...

Matters of Taste was an excellent choice to cater our daughter's wedding reception. Our coordinator, Heather, was friendly, professional and went beyond the call of duty to help with our questions and concerns. She made good suggestions and was a delight to work with. On the day of the reception, the food was both delicious and plentiful. The wait staff was professional, helpful and attentive. We were greatly pleased with the whole experience - highly recommend them.

We worked with Cheryl at Matters of Taste to coordinate the food for our wedding reception. She was recommended by a friend, and in addition, was an approved vendor at our venue. All of these things contributed to the absolute confidence in her and her company, and she didn't let us down. She gave us an extraordinary menu for our shoestring budget. She provided countless and invaluable suggestions about ways we could streamline the process, and make the most of our budget, etc. She was responsive via e-mail, she was up front, honest, and fantastic to work with. It was a fantastic experience, and we highly recommend her.

we had the owner Christina help us out, she recommended how to cut back on pricing so we only had 1 entree, she dealt well with the last minute requests and the food and staff was fantastic. She even helped my mother load the leftovers into the car.

The downsides that did happen, the seating that was set up for the ceremony was supposed to be straight on and it was smashed on one side, leaving not much room oh husbands side. it was failed communication from my venue also, and the table numbers were messed up, so my close family was sitting at the edge of the room, i was upset by that because i has sent her a map. But the thing that made my husband furious and i was completely embarrassed by, is that instead of emailing or calling us to receive the last payment before the wedding, she tried to talk to us about the bill in a elevator that we were with our guests. If she had it ready the day before (the last change was made 2 days prior wedding) we would have gladly paid on time. But it wasn't ready, i understand that they may have been busy but when your wedding is in 2 days, its best to get your final bill ready before doing other business.

I would recommend still because the pricing was very fair, just make sure you are super clear on what you want, there was some miss communication...

We got married 10/8 and Matters of Taste catered our reception at Glen Echo. My guests were thrilled with the food and the service. I had never heard of "french service" before meeting with Christina Hoag (MOT's event organizer), but wow my guests were IMPRESSED. The servers were very attentive to guests needs, making everyone feel comfortable (and definitely took care of me and the hubby during the event).

Christina provided all kinds of useful tips in the planning phase that I was really grateful for. As others have mentioned, communication wasn't as good as it could have been, especially in the last month. But the day of was perfect. Couldn't have asked for better.

Matters of Taste was simply great. We only had tastings with 2 caterers, but didn't see the need to search any longer after we had our tasting with MoT. Cheryl was great to work with. She always got back to any of my emails right away, which I appreciated a lot. We got lots of compliments on the food and the sundae bar and the wait staff was truly amazing. Everyone was super nice and accomodating. I can not say one negative thing about MoT. It was such a pleasure working with them and I would always recommend them.

Christina was our event planner. Everything the day of went smoothly and looked great on the day of. The food was good and plentiful. (I'm not sure about the hors d'ouevres, because I was riding the carousel at Glen Echo and didn't get any.) My decorations were put out as I asked for, and nicely arranged. The waitstaff was good. I do want to give them some additional credit, since all went off well despite them being in a temporary location and Christina getting sick the week of my wedding. Also, Christina was very nice and helpful to me about my plan to buy mismatched vintage china for the tables, even taking me to buy discounted plates at DC Rental's warehouse before I signed.
However, there a couple of issues I have to convey. Christina would sometimes take over a week to respond to my emails and I generally was told to call back later by one of the staff if I phoned. She did get more responsive as our date approached (and when my Mom started doing the communication), but we could have ironed out details earlier if communication had been better. I was slightly nervous because of this and because Christina tends to seem frazzled. She also overshared personal excuses for her slow communication. My experience shows that these are communication rather than execution issues. However, communication is important in this business.
I was also annoyed that as we made some changes near the end, napkins and water glasses suddenly were an additional charge. I KNOW we talked about wanting these in planning the original contract. I didn't realized that "linens" meant only table cloths and that I needed to be more detailed in that first drafting. Because we didn't have time to argue or want the stress at the end, we just paid it.

BRIDES BEWARE!! Matters of Taste ruined our 9/5/11 wedding. We had a beautiful, classy $20,000 but unfortunately people are left with the memory of horrible food. Here is a copy of the letter that I sent to the company with my review of their service. I did not receive a response!

Dear Christina,

I wanted to touch base with you regarding the catering services provided by your company, Matters of Taste, at my wedding on Monday. I am on my honeymoon but am having difficulty relaxing because I am disturbed about the services rendered.

Was your chef sick on the day of my wedding? I am asking because the food that we were served at the tasting with your company was completely different than the food that was served to our wedding guests. On the date that we had a tasting with you, the food served was warm, tasty, and nicely presented. On our wedding day, the food was barely warm, bland, and poorly served. I will be specific so that you get a complete understanding of my concerns.

1.) Matters of Taste did not provide my wedding party with any hors’ douvres. Your company was specifically informed to provide the wedding party with food and beverages before attending to the guests during cocktail hour. Instead, my wedding party was only served water. They sat waiting for 20 minutes without any food service from your staff.

2.) Matters of Taste served my guests cold food. During the cocktail hour the macaroni that was served on tasting spoons to my guests was cold.

3.) Matters of Taste did not prvide enough food for the guest count. I paid your company to provide fod for 100 guests. Even thugh we only had approximately 85 guests, there was an insufficient amount of horsdouvres for my guests, we had several guests complain that the service during the cocktail hour was slow and that they were informed by your staff that there was no remaining food just 30 minutes into the 60 minute cocktail hour.

4.) Matters of Taste provided bland food. Our menu theme was a “southern brunch” and consisted of the following: Shrimp & Grits, French toast, Stratta. The shrimp and grits were horrible. There was minimal shrimp in the grits, even though at the tasting Christina assured us that the shrimp would be large. The grits were of an awful consistenty. It looked more like sticky rice than grits. There was no butter in the grits and tasted as though ot was unseasoned. My guest overwhelmingly complained about this dish. The Stratta was made of EGG BEATERS! After paying $7000 for a brunch, we definitely expected to have real eggs in the Stratta. That is simply lazy and cheap! The ingredients were not mixed into the Stratta but instead were laid on top of a 4 inch thick block of egg beaters. Disgusting and lacked any taste. The French toast was the only item on the buffet that was edible.

We are extremely disappointed and have been told that our wedding was beautiful but the food was horrible. If we wanted bland food, we could have chosen a less expensive catering company. For $7000, we expected more.

Matters of Taste was the 3rd caterer that we met with for a tasting while planning our wedding. And I immediately knew that they would be the last caterer we'd meet with! Cheryl and her staff were wonderful - especially amid the "if it can go wrong, it will" portion of our planning process... they were FABULOUS!!

Approximately 2/3 of the 200 guests at our wedding were from out of town, and I'm a big believer in "if your guests are going to travel all that way for a wedding, the least you can do is give them a good meal."

However - Matters of Taste blew my idea of a good meal out of the water with a spectacular meal that had all of my guests raving. From the cocktail hour to the dessert hour - everything was delicious.
"Best filet mignon I've ever had."
"Do you think your caterer will share a recipe?"
"If you ever get married again, you have to promise me that you'll hire the same caterer!"

We planned our wedding in a very short span of time and without a wedding coordinator - so my demands on Cheryl and her staff were pretty high. They came through in every single aspect of our wonderful day. Cheryl made really great suggestions for how the reception should be laid out and how to have things run smoothly - and then her and her staff took care of everything. My husband and I couldn't FIND anything to worry about - because Matters of Taste had taken care of everything for us!

From the refreshing signature cocktails on the hottest day in 30 years to the amazing food throughout the night, "everything was perfect"... and THAT came from my new mother in law - so I know it's the truth :)

Over the course of 2 years, I have had Matters of Taste cater over 20 events - ranging from a simple boardroom lunch to events with over 200 guests. During this time, I have developed a strong professional and personal relationship with Christina Hoag, the president and owner of Matters of Taste and have had nothing but positive experiences. The staff is always on time, efficient with clean up and is extremely professional. The quality of the food is superior to any other catering company that I have worked with. I am always amazed at how hands on Christina is with the planning and execution of a catered event - she works directly with you during the menu planning stage to stay within budget. She is invested to making sure the event runs smoothly, arriving on-site the day of an event, and on more than one occasion will be helping set up the equipment and not just relying on her staff! She has worked miracles - drafting up a catering proposal 2 days before an event of 100 people! My professional relationship with Matters of Taste transcended to a more personal one when my best friend got married in June 2011. Matters of Taste was the first company that I would pull off a memorable wedding, serving quality food while keeping a close watch on the budget - especially given the fact that the bride is a pastry chef herself! Christina served as more than a caterer on the wedding day - she also served as a wedding coordinator, making sure that everything went as planned. The wedding went off without a hitch and many guests actually commented that it was "the best wedding food" they have ever been served - including the bride and groom! Matters of Taste is the preferred catering company used by the Women & Politics Institute is my own - I would definitely recommend!

Matters of Taste catered my wedding reception at Glen Echo Park. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. Christina was wonderful to work with. She was flexible, informative, and reliable, and she had great ideas. Matters of Taste came through like a champ.

Matters of Taste catered my wedding for 60 people that was held at my home in suburban DC. Cheryl was wonderful to work with and took my idea of an "afternoon tea" reception and ran with it! She was quick to provide many vegetarian options and worked with me throught the planning process in a professional, responsive manner. After the tasting we decided to change a few menu items, which we had for the first time at the wedding. Everything was delicious and presented in a very attractive way. Carol led a crew of 3 servers and bartenders on our wedding day and was exceptional. She knows exactly how to work an event in someone's home. I received many compliments on the food, including from notoriously picky friends and family, and also many compliments on the service. All the servers were gracious and helpful. The cleanup and breakdown processes were both smooth and they left our home in better shape than when they arrived. I would 100% recommedn Cheryl, Carol, and their team to anyone needing catering services for a more intimate wedding or rehearsal dinner.

Matters of Taste recently catered my wedding and did a fabulous job! Christina, the owner, works with all budgets and makes you feel like you're her only client. She spends as much time as it takes to get exactly what you want. She responded to all my emails and had great sugestions when I wasn't able to make decisions. On the day of the event, she was at the venue before I was setting things up and had competent staff. They all went above and beyond to pitch in and help out. No one on her staff ever said, "It's not my job" when I asked them to help me with centerpieces or light candles. And of course, the food was excellent. Many of my guests kept mentioning how great the food was. She packed up all the extra food for us when we didn't quite meet the expected attendance and they cleaned up the room as well. If you want a caterer that exceeds all expectations, please call Matters of Taste. They do excellent work!

Christina at Matters of Taste is the greatest. She relieved all wedding anxiety about the catering and worked with our budget and venue to create the perfect event. Her staff are complete professionals. She worked so hard to correct any behind the scenes snafus so that the event ran seamlessly. She gives great advice and the food is fantastic. I can't even count how many people told us after the event how delicious the food was. Christina threw in extra little touches to help us adapt to unexpected cold weather. I can't say enough good things about her, she's fantastic, her staff is fantastic. We were thrilled with them.

I am so glad we found Matters of Taste. Working with Cheryl was one of the highlights of wedding planning. She is a foodie, extremely personable, and will also tell it to you straight. I got proposals from probably about a dozen other caterers - all of which were overpriced and hard to get a hold of.

Our Matters of Taste proposal came in at 20% cheaper than other DC and Virginia caterers for equally quality food and service. Cheryl writes back to emails immediately and she is a pleasure to spend a few hours with tasting your food.

She worked with us on creating a unique menu and even had the chef create/tweak some new dishes for us. They even found local wild game farms so that we could offer venison and antelope at our cocktail hour, which was a special request of my husband. Cheryl also did a site visit to the winery where our wedding was (which is an hour from DC) at no cost.

To save us money, they moved our Chivari chairs from the ceremony on top of a hill down to the reception during the cocktail hour, so that we wouldn't have to rent two sets. Other caterers I talked to wouldn't even consider doing that.

Our food was delicious and had the guests talking - everyone has been telling me what their favorite item was. We served our food family style. The waiters and bartenders were professional and helpful. One of the bartenders told me that she works for other catering companies, but would always take one of Matters of Taste's jobs over another company's - I thought that was really saying something about what a good company they are.

The caterer is one of the biggest decision and one of the biggest costs you'll make for your wedding. You cannot go wrong with Matters of Taste.

Christine was great. I knew that I would choose her services from the moment that I met her. She was the only caterer who created me a custom menu based on the the types of foods that I liked. She sent me the custom menu within two days of our initial conversation. the food was delicious.

They were awesome!! My husband and I used them for our wedding two weeks ago and it was great. They helped us plan and schedule everything, it was like having a wedding planner. The food was excellent and they were very flexible. Also I dont know if this is a common practice but they sent food home for my husband and I which was great since we were so busy we hadnt had a chance to eat at the wedding!

Matters of Taste was simply terrific. My husband and I recently got married at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Matters of Taste catered the event but also acted like a day-of wedding planner. They knew what they were doing, they kept the day moving along, and most all, cooked a delicious dinner for our guests. We had some strange requests (ex. hot dog cart as part of the appetizers) and they filled each and every one of them. Furthermore, halfway through dinner, Christina from MOT came over to us and said we were running low on some types of beer. She offered to make a beer run. That sealed the deal for us - she (and her staff) anticipated our every need. The whole event went off without a hitch (by the way, she did make that beer run) and we owe it to MoT. My husband and I strongly recommend their services!

Christina worked with us for our wedding. We put down a deposit as soon as we had the tasting because the food was excellent. The food on the actual wedding day was delicious; couldn't have been better. However, dessert items were brought out later in the reception sometime during the dancing and no one really knew about them because they were in the back of the room away from everyone. Two dessert items were supposed to be on the menu that we paid for yet I only saw one of the items. She wasn't too responsive to my emails although my wedding planner did have more success in this area than I did when contacting her. Christina is extremely busy and so she does have moments here and there where she forgets things and you have to remind her about them. She did get a little rude towards the end of the reception telling guests they need to leave and telling the bride they are going to be charged an extra hour unless people get out. It should have been handled through the wedding planner, not the bride. Overall, the food was excellent, but some flaws here and there with communication and service.

I would highly recommend Matters of Taste for any wedding, especially if it is being held at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Cheryl was always available and very responsive to any requests I had. She worked with me very carefully on the menu and worked around my budget, and the food was spectacular! We had SO many comments on how delicious, creative, and "not-your-typical-chicken-and-rigatoni-buffet" our menu was, all within a great budget! On the day of the wedding, Cheryl made sure that everything was absolutely perfect, she even whisked my husband and I away for a few minutes, just so she made sure we got to eat something (We ate buffet/stations style- no formal seating). She brought in all her own equipment and worked very hard around a very difficult location. All in all, we would definitely recommend Matters of Taste for your wedding or any other special event.

I loved Matters of Taste and Christina Hoag. Everything came together for the wedding and the food was the best catering food I had ever had. The staff was professional and accomodating. Definately ask Christina about the "French Service" and then use french service - your guest will LOVE it.

Matters of Tasts is the best.

We really enjoyed working with Christina, and it is obvious that she loves what she does! She offered much help and support throughout the planning process, which was very helpful to us because we were going without a wedding planner.

The day of the food was excellent (we got many compliments), which was especially impressive since they had to work at a reception site that did not have a kitchen or allow open flames of any kind. The wait staff was absolutely tremendous- attentive, nice, and just plain good.

The only complaint I have is that communication sort of broke down in the week or two before the wedding. Things were not set up exactly how I wanted (example: there was not a big enough space for our escort cards). We had to go back and forth several times about the guest count the week before the wedding (which was incorrect on our final invoice 8 days before the wedding), and remind her at least twice the week before about the exact yellow we wanted for our napkins.

Again, the day of was fantastic. The servers were great, the food was great, and we had butler service that was just wonderful! And, Matters of Taste was by far the most affordable option. The only gripe we have (and others have mentioned) is the communication- MOT is very busy, but they would do well to hire some additional administrative/planning staff to help keep the details straight.

Cheryl and her crew did an amazing job catering our wedding! The food was delicious and the signature drinks were a big hit! We wanted to have our Hawaii wedding in Virginia because a number of folks couldn't travel. Cheryl researched food and drink recipes and was the only caterer willing to work with us on our unique menu.

Matters of Taste did a fantastic job of catering my daughter's wedding at Glen Echo Park. Christina was so helpful and organized and really went beyond what I would expect from a caterer. It was almost like having a free wedding planner. The food was outstanding, the staff couldn't have been more professional and the bar and food service were perfect. There was even a "butler" to personally take care of the bride and groom's needs, from serving their dinner, to delivering their drinks and cake. When the reception ended, Christina not only made sure that her staff put all the leftover wine, beer and flowers in our car, but got taxis for anyone who needed transportation. It was a perfect wedding.

I coordinated a wedding that was catered by Matters of Taste at Top of the Town. First off, we worked with Christina and she is bad! She is very scatter brained and never seemed to know what was going on. I had to contact her 2-3 times before I got an answer. She always had an excuse to why she was not very responsive, she was late to the wedding site walk through (she had an excuse), she was never in sight to be found on the wedding day (again, another excuse), etc. And the worse thing, at the end of the night she was being rude to our guests and kicking them out. I had to interrupt her and apoligize for her being so rude to the guests. We finally had the guests exit the reception site 15 mins past the closing time, and Christina said that she's going to have to charge us an extra hour because we ran over. Never was this mentioned to us and it was only 15 minutes!

The food was good, but not awesome. Not worth all the stress this company has caused us. I HIGHLY don't recommend.

My wife and I chose Matters of Taste because my family has used them in the past many times (for funerals, birthday parties, etc.) and have always been happy. We worked with Christina, beginning about 8 months before the wedding, as my wife was living in Chicago up until 1 month before the wedding. Because of this, we were only able to meet with her 2 or 3 times, and the majority of our correspondence was by email up until the last week. My wife would make trips to DC every couple months, and Christina was always able to meet with us around this schedule. Once in a while it would take her several days to respond to an email, it seems as if she could use an administrative assistant, or an extra coordinator in the office as MOT stays fairly busy. Yet we always knew she would get back to us, and never worried.

From the beginning Christina was extremely helpful, I think realizing that we (at least I) had very little idea what needed to be done. We had a vague idea of what we wanted the reception to be like, and she was able to ask us the right questions to get the information that she needed to put together our menu. She is detail oriented, and has more than enough experience to realize what minute changes to this detail or that mean for the big picture. She has also worked with most if not all of the other major vendors in the DC area, and was able to tell us pros and cons for different tent rental companies, restroom facility rentals, etc. She knew what our budget was, and worked very, very hard to keep us within it.

The food was outstanding. We had an outdoor wedding in the middle of the summer. We wanted to have a bit of a backyard picnic feel, but also wanted to keep it classy. The food that Christina helped us choose balanced the two perfectly. Our menu included the crabcakes, crostini, beef brisket (amazing), fried chicken, summer salad, watermelon, and an ice cream sundae bar. EVERYONE we talked to during and after the wedding mentioned how good the food was. I mean everyone. We wish we had more time to sit down and eat! Christina had one gentleman assigned to taking care of us, and we never had an empty glass or plate, and he even kept my wife's makeup tidy! To be honest, I never noticed the rest of the staff, and that is the way it should be. The appetizers were delicious and out on time, the bartenders made great drinks, the main courses were well prepared and presented. The staff did a great job of keeping everything tidy and looking nice. We would certainly recommend MOT to anyone who wants personal service, and great food!

I have nothing but praise for Matters of Taste. We worked with Christina, who is extremely thorough and meticulous and everything was exactly as we had discussed. Christina has so much experience with receptions and she offered us advice on many aspects of the reception. Her advice helped things run more smoothly and in some cases ended up saving us money, such as telling us how many plates we really needed to rent for a buffet. If you are at all anxious about wedding planning, working with Christina will relieve your anxieties because she's so detail-oriented and she'll think of everything. Even though she offers a lot of ideas, she also listened to us and respected what we asked for. In advance of the wedding she was sometimes a little slow to respond to email but that was not a big deal. The prices for food were very reasonable. I thought the price for staff was slightly on the high side but let me tell you, in the end it was worth it. The supervisor at our reception, Veronica, was so professional and nice, and it seemed like she really cared about doing a good job. She and her team did everything we had asked, unobtrusively, and also on their own took care of things like lighting the candles, which I hadn't thought of. At our reception the rental company had messed up and had not delivered some of the equipment - this glitch was not the caterers' fault at all, but they did a good job of handling the situation and making do with what we had. To sum up, our experience with Matters of Taste was very positive and I would recommend them highly.

I can't give Matters of Taste (MOT) enough stars! I worked with Cheryl Connors, and she and her whole staff were nothing but professional, creative, accommodating and understanding.

About 5 weeks before our wedding our original caterer disastrously fell through, and my fiance and I had to scramble to find a new caterer! Matters of Taste had a cancellation and they were able to accommodate our wedding plans at the extreme last minute.

The food was great, the sample menus they offered were stylish and interesting, the desserts were beautiful, and my entire family had such a wonderful time. Cheryl is a real professional and was instrumental in making sure we had a timeline to follow and she really kept the evening flowing. MOT even helped put out our table decorations and everything was just lovely.

My fiance and I were on a very strict budget and were doing much of the wedding "DIY," and we were relying on good luck and the help of friends and family to pull us through the tough spots - MOT and Cheryl were very understanding and supportive and we couldn't have pulled it off without them. Thank you so much!

So far they've been great to deal with and flexible on budget. They let you provide your own alcohol which saves lots of money. We went to a tasting and everything was nice

Booking Matters of Taste was one of the best decisions that I made about the wedding. I do some event planning at work, and had used Matters of Taste (with great success) in the past. They were on the approved caterer list for MVUC, which worked out well. I ended up working with both Alicia Hall and Cheryl Connors and would completey recommend working with either of them for any type of event. They are very accustomed to doing weddings, but will take the time to listen to what you want, work with existing recipes, or look for new ones, work to fit your budget, and find out what matters to you. While doing this, they will be realistic with you about what they will work within the framework of your venue/timeline etc. The severs and bartenders were all great (at least as much as I heard--I never had to go to the bar the whole night, and was offered drinks by waiters and Cheryl etc all night). We had tons of compliments from guests on the food and the buffet. They followed the timeline perfectly, and packed up our leftovers as well as a special package for my husband and me that night. We had a sweetheart table and they prepared perfect plates for us. The tables looked great and the food was presented well. We had a great tasting, and I was pretty familiar with their menu from using them in the past, but if we'd wanted we could have done a second tasting. There was only one passed apetizer that I wasn't completely happy with, and I think it's because I don't care for the dish that much anyway. They also very kindly made a vegan option (neither of our main courses were vegan-friendly) for two of my guests at no extra charge. I would book them again in a second, and plan to use them for my job far into the future. I am aware that MOT has some not so positive reviews online, but I have never encountered any negativity or problems, and encourage people to contact me if they want more details. The only reason that I am giving less than 5 stars for "responsiveness" is that they had some weird issues with their e-mail server this spring, but they worked that out and were always quick to reply by phone. All in all, I don't think you can go wrong with MOT.

Alicia is the best...with planning and coordinating. The food is decent. Ron was also a great help during the wedding, ensuring the bridal party was fed and my make-up was on straight. Details, details. Also helped us stay on schedule, which was important to me.

Matters of Taste was great! I loved Alicia - she was available all the time, whether by phone or email, to help me out when I had any questions about catering and about the wedding in general. The food was fabulous - my guests raved about them!

I chose MOT because they offered the best value for money among the three caterers my reception site allowed. Christina, the owner, is very nice and cares deeply about her business. We were really thankful for her advice and assistance beyond just providing food, including some very helpful tips for our guests and providing additional decorations.

I generally have low expectations for catered food, but was pretty impressed by most of the dishes we tried during our tasting. There are enough options available on their list of dishes to make sure you get what you want.

I am the type of person that asks a million questions and want to understand how everything will work ahead of time and Christina always very patiently returned my phone calls and responded to my e-mails (of which there were many). She was generally pretty prompt, but I think she could really use a strong office/business assistant to help her as she seems to run things mostly on her own. Sometimes it took a while to get things (like our revised contract), but we always did in the end.

A few weeks before the wedding, I started reading some really negative reviews of MOT (amongst other really positive ones) and got really scared. Luckily my parents calmed me down before saying anything I would regret, but we agreed we would ask MOT to keep all empty wine bottles sos that we could account for the alcohol at the end of the night. Christina gladly obliged. Also, she takes care of all the equipment rentals too and at lower rates than rental companies (I checked). This makes life easier for the bride as it is one less vendor to manage. Finally, we have a number of family members with food allergies and they were very careful to make sure they received food that was safe for them to eat.

The actual wedding day went beautifully. All our guests really enjoyed the food and Christina was really attentive to my husaband and I, making sure we ate some of the meal and even putting together a plate of hors d'oeuvres with edible orchids for us! Nice touch. The fondu buffet was also great, especially for the kids. She also did a beautiful decorative arrangement for the buffet table without me having to instruct her at all. All of her staff was very professional and kind and all of the alcohol was where it should have been at the end of the night.

In the end, I'm really glad that we chose MOT. They are an excellent value for money. The food was tasty, the staff was professional, and Christina is detail oriented and cares about her business and therefore your event.

Matters of Taste provided an excellent service, from a very yummy food to a professional staff - everything was top notch!

I recently had my wedding and had Matters of Taste cater it.

From day 1 they far exceeded my expectations. I had Alicia Hall as my contact and she did more for me than any other typical caterer. She acted as my wedding coordinator, not only the day of, but throughout the entire planning process, if I had a problem with a vendor, she made things happen. She was always on point with any questions I had, returned every single email within hours, and she always took the time to take my calls even if it was late in the evening.

I have a passion for food and wine and was skeptical at how a buffet would present itself at my reception, but Matters of Taste proved me wrong. The Mojito glazed chicken was cooked to perfection (Usually at weddings you get a dry piece of meat, but not this one) and the London Broil melted in my mouth. It was absolutley the best wedding food I've ever had. And the coffee station was a huge hit with the rest of my guests as well as the fruit and chocolate display.

The wait staff was extremley professional and didn't miss a beat and even took care of my elderly parents who couldn't visit the buffet. And I didn't even have to ask!!

Not only did I have the dream wedding that I've always wanted but I know it was absolutley without a doubt Matters of Taste who made that happen for me. I highly, highly recommend this caterer.

I just had my wedding this weekend and Matters of Taste catered it. It was a disaster. In the weeks proceeding the wedding, the caterer didn't receive multiple emails I sent (and I like to work mostly over email so that it is in writing). Their email didn't receive attachments and I had to sent items multiple times.

On the day of the wedding, they didn't set up the cocktail hour where it should be so everyone went to their seats an hour early. There were barely any passed hors d'oeuvres. They set up only 16 tables, and we needed 17. They put a broken chair out and my Grandfather fell, then my Dad didn't have a seat. They screwed up every centerpiece, and didn't light the candles. It was a mess and stressful.

The food was good, however that didn't make up for the stress that it all gave me. I work in catering and would never treat a client like this. Please do not use Matters of Taste.

Matters of Taste was terrible - they were great in the proposal process but ignored me until right before the wedding. The owner took forever to respond to me, I would call or email and it would be days until she responded.

At the wedding, the owner didn't show up until two hours into the wedding (when she should have been there for the setup to make sure it was correct). The staff did not set up the cocktail area so there was no cocktail area, and then they wouldn't let guests into the reception area. They didn't light candles, and really messed a lot of details up - not the staff's fault but due to the poor planning and heinous communication skills of the owner/planner.

Save yourself some peace of mind and go with another caterer, even if it costs more. Trust me, it is worth it.

Everything about this company is exceptional. They have wonderful food, amazing service, and they are the nicest people we have ever met. Our family has actually used them twice, and will use them again when my youngest daughter gets married. We wouldn't even consider anyone else.

The food was prepared exactly as planned. The service is wonderful - the waiting staff is pleasant, friendly and efficient. Every station is always impeccably clean and tidy. We had lemon chicken, steak, potatoes, vegies, and great hors d'oeurves.

Even though we provided our own liquor, the wait staff helped us clean up and load the extra wine into my van. At the end of the evening, the clean up process is completely painless and efficient. The team works like clockwork - within just minutes, they are packed up and everything is clean and neat.

The owner is a wonderful lady, with lots of great ideas. You'll even have fun planning the reception. She keeps in touch with you throughout the whole planning process, leaving nothing to the last minute.

If you want a seamless evening, one during which you won't have to worry about anything because everything is under their watchful eye, this would be the caterer for you.



The guests LOVED and RAVED about the food. I would recommend this caterer to everyone I know.

Sorry this is so long, but I had so much hope for this place and I wanted to give firm examples so you can judge for yourself.

Their prices were great; they seemed so friendly, calming, and organized throughout the planning process. The food was better at the tasting than on the wedding day, but I was somewhat prepared for that. Our reception site had a “caterer’s kitchen,” which means it has a counter and sink. The caterer had to bring in the ovens on premises. It looked pretty on the plate though.

The food was okay, the initial room set up was good and their attention before the wedding was great. Not any single thing was horrible, but once you add up all little things, it tips the scales, and there were just a lot of little things.

Quirks started out from the beginning like the cheese tray at the cocktail hour that did not have a knife. When my bridesmaid asked one of the waiters, he looked at her confused and walked away. I'm not sure some of the wait staff spoke English based on other interactions guests had.

Next, the bar wasn’t set up when guests arrived. When my mom went up to get us cosmos during the cocktail hour, they told her there was no vodka when I provided them 6 liters (we provided the alcohol to the caterer about two days before the wedding). Apparently, it wasn't stocked yet. The “bartender” didn’t know how to prepare basic drinks (one person asked for a scotch on the rocks – usu you pour about 4 ounces over ice. This bartender poured my friend about 12 ounces into a large glass, most of which was wasted).

This was supposed to be their “A” game working with us because of problems we had with timing at the reception site.

They promised a wine pour at dinner, but the waiters were taking a break (no joke). So wine was not served (though I had purchased plenty to be served) and our guests had to continue to go to the bar. If this was an additional fee, she should have said something. I would have paid rather than be promised something that was not provided.

Though I had order about 15 extra pieces of cake (just in case), they were cutting too large and ran out. My mother almost didn’t get a piece of my wedding cake.

Our event manager promised to be around non-stop. We almost never saw her. When my brother asked her for something at one point, she snapped at him. He was wearing a tuxedo and was pretty obvious that he was either in the family or the wedding party. I was shocked when my brother told me that. No yelling at my guests.

And she promised to feed my photographer and videographer. She said she would “take care of them.” I asked before the wedding if they could eat when my husband and I ate so they would be ready to take pictures when we were up and moving again. She said yes. I noticed they weren’t fed on the wedding day after I ate and actually asked her about it. She told me not to worry. I asked the photographer and videographer both at about 10 pm if they had eaten and they still hadn’t been given any food.

At midnight, they were walking out with plastic sandwich boxes. These two guys worked for and with us for nearly 12 hours and deserved something to eat. They were exhausted. I intended for them to eat. How does one vendor do that to another? I would prefer she not yet again tell me things were taken care of when I can clearly see it’s not happening.

Lastly, she promised me that the waiters would help us pack up the left over alcohol, gifts, toasting glasses, etc and bring it down to my friend's car. But at midnight, our Best Man was pushing a dolly toward the elevator to friends waiting to take the stuff away. And my mother-in-law and I were pulling together the last bits of stuff like my sign-in book, photos, etc. Again - it was something the event manager promised to do so I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end of the night, but... They just didn't deliver. I would have planned differently had I know this was the service they would provide.

They tried to help me keep costs low, but if she was more realistic/honest, rather than just trying to close the deal, I would have been far happier with her work – even if it cost a bit more.

If you are doing a sit down dinner, I would look elsewhere. I know some people on this site loved Matters of Taste, but I've used this site for so many recommendations (most of them great - thanks, ladies). I just wanted to share this experience so you know what you're getting as an end result.

And I promise, I'm not complaining just to complain. I really loved almost all of my vendors and posted rave reviews on the rest, but Matters of Taste was just disappointing.

We wanted to let the world know what an incredible job Alicia Hall and Matters of Taste did for our wedding. She was not only the consummate professional keeping us all on task, but she treated us as her friends and always suggested; never ordered, which was so refreshing and comforting, and really helped us get through the planning and the wedding with no problems and smiles on our faces at all times. We had a customized wedding with many diverse diet demands, and she successfully accomodated everyone in attendence with the same level of attention, professionalism, and even more importantly, heart and fun! Weeks have past since our wedding and our guests can not stop raving about the service and asking for the recipes used.

We loved having Alica Hall help us and can only hope other couples to come can experience the same wonderful service that she gave us!

Initially, Matters of Taste was amazing. When I went for a tasting, the food was incredible, large portions, beautiful presentation etc... They even packaged a complete set of everything I tried to take home for my fiance (he is in the military and couldn't make the tasting). They offered us a good price compared to the other vendors I was looking at so we went with them....BIG MISTAKE.

They waited until 4 days before my wedding to start the details with seating charts, timetables etc... even after months of me pushing them to accomplish this earlier. Who wants to deal with that the week of their wedding?

At the reception the food came out and it was absolutely nothing like what we had tasted. It was ridiculously small, barely warm, incorrect (we ordered deboned cornish game hens and they were not deboned which made them impossible to eat), the waiters were a mess, the caterer argued with my wedding planner, the whole staff was unprofessionally dressed and slow. Additionally, my fiance and I purchased all of our own alcohol for our wedding. Our contract stated that we were to get every ounce back that was not used during the reception. Several staff memebers STOLE full bottles of expensive liquor. Also, we had bought our own 300 votive candles and they were stolen as well by the catering staff.

Even the children complained about their kids meals which was chicken tenders and mac and cheese- not easy foods to mess up!

Good Price but BAD QUALITY, NO PROFESSIONALISM, and THIEVES!

The original coordinator who sold us on this company was not able to be there on the day of our wedding. Her substitute did a very poor job replacing her. Things were done to a minimum instead of going above and beyond to make our experience special. My guests were inconvenienced and my mother had to work very hard to make sure everything was done as I had asked. I was very disappointed with their overall performance especially since they had come so highly recommended to me. I cannot, in good faith, recommend them to others.

I have used this cater for my work functions many times. They have the best presentation, are very professional and have tasty food.

I loved working with Alicia Hall. Highly recommend.

This is a wonderful catering company. Many kudos to Alicia, especially for her professionalism, and will to work with us. The food is EXCELLENT, and the staff here are wonderful. I've recommended them to other couples looking for a caterer. Our reception went off without a hitch because of this company.

MOT far exceeded our expectations. The food was exquisite, the staff was delightful, and if anything went wrong, I still don't know about it! My guests are still talking about how wonderful the food was. I would highly recommend MOT, and particularly, Alicia Hall.

Please feel free to email me for more specifics!

I worked with Cheryl Connors and from day one she was amazing. She is a pro and knows exactly what she's doing. We had total confidence in her and her team on the wedding day. She was very accommodating, professional, flexible, responsive and nice! I can't say enough nice things about her; she helped make our day perfect!