Occasions Caterers - Washington, District of Columbia

Emma Weed

I work for a local jeweler, we often host events for our clients, Occasions is always my first call when planning an event however this past time truly blew me away.

Most recently we hosted an educational event for Montana Sapphires, Allison did serious research when developing the menu for this event to ensure that everything was inspired by sapphires and gems, and just look at the pics! Stunning! Their team is always beyond just reliable and Lupe, the captain for our event, is a huge asset as she is so detail and service oriented, once they arrived it was a turn-key operation. I always look forward to my next call to Occasions!

Regina dernbach

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the Occasions team! From the start Napheissa was amazing. She gave a wide variety of options and was so helpful throughout the process. Detail oriented, and had fantastic follow through, which is always appreciated in planning events. Becca was fantastic and when we had venue issues, she was right there to take care of the fine print. On the day of the event, Chris the event captain and Kathleen were so professional, timely, and gave fantastic customer service. Chris was on top of everything, and with his help the event ran itself. I am so grateful for the entire Occasions team and can't wait to collaborate again!

Fares Akremi

Food and Service: 5/5
Pricing and Transparency: 2/5
Communication: 3/5

My partner and I had a wonderful wedding celebration of about 150 folks at the MLK, Jr. Library in Washington, DC in late October 2023. When we learned that the Library uses Occasions as their exclusive caterer, we had some reservations. But our wedding planner reassured us that Occasions is a great catering option. In many ways, she was right.

I'll start with the positives:
-- Our Occasions rep, Sidney, provided a wonderful, detailed proposal with three pre-made menu options and lots of additional options. She worked with us to mix-and-match to accommodate folks with various dietary restrictions, including vegans and gluten-free folks.
-- The tasting was exquisite. We brought loved ones and had a great time. Even the options we didn't choose were wonderful.
-- Rentals -- including chairs, linens, plates, and cutlery -- were all beautiful, extremely customizable, and fairly reasonable.
-- On our wedding day, the food was outstanding. We got so many compliments on the salad (gathered with sesame-crusted chevre), entrees (1. Statler chicken breast; 2. branzino w/ gnocchi; and 3. sweet potato pave w/ mole verde), and cake (layers of cinnamon, carrot, and chocolate).
-- The service staff who worked the dinner were outstanding. They were extraordinarily friendly and organized, and entire tables were served simultaneously.

But we also had some extremely frustrating experiences with Occasions. Most significantly, Occasions played some questionable last-minute games regarding price.

After we received our proposal, we took a couple of steps to bring down the price:
-- We mixed and matched from three different menus. We were told that choosing options from the less expensive premade menus would cause the total cost to decrease, so we chose many options from the two less-expensive menus.
-- Likewise, between the proposal and the final bill, we reduced the total number of guests by 25, meaning Occasions (by its own accounting) had to send less waitstaff and would need to provide 25 fewer meals.

Yet, inexplicably, the price Occasions ultimately charged us to feed 150 was *higher* than even the most expensive menu option in the proposal for 175. And it wasn't just a little more expensive than it should have been -- the difference was between $5,000 and $8,000, or more than a 10% swing in our total catering budget.

Unfortunately, my partner and I didn't learn about this price gouging until the week of our wedding. When we asked for an explanation, we were given none (though Sidney reminded us that we were expected to make a full payment in advance). We paid the unexplained difference because we felt like we had no other choice.

To be clear: The actual catering experience we had on our wedding day was exquisite. The food was outstanding. The service was incredible. And we couldn't have been happier. But it was soured a little bit by feeling cheated, without explanation, on cost.

In sum, if you are considering Occasions for your wedding or event, know that you're going to get excellent food and service but be prepared to advocate for yourself. If price is no obstacle, full speed ahead! If you are conscious of what you're spending, demand price transparency and make them explain when costs start to inexplicable shift.

Thanks, Occasions, for making our special day great. But it'd have been nice to pay what you said we would.

Fathom Gallery

We have worked with Occasions on numerous events and love having them here at Fathom Gallery! From corporate to social, they execute all types of events perfectly. Past clients that have used Occasions for their events have been very satisfied with both the food and the service. We have loved working with them over the years at both of our locations and always recommend them!

Ty C

Such an amazing caring team. I have been to weddings where the team gets the job done but they don’t actually care. Shout out to Benjamin he really put his all into this wedding I went to and gave personality to the staff.

Megan Barnes

I recently was able to have Occasions Caterer my wedding, and it was one of the best decisions I made in the wedding planning process. Danielle listened to what was special to my husband and I and created an exquisite menu weaving in the meal we made together at our first date. The staff and team executed service for a 125 person wedding like it was a small intimate dinner in their home. I was so impressed by the food taste especially because our venue did not have a kitchen, but they had that down to a science. You will not regret selecting Occasions as your caterer. Look no further.

Tina Behnke Spencer

We recently worked with Sydney and Joel from Occasions Caterers for two different events to keep the unconditioned spaces comfortable with heat in December. My goodness, these fine folks are food wizards! Two totally different venues and completely different clients -- one was corporate and the other was a Bat Mitzvah -- BOTH were fantastic! They were professional with their staff and focused on the client. And from a vendor view they made it easy for us to do our work. Highly recommend!

Joel Zimmerman

As a former employee (years ago), I can say having extensive experience in the food & beverage/event industries, Occasions is a premier catering and event planning company. The organization of the team and the attention to detail is exactly what you want for your event or as a team member. From small dinner parties at your home to large corporate events of 2500+ guests this company will "WOW" you. I was throughly impressed by every event I had the pleasure of being apart of. They should definitely be on your list of companies to contact for your catering needs.