Great food and great people! 'Loved working with Shannin and Courtney! Many wedding guests commented on how good the food was too so that made me feel really good. I will use Willaby's again if I ever need catering.
We got married at Youngberg Hill in July 2019 could not have been happier with the services provided by Willaby's! Jean and Shannin were really helpful with the initial planning process, and helped us put together a great menu. The food was delicious and our family and friends still talk about it! They also took care of all the details like linens and any other decor we wanted from the venue. Courtney was our day-of coordinator and she was an absolute lifesaver. She made everything seem flawless from the moment she arrived and assured us to not worry about a thing! As the bride and groom she made sure we were well-fed and always had a drink in hand. We had the perfect day and would absolutely recommend Willaby's!
Unfortunately, the wedding venue we chose required that we use Jean at Willaby s for our wedding planning services. Jean s service was beyond disappointing. I truly regret not choosing a different venue/wedding planner. My two primary complaints:
1. Jean was consistently unprofessional with regards to money. She never attempted to clarify how much her services would be, and then served us a bill that was much more than the initial information we received from her and the wedding venue. She initially said a tent would cost under 2k, and it ended up costing nearly 4k. I understand sometimes things cost more, that s not the problem, the problem is that she NEVER communicated the change in price until we received the bill. Then, when we requested a receipt from the tent company she was super defensive and hostile about it we simply wanted to understand what we were paying 4K for but for some reason that really upset her. It was weird.
I am a small business owner and I cannot believe the level of Willaby s unprofessionalism . Basic conversations about money and following through on details are how you keep customers satisfied. There s no way Jean would get away with this if she didn t have a captive clientele. All of our other vendors were professional and awesome, I rarely write negative reviews I m not a hypercritical person but having unprofessional, unreliable service leading up to the wedding made my wedding day much more stressful. You should really trust your wedding planner to do a good job - that and the venue are the most important. I wish I understood that when I started planning!
We were forced by our wedding venue Youngberg Hill to work with Willaby s as our wedding planner even though we had already decided not to have them do our catering because their sample food was inedible. As far as wedding planning goes, Willaby s was completely disorganized. It is unbelievable what a racket Willaby s and Youngberg Hill are running we paid thousands of dollars for a wedding planner but we ended up doing all of the wedding planning with our caterer while the Willaby s folks stood around and didn t do anything useful. Specifically, Jean Mateson was unprofessional bordering on fraud - she charged us by the hour for time she was at another venue taking care of another wedding! It rained heavily the day before our wedding and one area of the venue was a mudpit - when we asked Jean if she thought we could get some flooring to cover the area she was confused and said, I never thought of that . A wedding planner in the Willamette Valley who has never thought of what you need to do in case it rains?! We found her the name of a company to come and install temporary flooring the examples of ineptitude go on and on. I would avoid Willaby s altogether and get a planner who actually does what you pay them for.
Willaby s was incredibly awesome to work with throughout our entire wedding process. Their food was delicious, so many of our guests complimenting us. The best part of their services was the day of coordination. If you have your wedding at Youngberg Hill, you HAVE to have Willaby s do catering and coordination. Youngberg is incredibly difficult to work with and the team at Willaby s made the day of our wedding as smooth as it was. Can t recommend them enough.
We were so happy to have Willaby's as our caterers! They catered our wedding of 182 at Zenith Vineyard in September. We worked extremely closely with Shannin and can't say enough wonderful things about her. We had multiple in-person meetings, phone calls, tastings and emails for over a year prior to the wedding. They worked with us to design and decorate the spaces (linens, lighting, basically everything but the flowers), coordinated rentals, worked with outside desserts (pie, tarts, cupcakes and a cake), set up a timeline and prepared food for the bridal party to eat on the day of the wedding. We had constant questions and changes and they were extremely patient and accomodating, balancing our "vision" with their expertise to ensure that we and our guests had a wonderful experience.
On the day of Shannin was present and she and her coworkers adapted quickly to changes in the flow and needs of the guests. They were extremely polite and friendly to everyone at the venue. They also made a great effort to make sure that my husband and I were enjoying the wedding! They set aside plates with the food that we wanted, provided us with desserts for our table and as we completed the ceremony and went to sign the certificate we were given drinks and hors d'oeuvres. The food was delicious and beautifully presented- we did sandwiches prior to the ceremony, appetizers, a full buffet with three main entree options and a late night snack. We had a wonderful experience!
Thank you Willaby's for catering my daughter's wedding! Willaby's was a pleasure to work with in the lead-up to my daughter's wedding. On the day of, the food was great, the servers were ever-present, but not in our way. It was WORTH IT to spend a few extra $$ as compared to other options to have a full hand-passed appetizer round, a full buffet dinner and a staff of 5 - 6 people there clearing plates, filling water classes and keeping everything just right... WELL DONE!! You helped make my daughter's special day great, and allowed ME to enjoy myself, rather than worrying about the food and service!!
Willaby's was referred to us by a Hotel professional who has worked with Willaby's in the past. Outstanding service throughout planning process. The food is not your typical banquet/catered food fare. Rather the chef is creative, uses local suppliers and the food is delicious. A bit spendy but worth the money to ensure that there was plenty of everything. Willaby's contributed to making our event special and memorable.
Jean was great to work with and she understands all aspects of your needs and assist. We highly recommend her business and give it a 5 star.
We had them cater for a dinner with 30 people. Compared to the other local caterers, dealing with Willaby's was easier and their prices were better. The food showed up on time and everything tasted great - we got a big summer salad, rice pilaf, and baked salmon with roasted corn and creamy tomato sauce. It's hard to find anything to nitpick, I guess if I had to I would say that I wish our guests were hungrier because a lot of rice and salad was leftover! We would definitely use Willaby's again.
We hired Willaby's at the recommendation of our venue Youngberg Hill for our wedding in early August 2019 and we could not have been happier with our decision. Shannin was fantastic to work with! She helped us with our catering needs, as well as partial planning. Partial planning was an extra fee, but she was SO WORTH IT! She helped keep us on task, reminded us of our deadlines, chose place settings and linens, and organized all the rental items. The day-of coordination was included with the catering and we would not have had such a smooth day without her and the rest of the Willaby's staff. Shannin kept us on track and on time, knew where everything went, helped with set up, and even had some food and desserts waiting for us in our limo at the end of the night. The food at Willaby's was delicious as well. Everything from the garlic butter and bread to the main courses were fabulous. Entrees were cooked perfectly and came out hot to all our guests (150+). We still have friends and family raving about the food! We would recommend Willaby's to anyone in need of a caterer for an event big or small. Between the service and the quality food, they are worth it.
They are wonderful to work with and their food is exactly what they said it would be. It was so easy to work with them and refreshing to get great service with it. I would use them again and so should you.
If you want terrific food for a great price, excellent and friendly customer service, and the utmost professionalism, this is the caterer for you!!!
After doing a lot of online research, and reading through hundreds of reviews, we decided to go with Willaby s Catering. One of the first things they offered was group tasting event, where they served everything we had initially selected for our menu, plus items from other people s menus so that we could try multiple options, allowing us to make changes if we wanted. The food was so good we knew we had made the right choice.
From the beginning, Shannin the coordinator, was so helpful and quick to respond and I cannot say enough good things about her!! She helped me throughout the entire planning process, answering all of my questions and keeping me calm with her efficiency and responsiveness. We asked her to be a part of the rehearsal the night before the wedding and she handled the wedding party with such confidence and obvious experience, it immediately put my mind at ease. I knew that with Shannin in charge, everything was going to be ok. The day of the wedding she was onsite, regularly checking in with us to see if we needed anything. Bad planning on my part left us a corsage short for one of the moms and Shannin came to the rescue by making a corsage from the flowers in one of the arrangements!! Mom was none the wiser thanks to Shannin s quick thinking!
The service from the rest of the team was also top notch. All the servers and staff were incredibly professional, polite and on top of it. I never had an empty water or wine glass One of the things that our guests keep commenting on, weeks later, is how friendly and helpful everyone was (in addition to how good the food was!). As an unexpected surprise, the staff packaged up some leftover food for us to have later that night. They put together a Bride and Groom box so that we could each have a snack after the reception, which was much needed after a night of dancing! We ate all the leftovers that night! Can't say enough good things about this company - we are recommending them to anyone who needs catering
My husband and I worked with Willaby's Catering for our wedding day and they were absolutely incredible to work with. We first tasted several of their dishes at an open house at our venue, and from there we knew we wanted to sign a contract with them. Three weeks prior to our day, we tasted our final menu and were completely blown away by the quality of the food and professionalism of their staff. The wedding day was so seamless, our guests LOVED the menu, and the staff neatly boxed up the leftovers for us to take home. We purposefully chose vendors in the Salem/Portland who have worked together, and I think it all worked out beautifully. I cannot say enough praise for Willaby's Catering, thank you for doing such a great job!!
Thank you for helping make my wedding day so special and worry free. My wedding was at the Zenith Vineyard in July of 2016. We had breakfast for dinner and a donut bar for dessert. It was my favorite and actually made some of the costs more affordable for our budget. The food was delicious and we had no problems at all. Shout out to whoever made those chicken and waffle bites, they were delicious and a hit! A special shout out to the staff for your work, flexibility, friendliness, and professionalism! I was able to totally focus on each special moment and didn t have any worries or bothers because you all had everything covered. The day went so well and I thank you again, we were blessed by you.
We had our wedding at Youngberg Hill and loved this location and everything they offered. The views, the building, and the people helping were all great. We loved the flexibility that we could select our own caterer or use their preferred one, Willabys, and that we were NOT being charged per person for anything and it was all included in the site fee. Jean from Willabys and her team were amazing! They managed the whole day making sure we didn't need to do anything but have a great time. They listed to us and had great ideas. Jean has a great depth of knowledge but you could tell she loves what she does too. The price, service and quality of food was all there. In the end, we all had a great day and I would recommend this place.
I've had the pleasure of working with Willaby's several times. As a venue, we experience many caterers, and I have to say that I am always pleased with the level of professionalism, courtesy and of course flavor that Willaby's brings to the table. Every time I am impressed, and know the staff is prompt & reliable. Willaby's is highly recommendable! Thank you for being so great!
I love love love this caterer! My venue recommended them and so did my gown shop so I called them and I'm so glad I did!
Willaby's was great to work with! Planning the menu for our wedding was quick and easy, and when it came down to the actual day drop off was on time, the food was hot and tasted fantastic, and everybody loved it!
My husband Keith and I hired Willaby s Catering for our daughter's wedding August 1st 2020.
The food was exquisite and the presentation matched the quality of the food. The staff were polite, professional and on top of the entire process until the very end with leaving the kitchen they worked in absolutely spotless and disinfected.
We will use Willaby s again without hesitation and highly recommend them as well.
