Our Baguio Wedding: An Authentic Review of Mario's Catering

As the saying goes, ‘the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach.’ This was certainly true for our wedding. When we asked our guests about their experience, the overwhelming feedback centered around the quality and taste of the food. I’d like to share our experience with Mario’s Catering – both the good and the bad.

For this review, the following criteria, with equal weights each, will be used.

Professionalism: based on communication style, work ethic, and ability to solve problems
Quality of Product/Service: ability to meet our agreements and standards
Flexibility and Customization: willingness to accommodate specific needs and preferences
Value for Price: cost is justified by their quality of service

If you’re planning your wedding, please take this blog post with a grain of salt. Our dream wedding could be different from yours.

Dinner Catering: Mario’s Catering

Professionalism

Our experience with Mario’s Catering was unfortunately less than ideal. Despite their suggestion to communicate via email for documentation purposes, their response times were consistently slow. We often found ourselves following up with them through texts and calls, which was quite frustrating.

To speed up the communication, we had to involve our wedding coordinator, adding unnecessary stress to the planning process. It was such a hassle. This experience significantly impacted the overall experience. If the food hadn’t been exceptional, we would have seriously considered switching vendors.

Quality of Offered Products/Services

We were truly impressed with Mario’s Catering during our food tasting. The dishes perfectly captured the essence of Baguio, offering a warm, familiar, and playful dining experience. Our guests raved about the Fruity Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette, while my personal favorite was the Beef with Cuba-Libre Barbecue-Lychee Sauce. We also appreciated their assistance during the cake cutting and toasts, as well as their careful packing of leftovers, as agreed.

Unfortunately, the service was somewhat disappointing. Despite having VIP tables with plated meals, there were significant delays in serving these dishes, with some guests having to personally request their food. Additionally, the service for our general guests, who were served buffet-style, was much smoother and faster. It was disheartening to see that our VIP guests had to repeatedly call the waiters, especially considering the detailed timeline we had shared.

*Lechon is from Basbas Lechon. Mario’s Catering was in charge of carving.*

Flexibility and Customization

We admire that Mario’s Catering is open to suggestions. During the food tasting, they allowed us to customize the dishes to suit our tastes and even catered to a vegan guest. Their familiarity with our wedding venue ensured a smooth setup and service.

Value for Price

Considering the stress we experienced during the planning phase and on our wedding day, we feel that the cost of Mario’s Catering wasn’t justified. Given that food has the highest allotment in our wedding fund, we expected a more seamless and stress-free experience.

Overall, the food was amazing, no doubt! But the stress of dealing with their slow communication and service during the planning and wedding day ruined the experience. We expected more, especially since we spent a good chunk of our budget on it.

Recommendation for Couples:

Save yourself from the stress. Explore other vendors and choose one that’s easy to talk to from the start. The stress isn’t worth it.
List your instructions in detail; include timeline as much as possible. Share it to your caterer and coordinator.
Take advantage of opportunities like wedding fairs and taste tests. This will allow you to get to know about your caterer and the quality of food they offer.

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