Party Wizards, LLC

My husband and I used the Party Wizards catering team for our late August wedding at the University of Chicago’s Ida Noyes Hall (the Cloister Club room).
I was planning the 125-​person wedding myself on a tight budget (my husband and I were both still finishing up school), and I had zero experience planning an event like that. Of all the catering staff providers I contacted, Mary Bennett – the owner of Party Wizards – was the most accessible and sensitive to our needs of anyone I could find. Party Wizards is a very small business, and she was able to give the kind of personalized support and service that you get with those trendy, super-​expensive catering companies but at a fraction of the cost.
Mary really guided us through the planning process, helping us think through what equipment we needed (and pricing and ordering things for us – she always seemed to come up with something 30% cheaper than anything I could find by Googling), how things could be served, what to put on the tables, etc. I must have sent her 50 emails asking for her opinion on everything from how to deal with the cake to what beverages to serve. Our reception benefitted immensely from her years of experience as a caterer – I really don’t know how I would have planned the reception without Mary’s help. By the time our wedding day arrived, I was so excited to meet her. I felt like she was another friend coming to our wedding!
The Party Wizards team pretty much ran our entire reception for us. We had the food delivered by a local restaurant, and the tables set in place by the building manager, but they did everything else. They were friendly, professional, and totally unobtrusive. I walked into the reception after finishing pictures, and everything was perfect, just as I had imagined it. They were also totally fine with making last-​minute changes seamlessly, and rolling with whatever happened. The Party Wizards staff deserve a bunch of credit for our wedding being a success.
I would definitely hire Party Wizards again, and I highly recommend them.
Oh! And also, the phone number listed on Unilocal is out-​of-​date for some reason. The phone number we have for them is 414−704−1071.