Catering By the Champions

Don is fantastic. We hired him for our wedding in Deep Creek Lake, MD. Not only was the food phenomenal (people talk about it when they talk about our wedding), but Don was instrumental in helping plan the logistics of the wedding. When our day of planner dropped the ball, he was there to make sure that things went smoothly.
Again, the food was absolutely delicious. At our tasting it was so difficult to decide because all the food was so good. If Don had a restaurant, my husband and I would be frequent customers.

Our family of 20 had Don Champion cater our Christmas dinner… all 20 raved about the food. His menu selection is extensive. service is impeccable. Can’t say enough about how he staged our meal and every portion, from appetizer to salad to main meal and dessert was outstanding. Don and Gail made us feel part of his preparation as he had my younger grandchildren help him with the prep and serving. Highly recommend his company for your event.

My husband and I got hitched back in August, but I promised Don Champion that I would write a review for him. I never forget promises (though my completion rate sucks sometimes).
So my partner-​in-​crime and I had, by DC standards, a very small amount of cash available for our wedding. Which was fine, because neither of us were remotely interested in an extravagant wedding, but we both did want to get married in a beautiful setting outdoors with good food, drinks, and music that followed. After a lot of searching, we discovered and settled on having our wedding at New Germany State Park — a small, woodsy, secluded park in western Maryland.
It was such a great decision. One of the best finds, EVER. A huge challenge, though, was finding the associated people and services that could help us make it happen, particularly a good caterer. Finally, after a ton of googling and other research, somehow we stumbled upon Catering for the Champions.
Don Champion. How well his name fits him. He was a superstar, from the time we started planning our meal, to the tasting at his home tucked in the woods near Oakland, MD, to the actual day of the event, at which everything went so smoothly. Don was extremely flexible with the menus and everything was so reasonably priced. It’s clear that Don loves what he does — making great food, working with and employing people from the local community, and making his clients happy. It’s definitely not about the money, for Don.
If Catering for the Champions was located in the DC metro, I would probably look at things a bit differently. This review is extremely complimentary, however, because of the amount of effort that goes into preparing a good meal for a wedding that’s taking place in-​the-​middle-​of-​nowhere, western MD. The food at the tasting was wonderful. The food at the reception itself was very good, but not excellent like at the tasting. It was a high-​quality meal (similar to what you could get at a good DC restaurant) that probably suffered a bit from the setting in which the final touches needed to be made. (I honestly don’t remember eating, but that’s what other folks have told me). I give Catering for the Champions 5 stars for the value and the awesome service and person that is Don Champion.
Here’s what we had:
Hors d’oeuvres: fresh seasonal fruit and cheese/​crackers (including «gourmet» cheeses like bleu cheese and gouda)
Beef Kabobs
Pork Kabobs
Chicken Kabobs
Bacon Wrapped Scallop Kabobs
California Rice
Oven Roasted Baby Whole Potatoes
Vegetable Kabobs
Fruit Kabobs
Breads
Beverages (tea and coffee)
Cupcakes and mini desserts
bar-​tending, wait staff, napkins and table cloths, plates, utensils, etc.
All of this for about $ 2600 for 75 people. The rustic log pavillion we rented was $ 75 for the night, and we spent around $ 300 on wine and beer from a separate vendor. My brother-​in-​law and husband played DJ with a pre-​made mix of songs… for free! See also my review for New Germany State Park.