Questions, answered
Ask us anything.
The questions people actually ask us before they inquire: where to begin, what full-service really covers, whether you need a planner as well as a caterer, and how the money conversation works. Answered plainly, without the sales gloss.
Where to start
Most people arrive here having never planned an event this size. That is the normal starting point, not a disadvantage.
I'm planning a big wedding and have no idea where to start. What's the first step?
Start with three numbers rather than a vendor list: roughly how many guests, roughly when, and roughly what you're prepared to spend on the day as a whole. Nearly every other decision follows from those three: venue, menu, staffing levels, whether you need a planner at all. None of them can be answered sensibly before you have them.
You don't need exact figures or a finished vision. Ranges are enough to work with. Tell Emily's Events those three things and we'll tell you what's realistic in Scottsdale at that scale, and what your options genuinely look like.
Is it too early to reach out if I don't know what I want yet?
No, and earlier is better. “I don't know yet” is where most of our clients begin. They aren't event professionals, and they're planning something at this scale for the first time. Bring a vague idea, a folder of saved images, or nothing but a season and a headcount. We walk you through the decisions in the order they actually need to be made, rather than asking you to arrive with the answers already.
How far in advance should I book a caterer or planner?
For weddings and large events, nine to twelve months out is ideal, because that's when you have the widest choice of dates. We have built beautiful events on considerably shorter timelines, and for smaller gatherings or drop-off catering a few weeks is often plenty. The earlier you reach out, the more flexibility there is for everyone.
What actually happens after I submit an inquiry?
Someone at Emily's Events responds personally within one business day. Not an automated quote, but a conversation about your event. From there we design a proposal built around your guest count, menu, service style and budget, and once you're happy with it we take over the planning, the design and the execution. The intended end state is that you attend your own event as a guest.
The budget conversation
This is the part most people brace for, so it's worth being direct about how it works and why we ask what we ask.
Why do you ask for a budget before giving me a quote?
Because without one, a quote is a guess. The same 150-guest wedding can be built at genuinely different levels: passed bites or a four-course seated dinner, house glassware or specialty rentals, a small bar or a fully staffed floor. A budget isn't a hurdle you have to clear. It's the instruction that tells us which version of your event to design.
Give us a real number and the first proposal you see is one you could say yes to, instead of three rounds of cutting things back.
If I tell you my budget, won't you just spend all of it?
It's a fair worry and a common one. The honest answer is that the opposite risk is the bigger one. A vendor working blind will either overshoot or undershoot. Overshoot, and you spend weeks cutting apart a design you had already fallen for. Undershoot, and things you assumed were included get quietly left out, which you find out about far too late.
Naming the number lets us tell you where it is best spent and, just as usefully, where spending more won't improve your event. If what you want can be done well for less than you've set aside, we would rather say so than take the difference.
What's the difference between a food budget and a whole-event budget?
It is the single most common source of confusion in this industry, which is why our inquiry form asks you outright which one you mean. A food-only budget covers the menu. A whole-event budget covers food plus rentals, staffing, bar service, and the planning and coordination that make the day run.
The same figure describes two completely different events depending on which you meant. We ask rather than assume, because assuming is how a proposal arrives looking either extravagant or insultingly thin.
I have a $200,000 budget for my wedding. What does that actually get me?
It depends far more on the shape of the event than on the number by itself. Two hundred thousand dollars spent entirely on food for 100 guests is a different event from the same sum covering venue, florals, rentals, staffing, bar and full planning for 300. Guest count, the date, the venue and how much of the day you want handled for you all move the answer more than the figure does.
That's why Emily's Events prices every event custom rather than publishing package prices that fit nobody in particular. Tell us the number and what it's meant to cover, and we'll tell you plainly what is achievable at that level, including if we think it's more than you need.
How does your pricing work?
Every event is priced around your guest count, menu, service style, staffing and rentals. There is no fixed per-person package, because the same headcount can describe a drop-off lunch or a plated dinner with a full floor team. Share your vision and a budget range in the inquiry form and we'll build a proposal specific to your event.
Planner, caterer, or both
The category confusion here is real, and it changes what you should be comparing when you collect quotes.
What's the difference between a caterer, a wedding planner, and a full-service event company?
A caterer makes and serves the food. A planner manages the process (vendors, timeline, logistics) but doesn't cook. A full-service event company does both, plus everything in between: bar service, staffing, rentals, setup and tear-down.
Emily's Events is the third kind. In practice that means one contract, one team and one point of contact, instead of hiring four companies and then coordinating between them yourself.
Do I still need to hire a separate wedding planner?
No. Planning and coordination are part of what we do, so hiring Emily's Events is hiring your planner. The menu, the floor plan, the timeline, the vendor schedule and the day itself are all handled by one team, from the first conversation through to the send-off.
We are glad to work alongside a planner you have already hired, and glad to do the food alone if that is all you need. But you do not have to hire anyone else to get a fully planned wedding.
Is Emily's Events a caterer or an event planner?
Both, and that is deliberate. Emily's Events is a full-service event planning and catering company in Scottsdale. We design and cook the food, run the bar, staff the floor, supply the rentals, and plan and coordinate the event itself. Our chefs are full-time employees, never third-party vendors, which is what lets one team carry an entire event instead of four companies handing it between them.
It is worth knowing when you compare quotes. A catering-only quote and a quote from us are not describing the same amount of work.
What does “full-service” actually include?
Custom menu design; full-service catering with chef-led plating; licensed bar service and signature cocktails; event planning from the first conversation to the send-off; vendor coordination for florals, music and rentals; uniformed staffing and day-of management; and complete setup and tear-down.
Catering, planning, staffing and rentals all come from one in-house team, which is the part that's unusual. You can also take only the pieces you need: staffing or rentals on their own, for instance, if you're producing the event yourself.
Can I hire you for only part of my event?
Yes. Catering only, staffing only, rentals only, or the entire event end to end. The inquiry form asks how involved you'd like us to be, with options running from “catering only” through to “one team to handle everything.” The proposal is built to whichever you choose.
What we do, and where
What size events do you cater?
Ten guests to a thousand. Intimate dinners, rehearsal dinners and showers at one end; large weddings, corporate functions and galas at the other. The service model changes with the scale, but the same in-house team handles both ends of that range.
What areas do you serve?
Emily's Events is based in Scottsdale and works across the greater Phoenix Valley, including Paradise Valley, Tempe, Mesa and Chandler. We also keep a directory of venues we partner with regularly, which is a useful shortcut if you haven't chosen a location yet.
Can you cater at a venue with no kitchen?
Yes. Unconventional spaces are a specialty rather than an exception. Private estates, aircraft hangars, galleries, showrooms and open desert have all worked. If you've fallen for a venue that isn't set up for catering, that's a logistics problem for us to solve, not a reason to give up the space.
What kinds of events do you do?
Weddings, corporate events and conferences, private celebrations, holiday parties, birthdays, showers, grand openings and ongoing office catering. Emily's Events also has a sister brand, FLY Cuisine, for in-flight and private aviation catering.
Can you handle allergies and dietary restrictions?
Always. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, allergies and anything else your guests need. Because every menu is designed from scratch rather than picked from a fixed list, accommodating a restriction is a design decision rather than a substitution, and nobody ends up with the obviously lesser plate.
Why one team
Why hand the whole event to one company instead of hiring vendors separately?
Fewer seams. When the food, the bar, the staff and the rentals all answer to the same team, no one is refereeing between four companies on the day, and there's no gap where every vendor assumed someone else was handling it.
It also means one budget conversation instead of four. Separately-hired events tend to go over not because any single vendor was expensive, but because nobody was holding the total.
How long has Emily's Events been in business?
Emily and Rick met in Scottsdale in 2003 and have been designing events in the Valley for two decades. It is still a husband-and-wife business, which is why you tend to hear back from the people who will actually run your event.
Has Emily's Events won any awards?
Phoenix Magazine's Best of the Valley named Emily's Events the #1 Caterer for 2017 through 2024, and AZ Foothills' Best of Our Valley named it the #1 Wedding Planner over the same period. Peerspace named Emily's Events one of the top five event planners in Scottsdale for 2026.
Still have a question?
Ask it directly. Tell us roughly how many guests, roughly when, and what you have in mind. We’ll come back to you personally within one business day.