ABOUT US
Humble Beginnings
Occasions Catering was started by Jim & Jennie Hannah in 1989. What started as Jennie's dream of serving delicious food, graciously presented quickly became a success, outgrowing their small home commercial kitchen. Jennie put her heart and soul into the company working as the chef, planner, server, bookkeeper and stager in the early days and eventually grew the company into the premier catering company in the Olympia area, and hired a team of skilled staff to continue growing the company. The highlight of Jennie's time at Occasions was being selected to cater Governor Christine Gregoire's daughter's wedding in 2008. In 2012, Jim and Jennie retired from Occasions Catering, and sold the company to long time employee Karla and her business partner Howard Curry. However, the Hannah's continued to live next to Occasions until October 2016 which allowed them to see almost daily that Karla and Howard carry the same passion for the business as they had!
The Next Chapter
Karla started with the company as a server, working her way through the company as a lead, then an event specialist and now owner. Her experience in almost every aspect of the company, combined with her background in Interior Design, and passion for this industry made her the perfect choice to continue the company Jennie had built. Karla's business partner Howard, though a contractor at the time, had worked his way through college as a chef, and was the perfect compliment to Karla's skills to help bring Occasions into the next chapter. They may be owners, but they frequently will fill in as help in the kitchen, serving, bartending, and more as needed to help support their staff and make sure every event is a wonderful success! Their passion for the company, our clients and employees is evident throughout every aspect of the company and every event we are a part of. The Occasions Family would be honored to be a part of your special event.
Green Practices
Both Jennie and Karla share a passion for protecting our environment. Occasions Catering received a green company designation from Puget Sound Energy and continues to strive to find new ways to protect our environment. By taking advantage of the recycling and composting programs available to us, Occasions Catering has cut our landfill waste by more than half. For clients seeking a more environmentally conscious event, we encourage the use of china, glassware and flatware as a means of preserving our resources. For clients that prefer disposable service ware, we exclusively use compostable plates, flatware and cups all made from corn! We also send green composting bins on all events so that food scraps and compostable serviceware can be collected and deposited into the composting bin at our shop.
