Party Waitin’ to Happen Pumps Up the Palate

Chef Wiley Morris with Morgan Freeman.

A quick byte with Wiley Morris about his Oxford catering business and his lifelong passion for food.

For such a small town, Oxford bears a big demand for catering. That’s what lured Macon, Mississippi native Wiley Morris back to Oxford to ply his culinary art.

“I have always liked to cook,” Morris says. “My mom started taking me from Macon to Jackson, which is about two hours away, to cooking classes when I was in seventh or eighth grade. It would be me and a bunch of older ladies.”

After graduating from college, Morris attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and worked in a restaurant at Fisherman’s Wharf. He then moved to Aspen, Colorado.

“While there, I cooked at night and skied during the day for about two years,” Morris says. “Then, I moved to Oxford to start Party Waitin’ to Happen [in 2000] with my mom.”

Party Waitin’ to Happen’s longevity and success owe to Morris’s willingness to go the extra mile, both figuratively and literally.

“If it can be catered, we will cater it,” he says. “We have catered from Chicago to Miami to New Orleans.”

Morris’s philosophy hinges upon listening to the client’s desires for menu design—and their budget.

“We pride ourselves in the quality of our food and service and our presentation. We have a fantastic staff who are passionate about making each event the most exciting and perfect party.”

— Tad Wilkes, tad.wilkes@hotmail.com