Timing is everything. And in the life of Dan and Kristen Stacy, owners of Royal Fig Catering, it’s the difference between perfection and mediocrity. At 5:40pm sharp, the staff meets in a small room tucked inside the Texas Federation of Women’s Club for a brief go-over of the schedule that Kristen has planned for the wedding of Laura and Garson. And while Kristen will be directing everything inside the building, Dan, her husband of 2.5 years, will be outside in the Texas heat preparing a delicious meal that is to come. (Pictures in a second. I don’t want you guys to drool yet.)

This wife-and-husband duo began their catering company in order to do something that not many others have done before: serve food in a family-style manner using fresh, local ingredients. If you’re not sure what family-style service is, think about all those times you went to a Chinese restaurant and passed around big platters of food meant to be shared with the whole table.

The thing is, Royal Fig Catering doesn't just create tasty-looking food like these appetizers....

It's also a full-service catering company that can do just about anything for you. For this beautiful Saturday wedding, Kristen is not just your average caterer. She is a wedding planner, a circus show manager, a bride's and her mother's biggest comfort. 

When it's time to flip the hall from a wedding ceremony hall to a reception/dining room, Kristen tells one of her staff members, "Love those two tables with all of your heart. They foot the bill."

It's 7:15pm and time for dinner. Kristen shepherds the guests into the converted ballroom and makes sure the bridal party is sitting in all the correct seats. Salad runners begin serving the first course and Kristen makes sure that Dan knows the vegans have left the building.

Meanwhile, Dan is a cooking machine. He and Jason Walker, his second-in-command, are battling ovens and grills. A chicken drops to the floor. "Chicken down!" roars Walker. A couple minutes later, Walker slips me a nibble of the steak, perfectly moist and juicy. He throws the rest onto a bed of green beans, covers it in corn, and a waiter whisks it away for consumption.

I leave the wedding before the cake is completely served, before the square dancing and the bar closing. But I know exactly how Laura and Garson's wedding ends even before I speak with the bride's mother a couple days later.  

"It was all I dreamed it would be," says Stephanie Rivers. "Kristin was invaluable. I sing her praises - and she cleaned everything up!! Heavenly."