By Lee Weyhrich
For Gary and Cheryl Hays, of Trussville, owning a business has been their lifelong ambition. The business itself is an expression of their collected talents, perhaps that’s where the name of their catering, wedding planning and event venue business in Odenville, Expressions, originated.
For close to 20 years, Cheryl has worked as a nurse, Gary as a butcher. Sure, neither of those careers is wedding related, but sometimes a person’s passion is with their hobby rather than their day job.
Gary grew up with a father who loved to cook, and passed that passion on to him. Gary describes Cheryl as an excellent natural decorator, wedding planner, baker and florist.
“We have kind of been catering, just as a hobby, for a while now,” Gary said. “I’ve always cooked. We would cater some meals for banquets, or at church. Then we started cooking for events.”
With successful careers in their fields, and children at home, the couple was never able to find the time to balance a small business and family
. This year, with the impending graduation of their youngest son, the couple made the decision to downsize their home and focus on their dream.
“That’s really opened things up now,” Cheryl said. “We’re in the process of purchasing the Newton Davis House in Odenville. The house was built in 1907, it has a lovely little old barn and room for outdoor weddings. The property is big enough for 100 to 125 people to attend. We haven’t even bought the place yet, but the owners have been nice enough to let us go ahead and use it.”
Gary quit his job to handle the day-to-day operation of the business, and decided to get serious with his cooking. He is roughly a semester away from completing the Culinary Arts program at Jefferson State Community College.
“We thought, ‘Let’s kick this up a notch,’ and I decided to actually go to culinary school,” Gary said. “I’m learning new foods and plating. One class is about the cost of purchasing, and pricing and running a financially successful kitchen.”
The lessons he has learned have been invaluable, he said. According to his wife, he’s always been organized and business minded. Not only that, but he also learns new skills quickly, she said.
“Gary is just one of those guys with a natural talent,” she said. “He went to a demonstration of ice carving, and they asked if anyone wanted to try. He just took to it. The guy leading the demonstration kept asking him if he had done it before because it looked like he knew what he was doing.”
Since that demonstration, Gary has learned to carve fruit, and elaborate cakes as well as blocks of ice. Gary had a lot of knife experience as a butcher, but he has learned to become equally proficient with an electric chainsaw, a hand-held grinder and chisels. He said his experience as a butcher helped prepare him for some of this.
“I’ve always used a knife or something,” he said. “It was far back enough, when I became a butcher, that we still made cuts from the whole sides of beef.”
According to Gary, the business would never work without the partnership of his wife.
“Things are kind of equal. I don’t think I have that much talent,” he said. “We both have our talents, and they just mesh so well together because they are different. She bakes, decorates and she’s really good at sitting down with people and finding out what will work for them. She loves helping people plan weddings. In a pinch, she’s even a very talented florist and cook, herself. She’s really talented.”
For Gary, the hardest part of the job isn’t sculpting or cooking or creating a nice presentation — it’s getting everything timed perfectly. For a catering job to go perfectly, all the hot food has to come out at the same time. People need to be served in a timely manner. It’s stressful, but it’s also fun in its own way, he said.
The couple has also used this business as a way to get involved in community events. Gary will also be doing a live demonstration of ice carving for the Hewitt-Trussville High School Culinary Arts program.
Their goal is to be a one-stop-shop for everything wedding related except the clothing.
“Our whole goal with the house in Odenville is to do the wedding planning, the decorating, the catering and the venue as well,” Cheryl said.