Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Taffy and I had really been looking forward to our tasting. Our caterers only hold one tasting per year! The tasting date was cutting it quite close to the day we needed to give our entree options for our invitation reply card, so we were hoping to make a final decision at the tasting, or directly afterward. After all, we had been combing over the menu for months, crunching numbers and discussing the different entree choices! We had a menu in our minds, but wanted to try everything to make sure it was as tasty as it sounded.

I wish I could say that it was that easy, but this tasting was full of surprises, and quite frankly, some disappointments.

At least we had another couple to cope with! Jessie516 and her fiance, who are getting married the same month as we are, were also at the tasting.

The four of us have been really sick with the sinus infection / bronchitis plague going around Ann Arbor, and joked about how much we would actually taste due to our symptoms.

The main twist of the afternoon was the menu given to us as we arrived. There were only about three entree choices listed that were on the menu that we had been reviewing at home! Everything else was completely new. Also, they had everything listed as packages, including different options with the entrees, ranging from fruit & cheese platters, to champagne toasts, to hors d’oeuvres, and included cake cutting fees and other extras—things that we had the prices for, but individually. So basically, it seemed at a glance that the entrees were about triple the price over the menu we were given when we booked. Which meant that if you took a look around the room, there were a lot of couples completely freaking out, including us!

As we entered the main room, servers passed hors d’oeuvres. We tried Rosemary, Fig & Chevre Bouchees, Shrimp Chopsticks, and Caprese Focaccia Canapes. All were delicious! I was only able to get a photograph of the caprese canape.

Yum! There was also a fruit, cheese and vegetable display to sample.

And punch, of course!

We lined up to start tasting the entrees. It was a long buffet that had different menu options. They did not have any accompaniments for us to try, but they did have a plate on display with recommended accompaniments, so you could get the full picture. They looked a little off, as they had been sitting out, but were helpful to see. I’ll spare you all the options, but here were some choices:

Grilled Tenderloin Filet with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Mozzarella & Roasted Red Pepper Ravioli with roasted garlic Parmesan cream sauce served with roasted seasonal vegetables.

Our favorites, which looked much better fresh than on the display plates!

Mr. Taffy loved the Marinated Portobello Mushroom shown above with grilled asparagus, red peppers, roasted corn, leeks, sun dried tomatoes and fresh herbs, served on a bed of quinoa and lentils drizzled with chive oil. I am really scared of eating mushrooms whole thanks to my texture issues, so I wasn’t into it. My favorite entree was the Wild Mushroom Sacchetti, shown below. A blend of wild porcini and crimini mushrooms (chopped small enough not to freak out my texture issues) with ricotta, mozzarella and fontina cheeses, in garlic and thyme filled egg pasta purses served with a roasted garlic and sherry cream sauce. It was the best entree in my opinion, hands down! It doesn’t look too great in this picture though. You will have to trust me.

Mr. Taffy and I are pescatarians, but I was willing to try all of the meat. To my surprise, Mr, Taffy did the same! Our plates were crowded with all of the entree choices from the buffet.

My plate:

The most red meat that I have seen in a long time!

His plate:

Mainly fish and veggie options, but he did try all of the red meat and chicken on our plates.

Later in the event, we spotted the coordinator and expressed our concerns about the new menu items and pricing. He assured us that the old menu had not changed, either by entree choice or price. They were simply trying new menu choices and putting packages together as a new strategy. That’s great, but it would have been helpful to know that from the start! They could have printed it as a note on the newer menu. A lot of the couples were really getting anxious about the new menu items and prices. So we basically worried for an hour for no reason.

Well, kind of… we still didn’t know what the non-package prices were for the new menu entrees and hors d’oeuvres. Some we loved, and other not so much. The fish, for example. We didn’t care for the fish options offered at the tasting, but think the Maple Soy Salmon on the original menu sounded great. Since we didn’t get to taste it, we have no idea whether we should go for it. So we were still without a menu, and frustrated, especially since we had to pay a decent amount for the tasting.

Jessie516 and I were relieved to hear that the pricing hadn’t changed!

I snuck in a picture with Mr. Taffy before we left.

I am hoping that we can decide on our menu soon!

Did you have any surprises at your tasting?