As I mentioned previously, our wonderful coordinator at our venue let us do a food tasting before we signed the contract for the venue. Did anyone else have an opportunity to do that? It seems to be an oddity these days. Because it’s a small place with not many weddings, he chooses to have six to eight couples come in together and have a larger tasting.
It was really nice to be able to talk to the other couples who were much further in their wedding planning and get some great advice on where to shop for wedding dresses, where to house our guests, etc. By having many different couples there, we were able to try a whole assortment of treats.
It was an appetizer-focused dinner where PBear and I diligently took notes on everything we had. After all, we had nearly a year and a half between our tasting and our wedding—we wanted to remember some of it. I’m sure everyone else there thought I was insane, taking detailed notes and pictures of everything.
We started the night with some tomato-mozzarella cups served on these gorgeous platters. All of the platters were so chic; I wish I had the guts to have serving plates like that in my house.
Asparagus and asiago wrapped filo. Again with the gorgeous plates.
Our absolute favorite of the night was the fig and mascarpone filo rolls. The fig was sweet and complemented the mascarpone, and the filo brought it all together. Even though we were nearly full by the time these came out, I think PBear and I ate three each.
I won’t go through the whole menu with you, but we were absolutely thrilled with how delicious everything we had was. We really loved that even the classics had their own little twists and how much he was willing to work with us to create whatever menu we wanted.
We were absolutely stuffed by the end of the night, but we tried to save a little bit of room for his specialty ice cream bonbons.
Strawberry ice cream with a chocolate coating—yum. I know our guests would appreciate that in the heat of our June wedding.
With all our wonderful choices, it’s going to be hard to narrow it down. I’m hoping that we can do another tasting closer to the wedding, you know, just as a refresher. 
How do you narrow down your food choices? We have a lot of people with many, many food allergies. How much do you try to accommodate all of them, especially when they seem to conflict? Isn’t the food tasting the best part of wedding planning? How many more posts can I do with food before I should just get a food blog instead?
We not only did a food tasting before we signed the contract, but we had our tailor-made menu created for us before signing the contract! The chef called me up personally and we discussed what I wanted, we created the menu, and then had a tasting of the food we had discussed! We made a couple changes based on the tasting and signed the contract! I don’t think I would have signed w/o tasting first!
I knew I shouldn’t have skipped lunch today…I am drooling! lol. I only went to two caterers, but I was shocked that they allowe dus a full tasting before signing the contract. The caterer I ended up choosing had an “open house” style tasting with multiple couples. It was held at one of their restaurants and the set-up was so impressive. The staff opened our doors, greeted us with signature coktails, escorted us to app stations, then served us entrees. They sat down & went over things we discussed via email, etc. They also had a dessert & coffee station as well as a late night snack station (mashed potato martini bar) set up. Also they had their florist & DJ stationed there to talk to us. I was so impressed with everything, not to mention the delicious food. All of the food was sooooooooo good. Ultimately it came down to 1st impression, good food, responsiveness, and price. They threw in 6 hand passed apps because I booked their bar service as well as my signature drink. I got extras and they were still less expensive than the 1st caterer.
It’s awesome that you were able to taste the food before signing the contract. I experienced a lot of venues that did not allow this. How can you expect somebody to commit to the venue when they don’t even know what the food tastes like?
@BookishBelle: wow! that’s great service!
@Mz2handgrip: that sounds like a great deal! I agree 1st impressions are really important
@bailey12: I agree! I know food isn’t *that* important for many people, but when you’re spending 100+/head, I want to know what I’m getting myself into!
@MzJynxie: I agree, I have to get myself some
This is perfect timing, we’re trying to pick a caterer now. (I will admit that when I was reading your post though, I thought “ice cream bonbons” were “ice cream bonobos.” And I get really excited about ice cream monkeys.)
@HobbyLobbyist: LOL now I wish they were ice cream monkeys too =/
Oh I died a little inside when you said the food tasting is the best! I know you are foodie so you are gonna think I am crazy but we were unable to do a tasting! The venue didn’t offer it! I nearly decided to go somewhere else but their prices were so reasonable and other people we had spoken to had said the food was amazing, so we booked it anyways! That dessert looks AMAZING!
Miss Panda, Boston, MA Age and Occupation: 26, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Graduate Student Engagement Date: June 27, 2011 Wedding Date: June 2013 About Me: I love window shopping, cute animals, crafting, baking, and most forms of procrastination. I tend to be overly meticulous with choices to a point of complete and total indecision. Mr. PBear and I met and live in the amazing city of Boston. We are big nerds who love trying new foods, playing video games, and cuddling with our adorable hamster. After 5 years together, we are planning an intimate, DIY-heavy, vintage garden themed, nonreligious wedding in the city where we fell in love.
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