Wedding Menu Tastings

Tasty Selections to Please the Palate
By Patti Herioux
Event Planner, With Love
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Selecting your menu for your wedding reception is much like registering for your gifts… simply put, pick what you like! To make those selections you will attend a tasting with your caterer. Go into your tasting with an idea of if you want to serve a meal unique and reflective of your personal tastes or one that is most likely to please the masses. That can be a deciding factor if you and your fiancé find yourself in a stalemate between garden salads or lobster mango spring rolls. Most of all, go into your tasting hungry!

WHAT IS A TASTING

The tasting with your caterer is your dress rehearsal for the food to be served on your big day. You will go to your venue or catering company office to try samples of the menu options available to you. Tastings typically occur three to six months before your wedding day. If you are putting meal selections on your RSVP cards, make sure you’ve done your tasting before anything is printed.

WILL YOU GET TO TASTE EVERYTHING

Catering menus are extensive, so you won’t taste everything you have to choose from. Prior to the tasting you will be asked to narrow down your selections from the overall menu your caterer offers. Your selections, in most cases, will be soup (one to two choices), salad (one to two choices) and entrée (two to four options) for you to sample. At the tasting pay attention to not only the ‘taste’ of the food, but also to the combinations served and the presentation of the food on the plate. You want your course selections to compliment each other from beginning to end. What you see, and taste, is what you get!

MEAL ACCENTS

Other selections you will make at your tasting will be the wine to be served with your entree and your wedding cake (if that is included in your package). You will also make your selections for hors d’ouevres at this time. Some venues allow you to taste these options, others many make you pick sight unseen.

While at your tasting also talk about the vegetarian options and any other food concerns you may have. Your catering staff and wedding planner will be happy to assist you in your quest for the perfect—and budget friendly—palate pleasing plethora of food sensations!