Is this normal for a tasting?

climbingsingle

We're having a tasting at our venue this weekend. When I was talking with my two friends about the items we had to choose, they thought our selections were very limited (4-6 choices for hors d'oevres, 1 choice on appetizer, 1 choice on soup/salad, 2 choices for main entrees). Their menu is huge, so I understand why they make you choose certain items. But now that I think about it, it does seem weird that we can only choose 1 thing to taste from their appetizer and the salad/soup. What was your tasting like? Were you able to pick a lot of items? 

HisGirlFriday13

We didn't have a tasting, but I agree that seems low. I'd ask for 2-3 apps.

vsgal

The point of the tasting is to see what you will like.  I agree with HisGirlFriday.  I would ask for a couple more choices.

vk2204

Our venue had a night where all of the couples getting married would come in and we could taste everything off of the menu. There was a different buffet line for each section of the menu. I do think it is odd that you are so limited with the tasting options. What if you don't like what you pick?

Peaseblossom55

It seems low to me as well.  We didn't taste of of the apps or the food for the cocktail hour.  We didn't taste the salad course, because salad.  We did taste all 5 of the appetizers we could choose from and all 6 of the main courses we could choose from except for the Chateaubriand, they don't bring that in for tastings they said.

theartistformerlyknownas

We got to try whatever we wanted, but we were paying for it. 

SapphireCounselor

ClimbingBrideNY said:

We're having a tasting at our venue this weekend. When I was talking with my two friends about the items we had to choose, they thought our selections were very limited (4-6 choices for hors d'oevres, 1 choice on appetizer, 1 choice on soup/salad, 2 choices for main entrees). Their menu is huge, so I understand why they make you choose certain items. But now that I think about it, it does seem weird that we can only choose 1 thing to taste from their appetizer and the salad/soup. What was your tasting like? Were you able to pick a lot of items? 

Yeah unless you are getting a crazy bargain in terms of price, this seems low.

ETA apparently I haven't had enough coffee yet.

APDSS22

It seems like there should be at least 2 choices so that you can choose between them, based on taste.  If you don't like the one you got to taste, are you just supposed to pray that something you didn't taste is way better and choose that blindly?

ShallowSeas

We had a list of appetizers, hors d'oevres, entrees, etc and were able to try whatever we wanted, we just had to let the venue coordinator know a week before what we wanted to try.   We tried a couple different hors d'oevres and entrees during our tasting.

littlemushroom

For our tasting at our venue (we are doing a buffet), we get to choose 4 entrees and 6 hot sides.  The chef will then pair 4 cold salads based off of what we choose.  We are doing passed apps at cocktail hour, and we weren't going to get to try any of those.  I asked about it, and my venue coordinator said she would get the chef to prepare 3 for us to try.  So that was really nice.

climbingsingle

APDSS22 said:

It seems like there should be at least 2 choices so that you can choose between them, based on taste.  If you don't like the one you got to taste, are you just supposed to pray that something you didn't taste is way better and choose that blindly?

Exactly - what if the one soup we taste is something we don't like? 

RebeccaFlower

It sounds like a try-it-and-hope-you-like-it, not a tasting. 

FutureMrsN3312

We got to taste a little bit of everything on the menu.  Except for the cakes which I was looking forward to the most.  They kinda made up for it with Italian pastries....

JennyColada

If it were me, I'd ask to taste multiple items. If they won't let me (even with charging me), then I honestly think I'd consider a different caterer and tell them why. That just doesn't seem like a good business practice. I mean, if I want to taste everything that you offer then I should be able to.

lyndausvi

Its depends on the venue  and the couple.  Most couples have an idea what they want to serve.   For example,  DH just did a tasting the other day that was just 2 salads and filet 3 different ways.   All they wanted was filet, they just wanted to pick which presentation.     

At my own wedding we knew we wanted the duet plate of filet and crabcake.   No need to taste other stuff since we knew before going in what proteins we wanted.  From there we decided the presentation, veggies and starches. 

Most of the time he does 2 apps, 2 salads and a couple entrees.  I know for a fact DH doesn't not do full menu tasting. Not going to happen.

Maggie0829

I feel like with tastings you should get to try 2-3 options for each course.  Having to pick only one option is basically you crossing your fingers and hoping you like it.  I would request at least 2 options for both the app, soup/salad and 3 options for the entree.

I don't know many places that do a full menu tasting unless the menu is incredibly small.  We just picked our top favorites and that is what they made for us to try.

JCbride2015

Yeah, I would ask to try at least two options.  Otherwise the tasting basically has no point.

phira

I'm honestly not sure what I'd think. Our tasting was a group tasting; they had multiple appetizers and entrees (mini versions of the entrees), but we didn't get to pick which ones we'd be tasting. If we had opted for a private tasting, we would have been able to pick the whole menu, but I'm pretty sure we'd only have gotten to try our exact menu (so, no tasting lots of options).

Our venue gives couples the option of having a private tasting in addition to the group tasting. It costs extra, but that way, if you want to try your exact menu after doing the group tasting, you're able to.

One of the things our venue stressed about the group tasting was that the primary goal was to give us an idea of what the food is like, and how it's served. So it's not entirely unhelpful to go in and try food that you might not end up serving. But I would ask if they allow (free or for a fee) couples to come back for a second tasting.

climbingsingle

Oh - they are not charging us for the tasting. It's a tasting/planning meeting, according to the coordinator. 

Cookie Pusher

Even though they aren't "charging" you, it's rolled into the price in your contract. Our caterer told us to just pick whatever we wanted to taste. There was no limit or minimum. We ended up picking 4 of the cold salads, 4 of the sides, and 2 of each protein to taste.

SapphireCounselor

Cookie Pusher said:

Even though they aren't "charging" you, it's rolled into the price in your contract. Our caterer told us to just pick whatever we wanted to taste. There was no limit or minimum. We ended up picking 4 of the cold salads, 4 of the sides, and 2 of each protein to taste.

We didn't have to pay specifically for our tasting either - it was all lumped into the cost of the catering. Our tasting was amazing...one of the most fun things we did during the engagement. Thanks for prompting me to think about it again.

manateehugger

If you are not paying for the tasting, I'm not surprised your tasting options are limited. A full menu tasting could be very expensive. 

We picked our top 2-3 choices in everything, and our caterer whipped it up for us (also rolled into the cost), and then actually made leftovers and told us to leave them in the fridge for a couple days to see if it was still good (it was).

I would ask if you can at least have a couple options on everything you try. Also, take note of how things are plated/served. We got to pick plating options as well. 

Blergbot

We planned our menu before the tasting and then got to try everything on it. It was a full meal (we got to try both entrees, so it was a little more than a full meal, I guess). We made minor changes. They didn't have a set menu, rather they asked a few questions about how you envisioned your menu, made a mock up, incorporated changes, then we did the tasting. It worked out very well for us.

Grabows14

Our venue had us pick 2 soups/pastas (out of 12 choices), 2 salads (out of 10 choices), 4 entrees (out of 20 choices) and the table wine (YAY for wine)

We didn't get any apps though, so we just went with what she recommended.