Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?

napster37 · January 2013

Hello...

We recently booked our venue which happens to be a "Best of" pick by The Knot. We are going over the menu options, and I asked about tastings. They informed me that they do NOT have tastings. I find this very odd. I am supposed to serve 200 people something I have not tasted? I mean, anyone can type up a good description of food.. I am alone on this being wierd? Or is this a norm in the wedding world. Please advise.. Thanks for looking..

jessicabessica · January 2013

I think that's weird. You didn't ask about this before you booked? Is there anything in your contract about a tasting? Our venue didn't have a tasting of our menu options, but they treated us to lunch in their tavern (the same chef runs the tavern and does their events) before we booked with them so we got to sample their food.

You can keep asking what they can do--maybe they could do something, but for an additional fee. I would also post on your local board (on the left) to see if anyone else here has experience with the venue.

flojo973 · January 2013

I think that's a little strange and something that they should've mentioned to you before you booked. Are they a restaurant? I know some of the venues around me are also restaurants and while they don't do tastings for the wedding, they give the bride and groom a discount to eat at the restaurant and then that's kind of your tasting.

Maggie0829 · January 2013

Look at your contract to see if it mentions anyting about them not providing a tasting. I think it is very odd that a venue would not allow you to taste their food prior to it being served at your wedding. Honestly, this would be a breaking point for me and I would seriously contemplate losing my deposit and going somewhere else.

Jager1219 · January 2013

I'm with Maggie. They should do SOMETHING. Be it a private tasting, a group tasting, or just a chance to have a meal in the restaurant by the chef who will be preparing the food for the wedding.

lyndausvi · January 2013

I find it very odd not to have some sort of tasting. Our caterer was a restaurant, we had our tasting there. I know some venues who does group tasting. Honestly, I would find that unacceptable.

Jager1219 · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_reception-venue-wont-let-us-have-a-food-tasting-normal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:e782c119-2e13-49ce-88d2-551d575b7d70Post:1140594e-2c4d-403d-bcd4-279a72ba57a0">Re: Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?</a>:
[QUOTE]I find it very odd not to have some sort of tasting. Our caterer was a restaurant, we had our tasting there. I know some venues who does group tasting. <strong>Honestly, I would find that unacceptable.</strong>
Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]
The group tasting or the no tasting at all?

lyndausvi · January 2013

sorry, not have a tasting at all.

My DH is a chef by trade, so there is no way we would have thrown down the amount of money we did blindly.

Jager1219 · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_reception-venue-wont-let-us-have-a-food-tasting-normal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:e782c119-2e13-49ce-88d2-551d575b7d70Post:13f69d6d-937e-4aa5-a30e-211e11f6d6a0">Re: Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?</a>:
[QUOTE]sorry, not have a tasting at all. My DH is a chef by trade, so there is no way we would have thrown down the amount of money we did blindly.
Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]
Got it - I fully agree. I actually initally was a bit annoyed that my venue stopped doing private tastings. But I will say that the group tasting worked out perfectly beacuse we got to try a lot more than we normally would have and most of what we tried we were thinking about choosing anyways.

Sue-n-Kevin · January 2013

Not a norm. I've honestly never heard of a caterer not having ANY tasting at all. I'd post this on your local board to see if the brides on that board agree this is a "best of the Knot" location, and whether any of them have encountered this same situation.

Peavy · January 2013

Is it Calamigos Ranch? I remember that they did not provide a tasting, but I have heard that the food is good. I do think it's odd that they don't provide something.

JoanE2012 · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_reception-venue-wont-let-us-have-a-food-tasting-normal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:e782c119-2e13-49ce-88d2-551d575b7d70Post:f1120ad5-138e-4c70-b2d3-fbe3082c6cfa">Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hello... We recently booked our venue which happens to be a "Best of" pick by The Knot. We are going over the menu options, and I asked about tastings. They informed me that they do NOT have tastings. I find this very odd. <strong>I am supposed to serve 200 people something I have not tasted?</strong> I mean, anyone can type up a good description of food.. I am alone on this being wierd? Or is this a norm in the wedding world. Please advise.. Thanks for looking..
Posted by napster37[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Why would you book it and (presumably) leave a deposit if you didn't taste the food? What happens if they had a tasting and you didn't like it? You'd forfeit the deposit?

</div>

Maggie0829 · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_reception-venue-wont-let-us-have-a-food-tasting-normal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:e782c119-2e13-49ce-88d2-551d575b7d70Post:e1d781f1-bb0a-46c3-9fb1-797f3b9f97ed">Re: Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal? : Why would you book it and (presumably) leave a deposit if you didn't taste the food? What happens if they had a tasting and you didn't like it? You'd forfeit the deposit?
Posted by JoanE2012[/QUOTE]

You typically do not have a tasting until you are closer to your wedding date so you usually have to book your venue before you taste their food. The point of the tasting is so you can make adjustments to what they offer. Usually if you try something and don't like it they will make changes to meet your tastes.

H and I booked our wedding venue without tasting their food. At our tasting (which was 3.5-4 months before our wedding) we tried 7 different items along with 6 different apps. The chef was there and we were able to talk with him about what we liked, what we didn't like, and what we wanted to change.

at_last08 · February 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_reception-venue-wont-let-us-have-a-food-tasting-normal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:23Discussion:e782c119-2e13-49ce-88d2-551d575b7d70Post:74c7d095-66ab-441a-899c-4f7b9c3ea35f">Re: Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal? : You typically do not have a tasting until you are closer to your wedding date so you usually have to book your venue before you taste their food. The point of the tasting is so you can make adjustments to what they offer. Usually if you try something and don't like it they will make changes to meet your tastes. H and I booked our wedding venue without tasting their food. At our tasting (which was 3.5-4 months before our wedding) we tried 7 different items along with 6 different apps. The chef was there and we were able to talk with him about what we liked, what we didn't like, and what we wanted to change.
Posted by Maggie0829[/QUOTE]

I went to tasting before I put down a deposit. All of the places I went to allowed tasting before committing to them. Some of them provided tasting for fee and some charged a fee. Some of them did private tastings and other ones did group tastings but I would never put down a deposit to a place without tasting their food.

crysspears · February 2013

my venue doesnt offer tastings because it isnt a seperate restaurant. they only order what they need for events. That said, i read reviews on yelp nd they all said the food was great.

crysspears · February 2013

@napster.. are you getting married at one of the wedgewoods??

Reception Venue wont let us have a food tasting? Normal?

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