When to taste test??

Dashofpurple · January 2010

Our wedding is September 18th, 2010. I have NO IDEA when a good time is to start tasting the foods that will be served at our wedding! How far in advance should start?
TIA.

MesmrEwe · January 2010

If you've already selected a caterer you can do it when you're ready. Chances are you won't change your mind much once you select your final menu. OTOH, if you haven't booked a caterer yet, then by all means you can start now.

racheladine · January 2010

Taste testing is one of those things you can do just about any time you want. Have fun!

Lasairiona · January 2010

Never book any caterer without tasting the food first. If you book the caterer first and then taste, then you're stuck if the food turns out bad. If they don't offer tastings beforehand, skip them and move on to the next vendor until you find someone who does.

nataliem.22 · January 2010

We are going to start taste testing next month, our wedding is in August. We are going to send our invites out no later then June, likely the end of May so we need to know which meal choices we will be having on the invites. And i want plenty of time to make sure the invites are correct before we send them. I'd say anytime now would be just fine!

AnnaWhite_Capo · January 2010

We are also going to be married in August so we are in touch with our venue and our baker now to get the ball rolling on our tastings. You just want to make sure its finalized by invite sending time.

anna.oskar · January 2010

We had our tasting about 10 months out and luckily we did as we were not impressed. Get your tastings done as soon as you can to determine that the caterer is someone you want to work with so you can contract with them.

Meganne84 · January 2010

We are taste testing next friday, the 15th and our wedding is Aug 14, 2010. I want to make sure we have time to try other items on the menu if we don't like what we have chosen now. The caterer comes with our venue, so we are stuck there, but they have many choices. I say, the sooner the better so you have time to change your menu or caterer if necessary!

~mRm~ · January 2010

We were familiar with the menu and food quality when we booked our venue. We scheduled our menu tasting about a month out from our wedding date. We poured over the menu the week before the tasting, selecting 8 entrées to taste which we would narrow down to the 4 being served at the reception. It's so much fun but take your time!! Try to eat enough to get a good feel for each dish but keep in mind the amount of entrées you will be tasting. It's hard to make a good decision when you are stuffed!!

sarabear23 · January 2010

We did our first cake tasting around August. Then we changed our venue and the cake was included, so we went to a different place in November and tasted again. We are scheduling our food tasting for later this month. We're getting married in April. Start whenever you feel like you want to. The earlier you do it, the more time you have to change things if you want.

VanessaB24 · January 2010

We're getting married in June. We have an appointment for a food tasting next week and an appointment with our bakery the following week.

Dashofpurple · January 2010

I appreciate all the replies. I want to start soon but FI keeps saying" The wedding is in September, we have time". ::SIGH:: If guys were left to plan, it would be a disaster. Haha.

kmoriarty77 · January 2010

My wedding is also Sept. 18, 2010! And my FI says the same thing we have time, blah blah blah! We already taste tested with the caterer and I am working on the cake tasting, so better to get it out of the way now so your not scrambling around 3-4 months before trying to pull everything together. I just tell my FI "well what happens when we wait to long and all of the area bakers are booked up then what ?" (which is a gross exaggeration but it seemed to work!) Good luck!

LisaTyler1984 · January 2010

My Wedding is not until October of 2011 and I already have tastings for two different caterers scheduled! I realize I'm kind of early but I'm paranoid about booking the vendors I want before anyone else can steal my date! I think now is a great time to start for you.

Myroni03 · January 2010

Don't let FI or anyone else say, "Oh we have plenty of time" as things quickly crop up at the last minute. Besides, you should be able to bill the tastings to FI as I fun date idea... where else will he get to sample delish food for over an hour all for free? Definitely let him help make decisions too as a lot of guys have strong food opinions!

Happy Tasting!

kaynix21 · January 2010

We are taste testing Feb. 21st and our wedding is July 3rd. I would have done it sooner if we were doing a sit down dinner and needed the choices on envelopes.

We're doing a buffet so it was necessary for invites....but we just want to get one more thing done.

future_harmeyer · January 2010

My caterer would not schedule the tasting until we were within 90 days of the wedding date.

I also said "oh we have plenty of time" and now I am regretting it. I wish I hadnt procrastinated on many wedding items but everything has worked out. Unless you want (or have the time to devote) to be really busy right before the wedding, I would space things out.

blondie82784 · January 2010

Our wedding is Sept. 18,2010 as well and were doing our testing next month. If you havent been to the place before I would have tested the food before you booked with them. I dont think that its to early

zbritgirl · January 2010

Hi! We are getting married July 16th 2010 and we did our tasting about 10 months out. My FI said the same thing, we have time. Well, it's a good thing I didn't listen to him because I may have seemed like a anal bride, but I got all of the vendors that I wanted and had first choice because I started early. Just get working on it now because you need time to figure out if that's what you want to do. I started planning as soon as we got engaged in June and I can't tell you how lucky I was that I did because I have changed my mind SO many times! haha Good Luck!

fickrj5 · January 2010

For our cake it was recommended that we set up our tasting between 12 and 6 months out from the wedding.

For catering, just keep in mind that even though you can try several months out so you have more time to change your mind, just remember that this also leaves time for the catering company to change their mind. A head chef could leave, menu options can change, etc.

FI and I are getting married at a lakeside restaurant. We love the chefs that are currently there and hopefully they still will be next fall. But are not picking our entrees until next summer to make sure we do a tasting with the chefs that will be there at the time of our wedding.

When to taste test??

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