Caterer tastings--is this a thing?

Most in my area offer free tastings, I wouldn't have booked without one since I heard some horror stories from my brother's fiance.

I would never book a caterer without trying them first. One company told me they were too busy last summer to do tastings and tried to get me to book first and then do a tasting in fall. Hell no. Why would you book one of the most important vendors and something that takes a large part of your budget without tasting it first? Also I have never heard of them charging a fee, all of ours were complimentary and most gave us wine or beer or whatever we wanted with it.

Yes. We tasted before we booked ours. They did not charge us for this.

Yes,our caterer offered us sample tasting of their food. The best part was we got to take it home so we could take our time and give honest feed back and decide what we wanted.

I think it is totally acceptable to ask for samples if they do not offer. The catering is one of the biggest expenses of a wedding. You have a right to know what you are getting for your money.

Our caterer invited us to see how they did the display and they prepared us a portion of each dish for us to try it at home, and we tasted the appetizers there

My venue came with the catering included so can't help you there, but I will say that they did a tasting for us about 4-5 months before our wedding so we could make final menu selections.

Depends on the caterer. For one we paid a fee that would be put towards any order if we went with them and the other was free. Both were decent, but one was much better at the food and the other was better at cake, so we're technically going with both. I'm glad we did the tastings.

For some venues/caterers, you can't do a tasting until after you sign a contract. I remember my friend having an issue with this (she's incredibly picky with catering and didn't want to sign without tasting).

If they haven't offered, you can still ask. They may ask for a fee to cover the food/work involved, but it usually isn't too bad.

My venue includes complimentary tasting.

Each of the caterers I spoke with offered tastings, and only one of them had a tasting fee. I would have never booked the most important (and expensive) vendor without an idea for the product first...

Our venue has a restaurant attached so we ate there before booking.

They also provide a complementary tasting though for the actual food choices we wanted to try (not all are offered at the restaurant) so we are going to that next weekend!

We asked to try a beef, fish, and a vegan option

Ok, thanks for the feedback! Most of my married friends either booked an all-inclusive venue or just booked a caterer without waiting. I'll email them and ask for one in that case.

@oliviap I did sample the one meh caterer's bar and I gave their bottled beer and wine an A+. Wish the food matched!

Yes, we had a complimentary tasting first.

Mine was a free tasting. I'd still ask for a tasting even if you pay a fee.

You should definitely have a tasting before you book a caterer. Some are complimentary if they are holding an event, others you will most likely need to pay for. Our venue offers a free tasting in order to select your menu. Anything after that is $50PP. Unfortunately we did not care for the food the first go round, so we will have another, and pay the $50.

I would not have booked ours if we didn't get a tasting, exactly because I needed to see their best first. And our tasting was free. So go ahead and ask! Don't mention the cost, just ask for a tasting and if they say yes, talk pricing then.

We did an afternoon buyout of the restaurant because we didn't have time to discuss alternatives if we didn't like the original menu and we wanted to do a cocktail and wine tasting with him as well. We tasted 8 entrees 8 appetizers 10 wines and 5 cocktails and he only charged us to close the restaurant all of the food and alcohol was included. My FH was also out of the country for two months so my he did this with my MOH and mom and he treated us like royalty. IMO your tasting is the time to have them sell themselves and if it was underwhelming that's a bad sign. Tastings are pretty standard before booking a caterer how else will you know if they're any good?

My venue didn't include a tasting. I was fine with it. The reviews were good and I've eaten at the restaurant onsite. If food is important to you then I would make sure to do a tasting. I love a great meal but I know I'm not going to find it at a wedding. I was okay with just good food. Didn't need to be amazing.

I didn't realize this was something most people do, so thanks, everyone!

@Erin, you're right that weddings rarely offer phenomenal food since it's not made to order. The one caterer that we tried already was one of the most expensive in Atlanta, so for what they charge, I was kind of expecting great. However, if just "good" is as good as it gets, then I will happily pay less for the same quality!

I tried out one caterer for a $10 tasting fee at an event held by another vendor. I ended up going in a different direction with an all-inclusive venue, but the food was delicious and definitely worth 10 bucks lol.

My venue has two big tasting events per year, but only after you book. The food is through the venue though. And it was amazing food.