Caterers not providing appetizer samplers @ tasting?

You should have been allowed a tasting before booking them. You don’t buy a car first and test drive later. Same idea. It doesn’t matter that the caterer is tied to the venue because you are stuck at this point once the venue was booked. This is why a lot of couples don’t like all inclusive venues. While it may be policy for some caterers to not allow you to taste the full menu, that is another red flag and is not normal. I would speak with the owner to dispute this and make sure you can taste everything or cut your losses and go elsewhere. That is not acceptable. They are hoping you go along with their tricks and don’t question anything.

Our venue included their on-site caterer. We didn't do a tasting until approximately 2 months prior to our wedding. We only got to sample the entrees, no appetizers. I think that's common depending on where you live. While it would be ideal to be able to sample everything, as long as the entrees are good, the appetizers will be too. We had been to a wedding expo at our venue where they served appetizers so we were able to sample some beforehand. That being said our food was fabulous so I don't have any complaints but I know it can be a big gamble.

We did a tasting with our caterer prior to booking, they are not included with our venue.

We were not offered to taste the appetizers either, just our entrée selection.

Our venue did like group tasting where they would have 5-6 dates a year that they would do a tasting so that they could do as many of their options as possible (i.e. Suite catering, cocktail hour, buffet, dessert, late-night). With Covid, they couldn't hold that so we actually hadn't tasted our food before our wedding. Luckily I did know that their reviews raved about their food so I wasn't too worried. We also lucked out that the food was some of the best and we still get compliments about it.

It makes sense why they would only do entrees just because it's easier to make individual potions whereas with appetizers you would make a whole batch. I wouldn't sweat it since if one part of the food is good it's hard to not image the rest tasting good.

I agree that if the rest of the food tastes good and they have good reviews, its probably going to be fine. Even if not, appetizers are not the most important part of the meal!

View Quoted Comment Appetizers are part of the cocktail hour correct? Not served to the tables. A lot of people say online and in person that cocktail hour is better food and more anticipated than the actual meal.

This is standard. We did not have a tasting of appetizers and my venue provided our choice of 6 butler-passed appetizers and we added 4 food stations. NY wedding culture is heavy on the cocktail-hour before the reception meal. If the food is good, appetizers will be as well. They are more time-intensive to be mass-produced so they are not offered at tastings. A cocktail-only wedding is often more money than a plated or buffet meal.

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Hi everyone, thank you so much for your responses!!! This makes me feel better. While in hindsight I wish I had thought to ask about this before we booked (they were the first thing we booked and didn't really know what all to ask) I'm glad to know that this may be the norm...they do have good reviews for their food, and I've been to several events there myself and have always enjoyed the meals that have been served, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the appetizers will be good too. The appetizers will be served during cocktail hour, not with the plated meal, so I suppose that makes sense. We are about to head out to our tasting...hoping everything goes well. :-) Thanks again y'all!

Totally agree with everyone- we didn’t get to taste the appetizers either. However, after our tastings I wasn’t worried about how the appetizers were going to be since the food was amazing.