Choosing a Wedding Caterer
Finally, once you have narrowed your choices down to three or four candidates, call them all back and ask them if they are available for tasting sessions in the near future. If a caterer does not offer tasting sessions, strike them off your list immediately unless you have tasted their food at previous weddings. Without tasting their food, there is really no way to decide if the caterer is right for your wedding. It is important to decide on a few possible menu choices prior to the tasting session so that you can ask the caterer to prepare these specific dishes. While there is some merit to tasting general items from the caterer’s menu, it is always best to taste the exact items that will be prepared at your wedding to ensure that the food will meet your expectations.
It is acceptable to ask that the caterer prepare a few options for each course to be served on the day of your wedding. This will aid in the decision making process. Plan on sampling about two to three bites from each dish to really get a feel for the flavor of the dish. Also, try not to schedule more than one tasting session on any particular day. Trying too many dishes on one day can dull your taste buds plus you may have difficulty remembering which caterer prepared which dish.
After each tasting session take notes on the dishes you prepared and your opinions of these dishes. You might also want to assign a numerical rating from one to ten for each dish. It is important that you do this immediately after each session so that you are sure to remember the details as well as your opinions of the food. After your final tasting session, you will want to compare notes from all of the previous tasting sessions. If you took careful notes, you should be able to determine which caterer had the best available dishes. In choosing a caterer you may find that one caterer had delicious entrees but bland appetizers or salads. You may find that another caterer had a variety of delicious appetizers but that the entrees all fell short of your expectations. Still another caterer may not have had any courses really stand out but had each course receive an above average rating. In this case you might want to consider the caterer that had a menu that was well balanced so that none of your courses wind up being sub par.
Your caterer can make or break your wedding so it is important to choose them wisely. Recommendations and personal experiences are some of the best ways to choose a caterer. You should also consider scheduling tasting sessions to try out the exact dishes that will be on your menu before you make your final decision.
Technorati Tags: wedding catering, wedding caterer, wedding planning
Pages: 1 2
