Tastings: Is a tasting of your catering really essential before booking?

Much talk of tastings has been circulating over the last couple of years.  Magazines, internet articles, wedding checklists have all written about tastings, with some insisting on a tasting before you book.  Tastings can be a great way to have a pre celebration before your function.  Certainly look into this, but don’t feel pressured if your caterer doesn’t offer this service.  If your price per person is very reasonable, there may not be the budget to include a tasting for the price offered.

Some restaurants and catering businesses recommend a pre tasting to select your options of Finger Foods, Plated Dinners, Desserts and wines.  When a restaurant or venue has an in-house catering service, this is a great option as they will generally have staff and food ingredients required to provide small portions for tastings.  Do ask the cost of this service, it may be part of your package, however generally will not be included to keep the costs down for your function.

Mobile caterers may not have the flexibility to offer tastings, as they don’t have a restaurant or staff on call to suit your time schedule.  Don’t be concerned about this, as mobile caterers run very differently to a set venue or restaurant.  As mobile caterer’s source food fresh for each function, buying smaller quantities for tastings may prove to be an expensive and time consuming task.

The internet and catering websites now have the technology to provide access to plenty of information and photos showcasing their previous and current catering work.  This is a great way to view menus, the style, quality and quantities of their service.  Look for testimonials as this will really reflect if previous customers have been happy and would book again.

Tastings are a great option, but not essential to catering.  A great caterer will be able to explain if they don’t offer tastings and why.  They should be able to direct you to view an abundance of photos and possibly videos to give you a feeling of their work.

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7 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Wedding Caterer

Not all wedding caterers are alike.  Here are some things you may want to consider before hiring your caterer.

Decide on your priorities. There are many brides and grooms who consider wedding food a necessity and are happy finding a caterer who can provide the most food for the lowest cost.  Others may place the food and décor as a higher priority in their spending and decide that having tasty and unique food is something that will be a great memory instead of an afterthought.

Menu design does not involve picking food from columns. Many caterers have pre-set packages of dishes that are used over and over.  It’s likely that a menu picked from the “A” package will also be utilized for many other weddings.  It’s your special day; wouldn’t you enjoy a special menu?  Your caterer should be well versed in menu design and be able to understand your crowd as well as your likes and dislikes.

Your caterer’s menus may be outdated. When you are checking out sample menus on the internet, take a look to find out when they were last updated (sometimes you can go to the bottom of the menu).  If it has been four years since their wedding menus were updated, you may want to reconsider whether or not that caterer is at the forefront of current trends.  You probably have updated your wardrobe in the past four or five years and you certainly are not using outdated wedding decorations, so why serve outdated food?

Your wedding food may have come straight from the food supplier’s freezer section. It’s true!  Ever notice how many caterers in town have similar menus?  It’s likely that many of the appetizer s like meatballs and crab cakes were bought pre-made and frozen.  Sure, it can help the caterer save on labor costs, but keep in mind that sometimes fresh is best.  Living in Florida, your guests deserve fresh seafood.  Don’t settle for second best!

Make sure your caterer is licensed and insured. It is likely that your caterer possesses the proper licensing with the state of Florida as well as general liability insurance, but it is ok to ask.  Most venues that host weddings will require proof from the caterer, so you won’t have to worry about dealing with the details.  However, if your caterer will be providing bartenders to serve your liquor at an approved venue, make sure your caterer has liquor liability insurance, or you could be stuck buying it yourself to cover your one day wedding.

You may get the “B” team from your caterer. Find out how many events will be catered during the time of your reception.  If it is more than one, does your caterer have the adequate staff and expertise to provide the same exact same service to all of their events?  Or will you be stuck with the second best team.

It’s not just about the food. Though caterers tend to be most focused on the food aspect, there is so much more that goes into executing a great wedding reception.  Some of the greatest chefs can wow our taste buds, but would be unable to serve that same food to a group of 200 guests; it’s all about logistics and planning.  How about the service staff?  Ask to see photos of past events that include the service staff.  The guests at your wedding deserve a clean, congenial server.  And is your caterer up to date with the latest trends in catering?  If they’re not constantly working to make themselves better, do they deserve your business?

Questions about hiring a Tampa Wedding Caterer?  Give us a call at 813-731-0819 so we can help you answer questions about your wedding catering needs.

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