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@hellorebecca: I thought they were supposed to be free also. I mean, they are trying to get YOUR business.
I think a tasting should be free after you've already booked. If you want to do a tasting before booking I can see charging (although 30/person does seem steep) because they dont know for sure you'll book them.
mine is free. i mean, we're already paying almost 10 grand for the space and food...the very least they could do is throw in some food!
@hellorebecca: My FI's godmother is catering our wedding and we are insisting on paying for our tasting. It's basically like a dinner out, but probably discounted from what that meal would normally cost.
The ingredients for the food still costs them money, so why shouldn't you be charged for it?
Unless your contract stated the tasting was included with the cost of catering, I'd expect to pay extra for a tasting.
Also, I'd expect they might do it because if tastings were free, people might bring their whole bridal party to the tasting, so caterers/venues do that to discourage feeding 10+ people for free.
Our tasting did not cost money if we used them as our caterer. There was a charge (I think $40 per person) but if we decided to use them the charge for the tasting was put towards our final bill and therefore did not pay for the tasting. Maybe that is something the caterer your insterested in also does?
We paid $600 for a private tasting for 6 people with our caterer prior to booking our caterer. The tasting involved tasting 8 different hors d'oevres, 2 appetizers, 3 entree selections and a variety of wedding cakes (along with wine and water). Once we booked the caterer, the money was applied as a discount off our total bill. It was definitely worth the money.
I didnt have a tasting but i was under the impression you had a to pay a minimal fee and then if you booked with them that amount came off your total bill. (???)
For our cake, we received one free tasting and had to pay for the others. I think it was $2 for each mini cake. As for the meal, we knew the food would be awesome because we'd eaten there several times. However, when we were supposed to taste, we traveled 2 hours only to find out the venue coordinator lied about having tastings.
At least you have an option for tasting...our caterer said they're not going to make food just for 1 couple. Our venue requires that we use that specific caterer, so I hope the food tastes good! And yes, I thought tastings were free, too.
If you haven't booked yet, I'd 100% expect to pay. They can't feed every bride who considers their venue for free. But (for my experience) most places don't charge you if you have already signed a contract with them for your event.
Come to think of it, I went to a tasting with a friend, and it was free. She did not end up using him for her caterer.
Our tasting was free, but only after we had a signed contract with the caterer and paid the deposit (30% of the estimated catering charges).
At the tasting, they prepared about half of the passed hors d’oeuvres we wanted to serve during the cocktail hour (none of the stationary items), and all the courses, which ended up with us eating hors d’oeuvres and 6 full courses of food. I didn’t finish most of the courses, to say the least! Heehee they also gave us 6 cupcakes to take home (we did cupcakes instead of cake).
Our tasting was free, and that included 3 full entrees, 8 hors d'oeuvres, 1 appetizer, and dessert for 6 people. Since we were doing a cupcake tower in addition to the seated dessert, I did have to pay for the cupcakes at our tasting, which only cost me $2 per cupcake. We also had two tastings - one prior to booking, and another the day that we did the menu planning. Neither tasting cost us a dime other than the cupcakes, and technically, the on-premise bakery is separate from the catering hall, so I could see why I had to pay for those.
I'm not even sure if our venue offers a tasting. I'm guessing if they did, it wouldn't be free. We're members at the club we booked with so we eat there on a regular basis and know that the food is to die for.
there's something in our venue paperwork that mentions a $25/person tasting fee, but it's unclear if that only applies to before you book the venue or not. even if we still have to pay that, it doesn't really bother me...it's what we'd spend on a dinner out anyways.
just figured I'd post an update. . .whew!
I emailed the catering manager at the club and told him I was concerned about the fee. . . and he said that he was sorry, that shouldn't have been on the document he sent me. . .it was for internal use only! so, the tasting is free after all. . .good to know because yes, we have already booked with this club and it is expensive!
The tasting was free for the caterer I booked, but I had looked at others who charged for tasting. Then if you booked them, they would apply the tasting fee to the total amount they charged. If you didn't book them, then it was like paying for a meal.
I can see why caterers would charge for tasting. Otherwise, they'd be giving out food for free. But I also think that once they are booked, they should somehow refund the money because they are getting your business.
Our tasting was free and we were able to taste 3 different entrees (steak, salmon and a pasta dish) as well as all of our appetizers. However it was at a country club that my ILs belong to and there is no outside caterer its just the food cooked at the country club
Ive never heard of paying for a tasting though!
I did not pay for the tasting. I know some will charge but I have always been of the mind set that you need to spend a little to get something back(I'm talking from a business perspective) so I did not go with caterers that would charge because I do not feel its good business. My tasting was not elaborate but it gave me a feel of what their food quality is. They are working to get your business and in this environment they should be more competitive.
We had ours at a country club and only 2 entrees and i think 4 appitizers were free to taste. but how are we suppose to choose entrees and 4 appitizers without tasting more? so we had to pay for each additional item we wanted to taste. it came out to be about $40 in total.
Ours was written up as an invoice with a detailed description of what would be served as well as prices but only out of procedure. We did pay gratuity to the server though.
Ours is free for the bride and groom, and $25 extra per person for anyone else we wantto take along with us.
Glad you figured it out - but I was going to say I've never heard of a caterer who was willing to do a tasting either way without a deposit for the big day. Which is kind of backwards because it would be nice to be able to pick caterers based on the tasting.
Our tasting will be free, but it will only include two full meals. So my FI and I will share two salads, two soups, two entrees, and two desserts (we are going with a plated meal). If we want to try more than that or bring more people and therefore need more food, then we will have to pay an additional fee for those extra meals. I should also mention that we booked our venue in June this year (which includes catering), but our tasting will not be until a few months before the wedding.
I feel a tasting should be free and it should happen before you book. How are you suppose to know if their food is good without tasting it???
Mine was free but I have heard of girls having to pay for theirs. :( I think that's poopie!
Our venue offers free tasting for the bride and groom (if booked). For other guests or if the you don't end up booking, then it is $20 per person. They bring out everything on the menus and you get a taste of everything. I think it is fair to pay a percent.
I voted too soon! For some reason I automatically thought you meant a cake tasting, and mine was free. ;) My venue didn't even offer a tasting at all, free or otherwise, so we had to go based on past reviews. Luckily the food was as good as the review!
If you love the venue, I'd suck it up and make it a nice dinner out for the two of you. It's unfortunate that they're charging when so many places will do it for free, but think of it this way: when you order dinner, can you get a free taste first? Or if you cater a work lunch, do they invite anyone in to try it out first? Maybe it doesn't help, but I just decided not to worry about it and it turned out alright.
Ah! I just read your update. Yay, free tasting! ;) Let us know how it is! :)
Our reception was at a country club as well and we had to pay. Only they didn't offer us a "per person charge" they just said it will cost [X]. So when we showed up with my parents, we tasted ONE of each option for all four of us! I was miffed because we all had abstained from eating beforehand thinking we would be eating a lot of food and we ended up hitting up the nearest MickeyDs out of sheer necessity.
I understand if they charge for it, it's a full meal afterall. But I also was surprised we had to pay for it when I reviewed my contract.
Our cake tasting with our baker was free, but our tasting at our reception venue was not, we had to pay for it...and it was about $200 because of the things we wanted to taste. We brought our MOH and bestman and we all left nice and full. I think, though, it's something they should just include in the package so you end up at least feeling like it's free, lol.
Ours was free if you signed a contract, $50 if you didn't. We sampled 5 entrées, at least 10 h'ors d'oevres and there were all kinds of stations including 3 carving stations, cheese stations, fruit & crudite, Asian and Italian food stations, and a mashed potato bar. There was other stuff too, but that is what I recall.
Our tasting at our venue will be free for 6 people. We just ahve to tip our waiters. I'm good with that.
we were married at a country club and our tasting was free for the two of us. if we opted to bring in extra people there was a charge for that (can't remember how much).
We paid $85 per person, we each had a taste of 10 different appys, then 2 pasta dishes, and 2 entrees. They comped us on all the wine we drank....which was a pretty good amount.
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so I have been going back and forth with the country club about figuring out what items will be served at our tasting next weekend. this AM he sends me the finalized tasting menu. . . and at the bottom, it says '$29.95 per person'!!!! I was shocked. . .I always thought that tastings were free. Was I just naive? Are there other brides who had to pay for their tastings?