Wedding tastings are usually one of the most fun meetings to attend as you plan the menu. I am never surprised when I see that the bride, her fiance AND the parents want to attend – who wouldn’t want to enjoy taste-testing yummy food to decide what everyone will dine on while you celebrate?! Today, Marybeth takes us through her tasting experiences for both her wedding and rehearsal dinner – that’s right, the lucky couple got to attend TWO!
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A few weeks ago the day arrived that James had been waiting for since our engagement, the tasting day. In 1 day James and I had our tasting for both our rehearsal dinner and our reception. Below are a few tips I learned and a preview of our menus!
- Go hungry! I expected to taste a lot of different items, but figured they would all be small bites; boy was I wrong. Our first tasting for the reception was at Charlie Palmer where we powered through 10 hors d’oeuvres, 4 appetizers, 4 entrees and 4 desserts. Each entrée was a full serving of either meat or fish and each course had a wine pairing to try out. I left in a major food coma.
- Let your venue know about food allergies ahead of time. My mom has a gluten allergy so after a quick call to Charlie Palmer they noted which items she could eat and even made a few gluten-free versions of our choices.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. This tip comes after a few requests that the staff at Charlie Palmer was excellent in accommodating. This first was swapping the standard Chardonnay for my preferred Sauvignon Blanc. Then came our specialty cocktail request, jalapeno infused tequila and pineapple juice. Finally our dinner request. James and I love seafood, but since we are not giving our guests a choice of entrée we knew we would need to serve the standard beef or chicken. However we were able to put in a special request for our own dinners and went with the ahi tuna steaks.
- Don’t forget about a late night menu. We were able to chose quite a few hors d’oeuvres to serve on the day of so we decided to hold back on two of them and serve the sliders and mini grilled cheese sandwiches near the end of the night.
So what did we end up picking? Here is a preview of some of the great food our guests will enjoy.
Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Cava Mezze Capitol Hill – private rooftop area
Braised Cinnamon Beef and Greek Fries
Risotto
Chicken Lollipops
Greek Donuts
Reception Dinner Venue: 101 Constitution Rooftop Terrace, catering by Charlie Palmer
Blood Orange Marinated Hamachi
Tuna Tartare in Crisp Wonton
Balsamic Beef Skewers
Red Oak and Roasted Beet Salad
Miniature Burgers and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
