Catering

I wouldn't put that much of a deposit down unless I've personally tasted some type of their food. That could end in a disaster!

If they want you to sign a contract without a tasting beforehand, I would move on to other options.

I'm also finding a lot of book-before-tasting rules.


I asked a close friend who got married a few years ago and she said that was normal.
She recommended potentially scoping out the restaurant and dining at any related restaurant to the venue to possibly get an idea of food quality since executive chefs may own the menu to related or attached restaurants.
Additional question: is it worth asking if they have a paid tasting before contract? I've seen some hotels say that tastings are part of their package deals, but also offer a tasting for some amount of money per person if you want to try before signing anything. 🤔

Sorry, misread "caterer" for "venue".


You should be able to taste without putting a huge deposit down first for a caterer; would still cost a little but not anything like a contract price.

I would look for another caterer since they won't let you taste anything until the deposit! To me that just spells out 'nightmare'... I've never heard of a caterer doing that...all of them in our area have tastings and the couple makes a decision based off of that.

No. Never ever sign a contract or put money down before getting a tasting. Otherwise you will be locked into a menu you don’t like and have no control over, nor can you back out of. If their policy is you sign a contract first and pay first before they even think about offering a tasting, run far away.