What To Expect At Your Tasting
There are lots of things to consider when planning your wedding day and one of these, which of course we believe to be the most important aspect, is the food! It really is the icing on the cake of any big day.
We provide all booked couples the opportunity to attend a complimentary food and wine tasting to sample our delicious, mouth-watering food and pair this with one of our handpicked drinks packages. What’s more, it’s a lovely experience and our catering coordinators will be on hand to answer any questions that you may have about the food and drinks to help you create your perfect menu.
Having said that, it’s not essential to attend a tasting and if you already have your heart set on a menu and don’t wish to attend a tasting just let us know, we are more than happy to arrange a phone consultation with you to discuss the catering in further detail.
Food Menus
We release new menus each year so our tastings will offer you the chance to try the relevant menus for your wedding year.
Behind the scenes and during our (slightly) quieter periods, our experienced team of expert chefs spend the time developing the menus and creating new and exciting dishes to delight you and your guests. The use of seasonal and local produce is used wherever possible and then once they are happy that there is something to suit all tastes and budgets, the menus then go to design and print before they are released mid-year and sent directly to you for browsing, so keep your eyes peeled!
Drinks Packages
Not forgetting those all-important drinks, at your tasting we will ask for you to select which Drinks Package that you would like to go for and our team will be on hand to answer any drinks-related questions.
You could even order one of our famous Blushing Bride cocktails from the bar which features as one of our reception drinks offerings in the ‘The Harvest’ drinks package.
Where and When?
Our tastings are held at Heaton House Farm, they take place midweek, start at 6:30 pm and usually last for around 2.5 hours. As we will be providing you with your wine tasting too, don’t forget to book your taxi home or bring along a designated driver!
We understand that people lead busy lives and so we try to be flexible where possible with our tasting dates, however, we do also have to plan tastings around our busy events calendar.
What do you need to do before you come along?
You may be wondering when in your wedding planning timeline you should be attending your tasting, generally, you will receive your invitation any time up to 6 months before your day.
Once the menus and tasting dates have been released you will select which tasting/date that you would like to attend; dates will depend on which menu you have selected. If you head over to our ‘How to select your menu’ blog you will find some really handy tips in preparation for when we send these over to you.
Once you have booked your tasting, we will ask you to decide whether you want to bring along any of your family or friends to enjoy the evening with you, perhaps you know a wine connoisseur and would like their input when selecting wine? You are welcome to bring along up to 4 additional guests with you, there will be a charge for them to attend, you can book the additional guests when you book your tasting via the invitation.
A little closer to your tasting, we will get in touch to ask for your pre-order if applicable. For set menus, we ask each guest attending to pick 1 dish from each course to try, and for our more informal menus such as Street Food, our chefs select a variety of dishes for you to sample, no pre-order is required.
All you need to have in preparation for your tasting is an idea as to your approximate daytime and evening numbers, to include adults and children.
On the day of your tasting
Finally, the day of your tasting has arrived, and you have stepped into the venue to be welcomed by one of our lovely team members. They will encourage you to take a look around, perhaps take a wander outside to see the beautiful views and sample some of our delicious canapes. This is all before you are invited to take your seats to enjoy an evening of excellent food and drink.
Tasting nights welcome a number of couples to sample their delicious food choices, so all of the smiling faces you see around the room will be full of excitement and questions just like you, you might even get some ideas from them – it’s a really social event!
We will give you a simple sheet to fill in which will allow you to detail your chosen menu and drinks package and our catering coordinators will use this to create your personalised catering proposal!
Following On From Your Tasting
The proposal will include all your catering details as well as a payment plan to begin making payments toward your food and drinks. This will be sent to you a couple of weeks after your tasting but can be changed up to 21 days before your day, so nothing has to be set in stone.
Then all that’s left to do is sit back and wait for your special day where you can enjoy the delicious menu you have chosen, and in the meantime, if you have any questions, our team are always at the end of an email.