Bride-to-Be Blogger Danielle: Our Tasting

The week between Christmas and New Year’s, Tim and I took a trip to Rehoboth Beach for a highly-anticipated event: our tasting at Nage. We had a reasonable breakfast around 9 a.m. then set out to have our taste buds stimulated!

Food is important to us. Some days I think about what I’m going to eat before I even get out of bed. (I realize this might be indicative that I have some sort of disorder, but I figure everyone has some bad, indulgent habit — this is mine.) Before we chose a wedding caterer from the list of approved vendors for our wedding site, we tried as many of them as we could. We were intent on not having “traditional” wedding food at our reception, and when we ate at Nage over a year ago, we were very impressed with the creativity and the quality of the food; the bar was set high.

Once at our tasting, we tried everything on our proposed menu, plus a few potential “substitute” appetizers, and we also knew that there would be a cake tasting at the end of the ridiculously humongous meal.

We loved all of our original selections for our cocktail hour: a Mediterranean platter that included the most delicious dolmas I’ve ever had; mini crab cakes, Ahi tuna poke on crispy wontons, and lamb lollipops that Tim said exceeded expectations. We opted to make no substitutions. We tried three salads, and stuck with our choice of a non-plated Caprese. For the main course, we loved the braised short ribs, parmesan-encrusted sea bass and the accoutrements. We did, however, opt to go with a slightly more interesting pasta dish than we had originally chosen.

And then the pastry chef came out to present some of his cake options. Despite being organized and somewhat zen about the food, I am actually very happy that we do not have a separate cake bakery. Tim is not that into sweets, so we were delighted to learn that the buttercream icing was not too sugary. We also decided on a somewhat tart filling in our cake: lemon curd with blueberries. I thought it would be refreshing after our meal, and Tim’s eyes lit up talking about it.

The food itself was exactly what we expected (except for some deliciously surprising twists). But more than the food, we were thrilled with the service. The catering director sat down with us to talk about some of the details for the wedding itself, including room setup, linens, plates and flatware, signature drinks and more. The pastry chef took detailed notes about the cake design, and we’re thrilled that it will be a very beachy theme — without anything too cheesy or campy. Even one of the chefs came out to chat with us. He had recently gotten married and catered his own wedding. If he can handle that, I am confident that this team will make our wedding day a culinary delight!

Driving back to Philadelphia with full bellies, Tim and I talked about what we liked the most. I am really looking forward to the Ahi poke, the crab cakes, the Mediterranean platter, and the fish. Tim is excited for the crab cakes, lamb lollipops, and short ribs. And, he may even have a whole piece of wedding cake. I know I certainly will!

Have you had a tasting with your caterer? After the tasting what are you most excited to eat on your wedding day? Did you make any menu changes? Is your caterer also providing your cake? What are the most important parts of your menu?

Getting married? Start and end your wedding planning journey with Philadelphia Weddings' guide to the best wedding vendors in the city.