Liz and I told ourselves to take things slowly. We’d wanted to set up a General Tasting with Melons Catering and sample some more generic fare before ponying up $150 each (applied toward your bill if you book them) for an Individual Tasting. We were booked in for the evening of January 20th along with a few other couples. But then Melons had a production meeting, and the chef realized that to feed us at the General Tasting he’d have to make essentially three different menus — one vegetarian for me, one to accommodate the things that Liz hates to eat, and one for everybody else. So Shannon at Melons dropped me a line and told me the great news: they were going to give us an Individual Tasting and waive the normal fee.
This is just one example of how nice and thoughtful the folks at Melons are. One small part of their package to us of brochures, proposals, and personalized menu included the words “bride and groom” (as in “the bride and groom can select…”). I pointed this out to Shannon and within half an hour she sent me an apology and told me she would fix it (I wasn’t upset, for the record, just pointing it out in case they book future same sex weddings).
photo courtesy Melons Catering.
All this brings us to our Individual Tasting on January 15th. We had a little trouble finding the location. The building is unassuming and almost industrial looking. But when we pulled up I spotted the table set for two and broke into a huge grin. We walked in and called out a hello. Shannon came bounding into the room to greet us with a big smile. She made us feel so at ease and welcome. While we dined on our hors d’oeuvres and salad she asked us to tell her how we’d met. Judging by her body language and happy grin, I sensed this must be her favorite part of the job. Liz and I were both wowed by the food. The chef even managed to sneak a few things into the food that Liz normally isn’t a big fan of, but she liked. Her biggest delight was the short rib. She’d been planning to ask them to revise the menu to feature a Filet Mignon instead, but she took one bite of this short rib and instantly changed her mind.
After dinner we were served a small version of our wedding cake — devil’s food cake with chocolate butter creme. The design will be different, of course, but we were still speechless when the cake was unveiled. It was one of those “oh my god, we’re really getting married” moments. After all our leftovers were packed up, Shannon took us on a tour of the kitchen. Foodies that we are, we were absolutely fascinated. It was a real treat.
After the tour we broke the news to them: we’d chosen our caterers. Okay, so maybe Liz and I failed at taking things slowly, but we’d gotten a good vibe from Melons from day one, and we were very happy to tell Shannon she’d gotten the job.
Now we keep telling ourselves that we have a place for everyone to sit, an officiant to say some words, food, drinks and cake — we’ve gotten the big stuff out of the way, right? Oh, yeah, we might want to invite people. And find clothes to wear….
Sounds great! We just did three catering appointments over the holidays and I think we have narrowed in on a winner. It was a hard choice though.
I have to admit, we’re a bit amused that we’ve picked the very first venue we saw and the first caterer we tried. I’d like to think a large part of that is all the research we do beforehand, but maybe we’ve just been blessed.
Sounds awesome. I think when you know, you just know.