Bridging the terahertz gap requires synergism between the microwave and photonic communities. Advances in each of these two communities are often complementary but sometimes overlooked. One example is the manipulation of waves, known as anomalous diffraction via the use of metamaterials. This is achieved by controlling the surface impedance of each pixel at the interface of two different materials or alternately the phase and magnitude of the wave diffracted off the pixel. In this paper, a review of developments in wave manipulation from microwave to optical frequencies is presented, together with our new results in the terahertz regime. Generation of phase curves for pixel design requires a priori information on material properties at terahertz frequencies. Fabrication of terahertz devices entails micromachining in the clean room while their experimental validation demands both amplitude and phase information. Through judicial selection of practices in microwave and photonic communities, we can further the exploration of wave phenomena at terahertz frequencies.