Chicken, beef, fish, or the solitary vegetarian option? Most of us have been faced with this daunting decision at basically every wedding we’ve ever attended. Traditionally, the point of a wedding menu was to cater to the tastes of a general public. Today’s couples are looking to create much more personalized experiences for wedding guests.
Hold onto your chef coat because modern weddings are less recognizable and often incorporate unexpected elements specific to the taste and personality of the bride and groom. If you find yourself catering such a wedding, help the happy couple present a meal that will never be forgotten.
When planning for a unique wedding menu there are several key points to keep in mind for each dish:
- Portable
- Sharable
- Customizable
As wedding guests move through the different areas of the venue and participate in many activities, portable foods enhance the ability to be social and interactive. Sharable foods could be served in the form of a family style dinner or a tapas buffet. The idea here is to create small dishes that are bigger than a single bite but smaller than a typical entree. Guests can then sample as many different dishes as they want while interacting with others. Finally, if you are serving up a culinary experience, dishes that can be customized will appeal to a wider variety of guests – think stations where guests choose their own toppings.
Culinary trends happening right now are great inspiration for unique wedding menus. Unless someone has attended dozens of weddings in the given year already, it is not likely they have experienced these food trends.
- Food trucks – Providing a food truck that can roll up for cocktail hour, dinner, or after hours snacks can provide the element of surprise to any wedding menu.
- Classics with a twist – Miniaturized and elevated versions of classic dishes help guests feel comfortable and adventurous at the same time. On the easy side you could swap out the classic fruit and veggie trays for a crostini station complete with pickled toppings and flavored olive oils.
- Go local – Capitalize on unique local ingredients and food sources to create a one-of-a-kind meal guests couldn’t get anywhere else.
People can have fun at any wedding no matter how bad the weather or bridesmaid dresses are. But, if the food stinks guests are likely to leave earlier as their stomachs will be leading the way to better fare.