While your wedding day is supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life, it’s also a special and memorable event for your guests. Not only are they able to witness the start of this new chapter in your life, but they’re able to socialize and reacquaint with family and friends, revel in all the entertainment, and enjoy the refreshing drinks and scrumptious foods. Food plays a huge role at weddings. But as a result, great confusion and stress can arise when deciding what to serve at the reception and how to keep it within budget. To be of assistance, we’re sharing a few tips below and have gathered many inspirational ideas and placed them on our Pinterest board for you to look through!
Are you planning a Summer Wedding?
Summer is the season of heat and outdoor activities. Therefore, when it comes to food, you have to think of light and fresh, yet easy and elegant options. Select fruit flavored appetizers and grilled main courses. For instance, tiered fruits, cheese trays, hors d’ oeuvres, shrimp cocktails, and mini Caesar salads make for great appetizers while grilled chicken, coconut-fried chicken, and/or fish (as opposed to heavier flavors like steak) make for great main dishes. A salad with a fruity dressing such as a raspberry vinaigrette further compliments the meal well.
Fall Wedding?
With the start of fall comes the start of cooler weather and upcoming holiday festivities. As such, instead of the normal salad-and-meat combo, choose foods with intense flavors. For example, as opposed to a salad, go with soups served in little pumpkins. Use Thanksgiving dinner ideas as a source of inspiration. Instead of serving whole turkeys, go with individual Cornish hens. Or, while it’s safe to select classic options like filet, roasted chicken, and/or salmon, it’s also fun to choose creative dishes like chicken pot pie, shepherds pot pie, beef stew, and/or red beans and rice. Casseroles, mashed potatoes, and roasted autumn vegetables can also make for some tasty sides.
Winter Wedding?
Since winter is usually the coolest time of the year, comfort foods such as soups, potpies, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheeses, and saucy main dishes (i.e. filet mignon, vegetarian pasta dishes, sloppy joes, hamburger sliders, or short ribs with red-wine glaze for the main dish and Mac ‘N’ Cheese with a breadcrumb crust or mashed potatoes topped with sautéed mushrooms for the side) tend to be the foods of choice. However, as these may come with higher price tags, an alternative is to down-size the serving and offer more variety. For example, as opposed to serving foods in dinner plates and huge bowls, use smaller plates, shot glasses, and martini glasses for “bite-size servings.” This creates a budget friendly option with an elegant and fun twist.
Spring Wedding?
Spring is the season of color and the start of warmer and beautiful weather. So when it comes to spring weddings think of fresh and light foods. Take advantage of the fruits and vegetables of the season. Use the beauty of color. Think of Easter meals. Use accents of eggs in Hors d’ oeuvres, mixed green salads with fruity elements like berries and fruit flavored vinaigrettes, and lighter main courses like chicken or fish with a touch of the season using fresh herbs (i.e. rosemary and mint).
For inspiring dishes visit our Pinterest “Wedding Food” board https://pinterest.com/villaincanta/wedding-food/!
