Let’s face it, wedding food hasn’t always had the best reputation. From dried up chicken breast (wrapped in Parma ham if we’re lucky) to salmon parcels with shards of pastry soaking up the last bit of moisture from the poor fish, the wedding breakfast has rarely been synonymous with gourmet dining. Things aren’t helped by over running speeches, huge lists of dietary requirements and complicated table plans. What has often taken months of planning and pontificating can so easily come unravelled.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! Play to the strengths of the venue and the seasons to serve your guests a wedding feast to remember. We’ll take you through what you should consider to serve the best wedding food for your guests.
Choosing between Feasting Vs. Plated Wedding Food?
There are pros and cons to both options, but the most important thing to consider is efficiency based on the venue facilities. At The Wedding Arrangers we plan the vast majority of our weddings in dry hire venues. Most of the time these spaces do not provide a full catering kitchen, so we are often working out of gazebos in car parks, shipping containers or awkward side rooms with very little space. We hire in all of the kit to build our kitchens, usually restricted to electric appliances rather than gas and unable to use deep fat fryers. We very rarely have the luxury of space to lay out more than a maximum of around 15 - 20 plates at a time.
This is where well-designed feasting menus (aka family style or sharing menus) really come into their own. It’s much more efficient to plate up a sharing platter or bowl for say 6 - 8 guests with the lack of space. This ensures the wedding food is being served at the optimum temperature. The feasting style can also be more cost-efficient than a plated option, however this is subjective to the food you’re serving. Wedding feasts don’t need to be informal, at the end of the day it’s all about the quality of food that’s put out.
If you’d like a plated element to your meal, consider a cold starter or an individual dessert that can be more space efficient and not require expensive ‘hot holding’ equipment. We help our clients to bring their dream wedding to life, and make it into a reality.
Utilise side dishes for all dietary needs!
Dealing with numerous dietary requirements can seriously slow down and confuse service. We completely understand allergies and personal choices if guests have chosen to not eat animal products, and will always strive to feed everybody fairly, but we also want to serve your guests efficiently. We work closely with our caterers to design side dishes that can be enjoyed by as many guests as possible. We want everyone to feel like part of the same party, so would always advise that vegetable or salad sides avoid dairy, animal products and, where possible, gluten too.
Work with the seasons
All food is at its best at the height of its season. It sounds obvious to say it, but avoid strawberries in January, asparagus in November, pumpkin in April and so on. If you’re not sure, this handy guide should help, but we’d also say that any caterer worth their salt will make the right suggestions for your wedding, whichever season you’re planning for. This will ensure your wedding food is the best quality it can be.
Avoid “a la minute” cooking
Weddings come in all shapes and sizes, from micro weddings to enormous gatherings in their many hundreds. With this in mind, why design a menu which requires cooking to order. We are never going to please everybody’s palate with food where guests can choose from blue to well done. Slow cooked meats are a great alternative. If you’d like to serve beef, consider rib or brisket - slow cooked cuts that remove the possibility of being sent back “because it’s under” and that can be prepared by your caterers in advance and reheated beautifully on the day.
Plan your speeches carefully
Whilst the idea of peppering speeches throughout a meal sounds like fun, it’s almost always unhelpful to the kitchen. An over enthusiastic speaker slotted between a starter and hot main course can throw timings out significantly. Whilst your food sits waiting for the speeches to wrap up, it’s probably going cold or drying up - which is not ideal.
Consider where the speeches are placed by consulting your planner or chef. A welcome speech before dinner can help play for time, especially if we are plating up multiple cold starters. On the other hand, the rambling orators should be timed for after the hot mains, probably even after dessert!
Work with a local wedding planner that understands the flow of the day and food service
At The Wedding Arrangers we work closely with our caterers to produce service plans that work for our venues. We ensure that they understand the nuances of the venue, helping them design menus that can work smoothly. Our staff work for us on a permanent basis and understand the service required for the specific spaces. We’ll also produce a timed schedule that works for your particular menu, helping you get the very best out of your meal.
Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you put together a wedding feast to remember.