Things to Think About When
Planning the Meal For Your Wedding
- Are you planning
to have a sit down meal or a buffet for your wedding?
- Will there be any other food
served other than the dinner or lunch? For example, will there
be a buffet served later at night during the wedding
dance.
- How formal is your wedding
going to be? Will you be planning a full five
course meal, cocktail party or something in between for your
wedding reception meal?
- Will you be hiring a caterer
for a rental site, using a social group, doing the food yourself
or is there an in-house caterer at the place
of the wedding reception you have chosen?
The quality food you serve at your
wedding is important no matter what you are serving.
The subject of what is being served at the wedding will be a common
topic of conversation throughout the night amongst your guests.
How it is being served is just as important and should reflect
your wedding style. If your wedding
is very formal you will want to have a sit down meal that is served.
If your wedding is more casual, a buffet style
meal is very appropriate. Even cocktail parties can come off as
very elegant if they are put together and executed right. Some
people have very strong preferences about how the meal is served
at their wedding. Obviously, the cost will go
up with the level of formality, number of servings, quantity of
dishes and what type of food is being served. As well, it will
depend on who is preparing and serves the food.
Choosing Your Wedding Caterer
I highly recommend
that bride's, wedding parties and direct family never cater the
wedding. It is clearly to much work, not to mention the immense
stress involved in cooking for such a large crowd. Your focus
needs to be on enjoying the day and giving your full attention
to the proceedings of the wedding and the wedding guests. If u
can't afford a caterer, find other resources, clubs or friends
and neighbours that are not, and would never expect to be invited
to the wedding that are happy to help out or do it for much less.
Simply put, hiring a caterer is absolutely worth it for this special
occasion. If you absolutely want to make something special for
the wedding meal, I would only recommend it if it's something
that can be made at least a week before the wedding, it freezes
well and you have someone else to prepare it and serve it to your
wedding guests.
When choosing
your caterer, taste testing whenever possible is really
a must. Most venues that cater at their location will
offer taste testing, allowing you to try a samples of the dishes
they offer. You may also have the fortunate chance to experience
a caterer first-hand at 
someone
else's special event. Getting a reference from someone you trust
and has similar taste as you is a good start, but you really should
sample the food for your wedding first hand. You want to be able
to evaluate the food and the service for yourself. You will be
able to evaluate how professional the serving staff is and how
their food taste. If this isn't an option for you, be sure to
ask a lot of questions and observe how professional and personable
the caterer is when interviewing them.
Wedding Guests With Special Diets
If you can accommodate
your wedding guests with special diet requirements,
such as diabetics or vegetarians, they will be very grateful that
you thought of them and made accommodation to make things easier
for them. Often, events like these can be quite a challenge for
them. If you have wedding guests with food allergies, this needs
to be taken seriously. The catering staff needs to be aware of
the allergy and if it's life threatening, it's best not to have
the food served at all. The kitchen and all the staff need to
be aware so that there is not food transfer in the kitchen. Also,
tell your wedding guests with the allergy to mention the allergy
to the staff when he find's his seat at the reception to make
sure the staff remember and are clearly aware of the situation.
Food
Safety For Your Wedding
The last thing you want is your wedding
guests to take home a bad case of food 
poisoning
from your wedding. It is no way to make your wedding
memorable. Food safety is especially important if you are providing
your own food. Caterers should be well trained in food safety
and be certified in "Food and Safety". If you are serving
your own food take extra care in how it is stored, served and
prepared. Food should never sit out very long unless its on ice.
Meats should always be cooked through to the required temperature.
Food serving and preparation areas should always be clean and
fruit and vegetables should be washed and should never touch meat
or a surface where meat has been with out thoroughly cleaning
it. If you're having an outdoor wedding, food safety is extreme
important. Food should never sit out in the hot sun. It should
be kept in a shaded area for only a brief time and should also
be covered to keep out debris and insects.
Serving Napkins
Always have extra napkins available for
your wedding guests. Take the time to fold the
napkins with a little flare. This really adds to the look of the
tables. If you are using paper napkins, order 1 1/2 times the
number of wedding guests you are expecting to
your wedding reception for dinner
napkins and you will need approximately 3 times the amount of
wedding guests for cocktail napkins for the bar.
Heritage Dish for Your Wedding
A nice idea is to serve a favourite dish
from your heritage at your wedding reception
dinner. Try to have something that goes with
your other dishes or choose a separate dessert to go with your
main meal. You can even have the recipe and the family history
written out on cards for your wedding guests
to take home and enjoy.
Chocolate Fountains
Chocolate fountains are becoming more
and more popular. They can be 
bought
or rented. They are available in different sizes to accommodate
all your guests. You may wish to have a couple of smaller fountains
with different types of chocolate running in them. Usually dark,
white and milk chocolate are available to choose from. Chocolate
wafers make for very smooth chocolate that flows nicely. You will
probably need between 8 to 30 pounds of chocolate depending on
the number of guests and how long it will be running. You can
serve them with fruit, pretzels, cookies, Rice Krispy squares,
and even marshmallows. Yummy! The smell that comes from a chocolate
fountain is simply delicious and will surely make your wedding
guests smile. You may want to have the fountain running at your
nighttime buffet, at the time of your receiving line, or at your
dessert table or bar. You can decorate around them to make them
go with your decor but I would suggest putting down napkins around
the fountain so that chocolate spills can be quickly cleaned up.
Count Yourselves In
Don't forget to count yourselves and
any professionals that will be eating at your wedding
reception when totaling your wedding guests list. Ask
your photographer, videographer, officiant, disc jockey and band
members if they will be eating with you at the wedding reception.
Water Bottles
You may want to have bottled water on
the tables especially if your wedding is taking place in hot weather
and your reception location is not air conditioned. You don't
want you wedding party or any of your guests fainting from the
heat. Consider having both sparkling and still water available
for your wedding guests. You can even dress up
the bottles by tying a ribbon in your wedding colours around the
neck of each bottle or having a special label put on each of the
water bottles.
Dressing Your Tables
If you can afford to use an overlay of
linens on your tables it will add a lot of decorative detail to
the room. Using two coloured table clothes or lace-like table
clothes over a solid coloured cloth adds detail and a romantic
feel to the reception decor. Another great way to add sparkle
to the room and the tables is to use small indoor lights under
sheer fabric hanging from the tables. It will give a beautiful
glow to the room. Make sure that the lights are of a very low
wattage and the fabric is heat resistant so that the light's don't
burn the fabric.
Buffet and Wedding Guests Table Set-up
For buffets, it's practical
to mirror the food along both sides of the tables to help the
line move faster. Have people line up on both sides and move in
one direction. The napkins can be stacked between the plates or
wrapped around the utensils for easy and quick distribution. The
glasses should be placed with the beverages for easy access for
your guests. Better yet, have anything that you know all guests
will be using like napkins and flatware on the tables in advance
to help speed up the lines.
Keep your guests organized by having
your Master of Ceremony announce how you would like the guests
to start at the buffet so there is a steady stream of people going
up and not everyone at once. If your guests' tables are numbered,
you can either have the even numbered tables go first or have
the tables go up in groups of five tables. (Tables 1-5 then 6-10
and so on.) It is very important with a buffet styled meal to
have the food in warmers/chillers to help maintain the proper
food temperatures for your guests.
Cocktail Wedding Reception
If you are having a cocktail wedding
reception you may want to have a few food stations like
roast beef, seafood, appetizers, and dessert to mix things up
a bit. You can even have a candy bar with little boxes or bags
so your guests can hand pick their own candy for their wedding
favour.
Creative Drinks
It can be fun to invent a new drink for
your special occasion. Find a yummy mixture and give it a fun
name. Serve it as a punch or at the bar. Make sure people are
informed if your punch is an alcoholic beverage. If it's a drink
you really like, you can serve it at all your future parties in
your new home with family and friends.
Small Touches to For Your
Wedding Meal
-
Different bread varieties
-
Multicoloured sugar crystals for tea
and coffee
-
Lemon slices served in the ice water
-
Cappuccino/espresso bar
-
Sprigs of fresh herbs as garnish
-
Butter molded in special shapes like
hearts or bells
-
Wait staff offering freshly grated
cheese or pepper at the guests’ tables
The Table Setting
The table setting can really
add sophistication to the whole overall look of the reception
tables. Take the time to make sure that the reception tables are
done up right, paying close attention to all the little details.
Usually your venue will take care of setting up the reception
tables, but if you are required to do it yourself here's help.
Each place setting should be 24 to 30 inches wide to avoid overcrowding
of your guests. Settings should be approximately 1 inch from the
edge of the table. Lay the cutlery in the order they will be used
with your specific meal courses. When the dessert, tea and coffee
are being served, the cup and saucer should be placed to the right
of the dessert plate with a teaspoon placed on the saucer. You
can save table space by placing the dessert fork and spoon at
the top of the place setting as shown below. Napkins can be placed
to the left with the forks, placed on the dinner plate or put
in the water glass. Make sure napkins are either neatly folded
or are specially folded, making sure all are done the same way.
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