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Category Archives: Food
Food Tips for catering to everyone
Your Wedding is a really big day. As stressful as it can be, it can also be an overwhelming task to cater for all the dietary needs of your guests. At the end of the day, it is impossible to foresee every single wedding guest’s needs and preferences… so here’s a few tips on the best way to keep Vegan Vanessa happy and also avoid any embarrassing Heimlich maneuvers on wedding night!
Your absolute best bet is to pick one basic meat entrée to start with. A safest choice is always a chicken dish. This will always keep almost all guests happy and in a universally ‘safe’ meal. Next, you want to try choosing one meat-free entrée to cater to those guests who may not like Chicken, or are looking for the Vegan or Vegetarian route for the night.
You can also opt for something like a buffet that includes a variety of foods. Your special dietary guests won’t expect to be served their very own individual meals and the last thing we want to make them feel like is an outcast!
Almost all caterers are flexible and surprisingly, they are used to getting these requests. It might a good option to talk to your caterer about these needs; chances are they will be flexible enough to maybe even throw in a few gluten free or vegan options free of charge!
After all – it never hurts to ask!
Happy Eating!
Let’s face it: unless you are uber-conservative and plan on having your reception in the church basement, chances are your guests are going to be plastered. OK, maybe not like falling-down-drunk, but yes, plan on some tipsy guests. If our college years taught us anything, heavy drinking calls for snacking. (Psst… it’s also vital in helping with alcohol absorption, sobering someone enough to stay awake during the cab ride back to the right hotel). An emerging trend on the wedding scene is to host an after hours snackfest. We are seeing cookies and milk— Santa’s favorite — and junk food like pizza and burgers. Can you say munchies? If your budget allows it, why not order up some goodies from your favorite fast food joint (some even provide delivery services), or talk to your caterers about offering up some late-night, deep-fried bar food. Wings anyone?
Apparently you can have your cake and eat it too when it comes to meshing individuality, creativity, and your wedding cake. These days we are seeing flowers, rubber duckies, candies, and funny little penguins on the tops of wedding cakes instead of the boring ol’ bride and groom. For the record: that one where the bride is pulling the groom by his tie or trying to keep him from running away? Don’t go there. (Marriage is tough enough without going into it as the crazy, controlling wife, no? Poor guy.) What we like to see is clever individuality. Initials are always pleasing and tasteful, as are simple flowers that coordinate with the bride’s floral scheme. “Love birds” always work too. If you are feeling a little more daring, check out Etsy, our favorite online marketplace for unique, handcrafted goods, or stroll around Michaels Crafts or Joanne Fabrics. If you insist on the traditional bride and groom, you can go the more personal route and have one made to look just like you and your beloved. Check out www.weddingcaketoppers.com.
As though weddings need to be any sweeter. Well, they do. In this we mean candy, cookies, and little sweet cakes. An emerging trend in the wedding arena is adding a little sugar in the mix. Don’t be mistaken. Wedding cakes aren’t going anywhere, although they are being replaced by tall cupcake towers. Here we are talking about candy bars (like a salad bar only with lemon drops, lollipops and Hershey kisses), elaborate dessert buffets (hellooo tray of cocoa-dusted truffles) and night caps of milk and cookies for wedding guests. While your caterer can provide cakes and cookies, there are a few local San Diego companies that provide candy buffets for wedding. We encourage you to check out A Sweet Addition for more information.
How sweet is it to be loved…
 
A latest trend in wedding food is substituting a traditional stuffy sit-down dinner, buffet style or what have you, with a hip cocktail-hour reception of heavy hors d’oeuvres, giving guests the opportunity to mix and mingle over bite-size delicacies, carried to and fro by servers in tuxedos.
The heavy hors d-oeuvres option does have its pros. For one, you usually don’t have to assign seats or deal with table numbers and seating charts. Your guests will feel free to sit wherever and speak with whomever. They can dance, or stand, or sit, relax, eat now and then more, later (if the coveted mini crab cakes aren’t all gone by then). No need to include the not-so-romantic words “chicken or fish” on your lacy, calligraphed invitations. It’s a laid back approach to celebrating a new marriage. That said, it’s not for everybody.
For the bride on a budget, this option is not always cheaper. While it depends on your caterer and reception venue, a heavy hor d’oeuvres reception can actually cost more. And some caterers and venues won’t even go this route so make sure you decide before you make that first deposit. It takes more manpower for waiters and waitresses to cruise the outskirts of the dance floor, the bar, and elsewhere throughout the reception, for the duration of a few hours. And the mere cost of hors d’oeuvres may be equal to that of a sit-down dinner, depending on the size of your wedding.
In addition, you won’t be able to adequately guess how many trays of what sorts of appetizers to order in advance and you may have trouble deciding what to offer guests. Mixing up too many flavors, with too much variety may hit a sour note with guests. This can be a sort of planning nightmare in a time that by itself, can be a planning nightmare.
And lastly, if you are a controlling, Type A bride, an all-reception-long cocktail hour may not be for you. If you close your eyes and envision yourself, mid-reception, attempting to round up semi-drunk guests, like roaming cats, in one spot for toasts, speeches and announcements, and you envision yourself losing it like one of those brides on Bridezillas, hollering over a loudspeaker, you’d better stick to the sit-down meal.
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