Tips For DIY Wedding Catering

It can be very challenging to balance out having the wedding you want and the wedding you can actually afford, the one that looks as great as the events showcased in the wedding planning books.  With the general trend towards more casual food at weddings, many brides are now considering going the DIY route and catering their own weddings. Before you decide whether to hire someone or DIY your wedding catering, check out these important tips.

First and foremost, only do your own wedding food if you are having a small reception. Anything more than fifty guests is going to make it very, very difficult to pull off. The last thing you need to be doing on your wedding day is running around refilling platters or bowls. Nor does your mom want to get all dressed up in a new dress and elegant pearl wedding jewelry to spend the whole event serving food at the buffet. Worse yet is to let the food run out before your guests are done eating dinner. All the wedding planning books will tell you that is a huge wedding “don’t”.

For weddings that are small enough to cater yourself, there are some key things you should know. For one thing, you will not have enough time to cook from scratch for fifty people the day before your wedding! Buy as much as you can readymade from a store, and then add your own seasonings or extra ingredients to make it special. A warehouse club is ideal for this. You can get huge quantities of classic picnic food like potato salad, rolls, and fruit salad for a very reasonable cost. Transfer everything into attractive serving bowls to give it a homemade look.

Something very important to plan when catering your own wedding dinner is having people on hand to fill bowls, clear plates from tables, and so forth. Even if you bring in all of the food, you should still plan on hiring a few servers to keep everything running smoothly. Some caterers will allow you to hire their servers and rent their silverware, napkins, and plates for a reasonable fee. You can also hire college or culinary students to be in charge of the dinner, but keep in mind that by the time you pay for the rentals, it might not be any savings to hire the servers a la carte.

Wedding Menu Trend – Food Trucks

By now, most people are probably familiar with the comfort food trend that has been so popular for wedding receptions in recent years. This desire for familiar and unpretentious fare has been taken to the next level with one of the newest wedding trends. The hippest wedding receptions these days feature food trucks as part of the menu.

Food truck fare is uncomplicated by definition. Couples usually just choose whatever they love the best. It might be a hot dog truck, one serving burritos, a pizza van, or even an ice cream truck (so fun for a summer wedding!). If you don’t have room for an entire truck at your reception, you can hire a vendor with a push cart. That is also a great option for bringing this concept indoors. You could have a cotton candy cart, a fresh popcorn man, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Think about what you like to eat on the street. Maybe it’s dumplings or cheeseburgers or even little crepes. If it can be served from a cart or truck, it can be a great option for a fun reception surprise. This is an especially neat way to introduce your family and friends to your local favorites. Relive your college days by inviting the same truck that you used to frequent on the way to class or on game day. Or introduce your family to a new flavor that is popular where you live now, such as Cuban food if you recently relocated to Miami.

You’ll want to be sure to get lots of pictures of guests enjoying the food truck at your reception. Such a memorable part of your wedding will make for terrific and unique photos. Just think of the fun pictures you’ll get of the mother of the bride in her elegant dress and pearl necklace nibbling on a fresh funnel cake from a cart or a slice of pizza! If you plan to serve something really messy like chili dogs, the bride may want to have something she can throw on to protect her gown from spills. The bride should definitely get to enjoy the tasty truck food; just take care not to let it ruin your gown.

Charming Country Wedding Ideas

A wedding out in the countryside is a wonderful way to bring friends and family together in an informal celebration. Make the most of the wonderful setting by incorporating elements with a great country flair. Get inspired with these charming country wedding ideas.

The flowers for a country wedding should have an informal, natural style. Loose arrangements of wildflowers, daisies, or seasonal potted flowers like geraniums or mums would be perfect. Choose centerpiece vessels with a relaxed feeling. Handpainted pitchers, mason jars, wooden boxes, and wicker baskets would all be great examples of centerpiece containers with a country flair. For the wedding ceremony, use yellow and white gingham ribbon to hang daisy pomanders from the backs of chairs.

Definitely the attire for a country wedding should suit the setting as well. A lace gown in white or ivory would be lovely for the bride. A heavier lace such as Venise would be particularly nice. A simple pearl necklace and a short veil will complete the bride’s look. A super cute detail would be pearl tipped pins to coordinate with the pearl necklace in the centers of daisies as the bride’s bouquet. As for the bridesmaids, knee length dresses in a floaty cotton voile would be beautiful. Choose a cheerful color like yellow, spring green, or red for their dresses. For the flower girl, a cotton dress with smocking and white sandals would be absolutely precious.

Country celebrations always involve a lot of great food. There is no need to make it fancy, just make it delicious and abundant. For the cocktail hour, serve favorites like fried green tomatoes, dilled potato salad, and mini sliders. As for the main course, treat your guests to good ol’ country fare like chicken fried steak with homemade mashed potatoes, and fresh vegetables. Another great option would be barbeque with all the fixins’ like corn on the cob, fresh cole slaw, the works. The way to make it feel special enough to serve at a wedding is to present the food in an elegant way, rather than the ultra-casual way one might for a picnic. With all the details in place, your country wedding is sure to be nothing short of delightful!

Healthy Wedding Menus

Most of us associate parties and celebrations with indulgence. We eat rich foods, and more of them, than we would on an ordinary day. Weddings are no exception! While it might sound impossible to design a wedding menu that is healthy and yet special enough for a festive occasion, it can be done. The key is to make the soundest food choices you can, while still designing dishes that are full of flavor and really satisfying. It may take a special caterer to work with you on this project.

One way to make your wedding menu more healthy is to stay away from foods with a lot of fat and calories. This can be easier than it sounds. Instead of dousing a side of asparagus in a rich hollandaise sauce, roast the asparagus and drizzle it with a balsamic vinaigrette. Choose a lean cut of meat for the main course, or offer a seafood option such as salmon. If you have a pasta option for dinner, make it a lighter dish such as bow tie noodles with seasonal vegetables, a little olive oil, and fresh herbs. It would be a delicious alternative to an ultra-rich pasta like fettuccine Alfredo or cheese-stuffed manicotti.

Think about ways to trim the fat and calories in your appetizers as well. This in no way means serving your guests spartan platters of “diet food” like plain raw vegetables or rice cakes, but you could substitute protein-rich hummus for a heavy sour cream based dip. Often you can find inspiration in other cultural traditions which make excellent alternatives to the usual wedding hors d’oeuvres. How about Greek stuffed grape leaves instead of pigs in a blanket? A spicy Thai shrimp platter will be full of flavor, but healthier than breaded and fried shrimp. Once you start looking around, you will find that there are actually many ways to “healthify” your wedding menu without sacrificing taste and variety.

We all know that things which are handmade tend to be superior to mass produced or heavily processed ones, whether you are talking about wedding jewelry or wedding food. Request that your caterer works with as many fresh “whole” ingredients as possible, rather than using foods which come pre-made from a large distributor. Not only will they be less processed and more nutritious, the fresh versions will be more flavorful and enjoyable to eat. Your guests will surely notice the difference and will appreciate all the effort that went into creating a menu which they can enjoy without the usual guilt of overindulgence.

Ethnic Wedding Reception Menus – Dos and Don’ts

Serving ethnic cuisine at your wedding reception can be a marvelous way to honor your heritage while putting your own personal stamp on the event. However, there can be some potential pitfalls to serving an ethnic menu, ranging from poorly prepared dishes to excluding guests who come from other ethnic traditions. This is a look at the dos and don’ts of ethnic wedding reception menus.

Do: Consider both the bride and groom’s families when planning an ethnic wedding menu. If you share a heritage in common, this may be a piece of cake. Although even then, each family may have their own ideas about the proper way to prepare certain signature dishes. When the bride and groom hail from very different cultures, be very careful about favoring one tradition too heavily over another. You might end up with some very hurt feelings, not to mention one half of the guest list who is faced with utterly unfamiliar food.

Don’t: Assume that any caterer can prepare your special menu. If you are looking for fairly standard Italian-American dishes, you might find that most any wedding caterer can deliver good food. But if you want something more specialized, you would be wise to seek out a caterer who has experience in preparing classic Indian food or traditional Chinese dishes. If your goal is a wedding which honors your cultural traditions in every detail from wedding jewelry to music to the ceremony, you might wish to consider seeking a wedding planner with experience in planning weddings with couples from your heritage.

Do: View your wedding as a wonderful opportunity to teach your fiance about your heritage and to learn about his. The cultural traditions of the bride and groom are a part of who they are, and are definitely worth learning more about, even if you have a pretty classic American style wedding. Try to include some of the customs from each side of the family in your wedding, even if it means having some wedding reception stations serving spanakopita and others serving corned beef and cabbage. At least it will be a chance for each family to learn about the other, and that it a very good thing!

Wedding Reception Basics

Just beginning the wedding planning process? This is the perfect time to learn all about organizing your wedding reception which follows the ceremony. Whether it is a large party or an intimate event, most wedding receptions will include these same basic elements.

Decorations: Decorations include centerpieces and other floral arrangements, candles, and tablecloths. If your wedding will be more formal or grand, you may well have additional types of adornments. These could include rented crystal chandeliers for a bride who loves the sparkle of crystal bridal jewelry and wants to bring that same kind of sparkle to her venue. Other types of decorations could be ice sculptures, fabric to drape ceilings or walls, and custom lighting.

Music: Virtually every wedding reception will feature some sort of musical accompaniment. This could range from a full orchestra, to a d.j., to an ipod, depending on your taste and the formality of your event. Even for short or small receptions which will not include dancing, it is nice to use background music to create ambiance. It could be as simple as recorded music played over the venue’s sound system, or you could splurge on a string quartet or harpist to play during dinner.

Food: What would a party be without food? At the very minimum, the hosts should treat their guests to cake and punch, although most weddings feature much more lavish spreads. Typically, the reception will kick off with a cocktail hour, during which assorted appetizers and drinks will be served, followed by a full dinner. At fancy weddings, there may also be a “Viennese hour” or dessert bar, and almost every reception will have some form of wedding cake.

Other: This category could include anything you need to rent to furnish your party, such as a tent, tables, chairs, and place settings, if not provided by the venue. It would also include wedding favors, place cards and escort cards, and the guest book. These details can range from extremely important (such as tables) to elements which are customary, but not mandatory, such as the guest book. A lot of it will depend on the reception venue and the style of your wedding.

How to Make Your Wedding a Fun Party

Your wedding reception is supposed to be a wonderful celebration following the marriage ceremony. Some receptions are a blast, while others end up falling flat. This is how to make your wedding reception a fun party that your guests will wish would never end.

Keep the food relaxed. There is a strong trend right now towards comfort food served in an elegant fashion. We’re talking mashed potato bars, mac and cheese shooters, tiny grilled cheese sandwiches, mini Angus beef sliders, cones of fresh crisp fries, and all the good stuff. Family style service is also increasingly popular, as compared to the more traditional stuffy seated dinner. And if you really want to keep the party going, bring out late night refreshments like fresh hot donuts or even a hot dog truck.

Plan the music carefully. Have you ever been to a wedding where the d.j. played nothing but lame outdated songs that inspired no one to dance? What about the wedding where just as the party was really getting going, the band took a break and killed the mood? When hiring the musicians for your reception, be very clear about what type of music you do and do not want played. In addition, be sure to have a plan in place for breaks. A band could rotate out members and keep a small crew playing continuously during breaks, or in the case of a band or d.j., an ipod with your favorite tunes can be set up to keep the music flowing while the musicians “take five”.

Provide a lounge area where guests can chill during the reception. This is a fantastic way to transform your reception space into a true party-like atmosphere. The bride can increase the effect by changing into party clothes after the ceremony. Exchange your formal wedding gown and traditional crystal jewelry for a slinky sparkly party dress with more exuberant crystal wedding jewelry. You will be a lot more comfortable for dancing, and the change of clothes will really signal that the party has started.

Finally, when you want to have a fun and lively wedding reception, be sure to add a few elements of surprise. The surprise could be almost anything, as long as it has a “wow” factor, like a Chinese dragon or a fireworks spectacular. Whatever you choose, the big surprise will be just what you need to make your wedding an incredible party that no one will ever forget.

French Inspired Wedding Details

Looking to add a little “ooh la la” to your wedding? Trying to put together a reception with that perfect “je ne sais quoi”? Why not give your wedding a chic European flair with these fabulous French-inspired wedding details? The results are sure to be “magnifique”!

When planning a wedding with French details, the only place to begin is with the wine. Make your wedding an event to remember by serving a flight of fine French wines with dinner. What that means is that a sommelier pairs each course of the meal with a wine which is the perfect complement to the food. It is a truly fine way to present an elegant dinner. Another idea would be to have a tasting of a selection of French wines during the cocktail hour, led by a wine expert. Naturally, French Champagne will be a priority for any Francophile’s wedding!

The food will be one of the highlights at a French-inspired wedding. You can really make a splash during the cocktail hour with passed hors d’oeuvres such as canapes and mini quiches and stations overflowing with French cheeses (Brie in puff pastry!) and fresh baguettes. For dinner, consider serving classic French fare like escargots, poulet a la Provencale (chicken sauteed with white wine, capers, garlic, leeks and tomatoes), or filet mignon (make it special by topping it with a tasty French sauce). Follow with either a regular tiered wedding cake with a French design such as fleur-de-lis, or opt for the authentic French wedding cake, the croquembouche.

Little French touches can be infused throughout the rest of the wedding. The bride can wear a gown made from French lace paired with glamorous bridal jewelry. Music is a wonderful way to convey a mood at a wedding, so why not treat your guests to classic French songs such as those by Edith Piaf, the beloved French chantuese. Splits of French Champagne or wine could be the wedding favors, perhaps personalized with a tag reading “merci”. The style and romance of France is a wonderful source of inspiration for a memorable and chic wedding.

International Wedding Hors D’oeuvres

Weddings are all about blending families and cultures, everything from your great-aunt’s wedding jewelry to your fiance’s family church. Beyond wedding jewelry and the like, another fantastic opportunity for mixing cultures is with the wedding food. Here are some great suggestions for an international array of wedding hors d’oeuvres.

Asian food is very popular and it makes a great place to begin planning your international wedding hors d’oeuvres menu. Fried wontons with little dipping sauces are a sure-fire hit. Another delicious appetizer idea is tiny mu shu pancakes tied with a piece of scallion or other edible tidbits. Little cups of egg drop soup will be much enjoyed by guests on a cool evening.

Greek cuisine offers many tasty appetizer options for wedding cocktail hours. You can bet that guests will gobble up mini pitas stuffed with gyro meat, feta, and a cool cucumber sauce.  Phyllo triangles filled with spinach and goat cheese are elegant and delicious, perfect for a passed tray of appetizers. Stuffed grape leaves are another excellent addition to the cocktail hour menu.

Mexican and Spanish cuisine offer many more delicious ideas for the wedding cocktail hour. Empanadas are loved for their savory/sweet combination, and the closed shape of them makes them an easy food to eat while standing up. Mini tacos or chimichangas may remind the bride too much of sports bar food, but guess what: the guys at the reception will wolf them down. Or arrange for a Spanish tapas bar, serving all the little bites which are so popular: everything from olives, battered squid, chorizo, cured meats, cheeses, and small pieces of bread. A tapas station is an upscale addition to any wedding reception.

Your around the world appetizers stations can also include Japanese sushi, Italian antipasto, and maybe even something American like comfort food (mashed potato shooters, anyone?) or soul food. Whichever cultures and cuisines you choose to represent, one thing is for sure: your guests will not leave your wedding hungry!

Grooms’ Favorite Wedding Ideas

Everyone knows that weddings are really the bride’s purview. Yet these days, grooms are more involved than ever in the wedding planning process, and many of them are bringing their own ideas into play. Here are some of the favorite ideas that grooms have contributed to their weddings.

If you ask any groom what part of the wedding concerns him the most, he is likely to say the food. One trend that grooms can really get behind is serving comfort food, especially for the cocktail hour. Pigs in blankets on silver platters, sleeves of crispy fresh “pommes frites” (french fries), milkshake shots and mac and cheese cups are all high on the list of things that grooms really love to see on their menu. Serve these foods, and you can bet that your guests will love them as well.

Another idea that grooms really go for is the groom’s cake. These cakes are custom made by specialty bakers in a design that represents an interest of the groom’s. It could be a cake shaped like his dog, or sculpted to look like his favorite car, or even the helmet of his favorite NFL team. The point is that the groom’s cake is one part of the wedding that is all about him, even in the most formal and traditional white wedding. Best of all, the groom’s cake is traditionally chocolate.

Something else that grooms love is to have some sort of activity at the wedding reception, beyond dancing and eating. Casino nights have become a popular form of entertainment at some weddings. It can be done in a very hip sort of way (although not every bride is going to go for this idea, no matter how well it is executed). This can tie in well with groomsmen gifts that have a poker theme. The nice thing about those types of groomsmen gifts is that they are a signal to the groom’s buddies that he still intends to hang with them on poker night after he is married.

The more the groom becomes involved with planning his wedding, the better. It will give him a chance to be a part of the festivities, and it also gives the bride a fresh take on what a wedding should be like. When the bride and groom plan their wedding together, the day will feel even more special to both of them.