You’ve booked your venue, and you’re ready to get down to business. Let’s face it—food is one of the main elements of your wedding that guests will be anticipating (along with an endless flow of beverages), and you want to ensure their bellies are full with a really delicious, memorable meal. As the food experience evolves at weddings, the ever-present trend is the desire for couples to customize what they serve so that it perfectly reflects their history and the story that led them to their wedding day. So how might you achieve this?
If you are a couple willing to take a risk and are really passionate about a certain cuisine, you can forgo the traditional wedding dinner and serve something unexpected. Picture your guests in their formal attire, as you surprise them with a decadent brisket, warm cornbread and hearty potato salad. Or, if you are a vegan couple, have your venue chef prepare a nourishing plant-based menu for your guests to enjoy. Your guests will appreciate both the personalization and a new experience they likely wouldn’t have had at another wedding.
If you prefer something more traditional for your main meal, the cocktail reception, late-night stations and dessert are your best bets for really expressing who you are as a couple and what you love. Perhaps the two of you always eat cereal late at night, so why not create a fun late-night cereal bar with your favourite sugar-filled cereals? Or if, for example, you and your partner travelled or lived in Asia, try serving dim sum as your late-night snack, or arranging a Japanese-inspired cocktail reception with sushi, gyoza and a ramen food station.
Wedding food is no longer just about the taste, but also the guests’ experiences interacting with it. A dessert station is a great opportunity to experiment with décor and interaction—for example, you can hang candy apples from a tree that guests can cut down themselves, or cotton candy from an overhead cloud. Don’t be afraid to get creative and create a food experience that will resonate with your guests long after the celebrations. Bon appétit!
Natalie Ho has worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years and is currently is the director of event sales for Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality. She has personally planned 350+ weddings and momentous events. Both creative and business-minded, Natalie is dedicated to growing her events business in out-of-the-box ways.
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