Best Food Ideas for Wedding Receptions
Weddings are not all morning weddings or evening weddings, they can be held at different times of the day and obviously the food served will differ. It is important that you know what kind of foods to have served to match the time of your wedding reception. If people come expecting dinner and get only cocktails and finger food you are going to have very unhappy guests.
Make sure that your wedding reception invitation clearly lays out the time of the reception and specifies what the guest is being invited to whether cocktails or lunch or dinner. Some wedding ceremonies take place early in the morning and a buffet breakfast may be served, so guests should know what to expect.
Let us take receptions in the order of the day and see what the best foods to be served for each meal are.
Morning receptions are one of the easiest to cater for. You are not going to be giving your guests steaks and roasts so food choices get simplified. You can arrange for a traditional breakfast to be served which includes fruit, cereals, cured meats and a selection of eggs. Beverages will consist of coffee, tea and juices and this sort of meal will really keep the cost down. You may want to serve wine, champagne, bucks fizz or mimosas if your budget runs to it.
If your wedding is late morning around 11 am or so, you could consider a brunch. This will require some mainstream foods being served together with a few breakfast selections. It could be a champagne brunch or you could stick with wine or mimosas to take care of the beverages.
Evening receptions are for the most part expensive because you have to serve a full dinner and guests who are invited to an evening wedding certainly expect it. Here the food will need to consist of steaks or roasts, cold cuts, salads, maybe some pasta choices. Often couples choose the food to blend with the theme of the reception. If you have for example a Mexican theme you will need to serve some Mexican food as well. You could serve snack items like nachos and salsa dip and then have the regular foods served. Chinese food goes down well with most people; a pork roast, rack of lamb or roast chicken could make up the main course.
Buffet style receptions are becoming increasingly proper as they tend to get rid of the very formal air created by sit down meals. Buffets are good for any time of the day and you can serve pastas, chicken, meat or pork dishes that stay well.