Wedding Reception Catering Trends 2012
Quite often in planning a wedding, every facet of the journey is carefully thought out and well planned with love and personality, until it comes to catering the wedding reception. It’s not uncommon to see couples yield to what is ordinary fare in an otherwise boundless world of catering options. The biggest wedding trend for 2012 – invest in a fantastic food experience. Let Chef Jacki and her team at Patchwork Catering work with you to help create fond food memories that are reflective of you and your guests, because after all, the wedding reception is where most of your wedding dollars are being spent, and while creating a wedding reception food experience may cost somewhat more than traditional catering options, it doesn’t have to break the bank.
Preceremony Refreshments
If your wedding ceremony and reception take place at the same venue or location and there’s a casual mingling about period before guests take their seat, having a table of light refreshments such as mimosas, herb and fruit infused lemonades and ice teas serves as a surprise welcoming to your guests.
Craft Breweries and Local Distilleries, Signature Cocktails and Tasting Tables
There are many interesting options when developing your wedding reception bar. Planning a beer and wine bar only? Consider highlighting craft beers from Maryland brewers or wineries. Wanting to add something with a bit more of a kick for your hooch hound buddies? A customized cocktail suited to the season and menu continues to be a popular option. Looking for something outside the box? Consider a “tasting table” that includes a whiskey, bourbon or aged tequila tasting, a bar menu highlighting local craft distilleries, or tasting of underappreciated wines such as Portuguese wines and ports, or an elegant menu consisting of classic French cocktails can add a unique, fun and interactive touch to traditional open bar offerings.
Cocktail Reception Menus
When it comes to hors d’oeuvres, anything goes, and what’s trending varies with the season, but one thing is for certain, the more bite sized and easy it is for your guest to eat, the better. From rustic to chic, comfort to classic, hors d’oeuvres set the tone for the rest of the reception, and are a great place to add personal whimsy, creativity or exotic ingredients before the meal.
Food Stations
Inspired food memories, and the food personalities of both the bride and the groom, as well as receptions with multifaceted dietary requirements can most often be transformed into food stations that break out of the standard pasta and carving stations of yesteryear. Whether the food station is reflective of the theme of your wedding, encompasses Southwest, Indian and Thai cuisines in one dinner, or is based on your favorite ingredients, themed food stations serve as both form and function, adding variety to an evening’s dinner plan, accommodating many different guests’ tastes, while at the same time allowing guests to freely move about, mixing, mingling and interacting with each other over an enticing array of presented foods.
Late Night Eats
For those occasions when the party has no time constraints and guests will be dancing until dawn, a popular trend has been late night eats for the late night partygoers. Whether it’s something as simple as milk and cookies as guests depart, or more reflective of your favorite junk foods or street foods for your carousing buddies, providing an interactive build-your-own food station in the form of a slider, taco or pancake bar will provide your guests with yet another stimulating food experience to your reveling party, and is a great way to help keep guests sober and energized, late into the night. You may even consider having your favorite food truck pull up when the initial catering crew has rolled out.
