planning a wedding meal
Planning Your Wedding Meal in 2021/22
photo credit: Akos Babenyecz
If there is one thing for certain the last year has forced a lot of changes for a lot of couples. Whether you just got engaged or you are replanning a postponed wedding you may be considering the post-pandemic wedding trends that are going to affect your day.
I’m Colleen and I run Sainlo Events, a wedding catering company, this is my take on how your meal might work in your 2021/22 wedding.
So, let’s talk a little bit about what was happening in weddings before all of this.
We noticed that lots of our couples were opting for sharing style platters for their wedding breakfast. Our most popular menu being a mixed grill style platter (with veggie and vegan options too of course) and a selection of grain salads and sides.
This style of menu is fantastic for breaking the ice and gives a really social dining experience as people swap salads and platters to get the bits they love the most. In addition, dessert platters and grazing tables were all the rage in 2019 - social dining was the word du jour!
Now, the intake of breath when I said “sharing platter” was almost audible after the year we’ve just experienced, and I think it’s really likely that this is one of a few things will change for lots of couples. In particular around food which, while it can’t transmit the virus through cooking, is a source of touch points with hands towards mouths and also the sharing of serving utensils. Although the vaccine is going to give us confidence with our older relatives it does not give us invincibility and its likely that some of the restrictions while more relaxed will still remain as guidance and best practice for a while yet.
Planning Food for Smaller Weddings
photo credit: Akos Babenyecz
This may mean that you reconsider the size of your wedding. Hopefully not as limited on size as the micro-weddings we’ve seen under the restrictions but perhaps not up to the largest weddings we were seeing pre-2020.
If this is you and you are now planning a wedding for fewer guests then take heart - this can really open up your options.
Plated meals for really large numbers, while impressive, do present a number of challenges. Not least getting everyone served in a reasonable time frame, and making sure all the food arrives in tip-top condition and up to temperature. It can be done but it takes a lot of resource in terms of staffing. Your venue space can sometimes impact the practicality of this too. If the new trend is towards a smaller gathering and a pull away from the family style or buffet service you may have options to really invest in a delicious, restaurant-quality meal for your wedding breakfast.
So what about Canapes I hear you cry? You are right, tiny food is quite simply the most delicious of all the foods! so what can we do to ensure this can be served safely? I think caterers will start to give thought to something along the lines of canapé bouquets, by which I mean serving the full canapé selection as a beautifully presented individual portion to each guest. That way you can decide how many you serve per person and waiting staff would serve the full selection to each individual - no touching - very much the theme of the era.
If you would still like to serve an amuse bouche while you get your portraits done why not challenge your caterer to come up with an option that fits the guidelines, as they stand for your wedding date, while serving something pretty that will also appear novel to your guests?
Another option would be a more substantial bowl food menu at this point, which is served individually, and could become a hybrid between your canapes and a starter. We seriously love a bowl food menu at Sainlo Events because it gives you the chance to try all the food (and us a chance to showcase everything). It can seem as if you may never be full when you look on the face of it but, especially if you have something delicious planned for your main meal, a selection of three bowls and your guests will feel they have eaten like royals!
photo credit: Akos Babenyecz
Social Feel, Safe Delivery
In terms of atmosphere, or if and when we do get back up to full numbers and you feel that the practicalities of a plated menu are not for you, what are the options in 2021 for a social style menu delivered sensibly and safely?
Many of the items on our sharing platters are skewered meaning the need for shared utensils is pretty much eliminated there and it would be worth discussing with your caterer whether the platters could serve fewer people per plate - e.g. a family bubble or at least a limited number and therefore a lower risk factor all round. The sides such as salads could perhaps be served in smaller bowls too - one between two or four could work
What will this mean for service? It may mean that you need more staff on hand to get food out quickly and efficiently or that you need to discuss with your caterer any solutions they may have for addressing the challenges. A lot can be done with a bit of teamwork and a clever use of space.
Or, and I know we've mentioned it before but if you have gone with canape bouquets for your reception (perhaps even if you haven’t) and you really want the sharing platter feel you could do a bowl food menu on a grander scale and simply serve huge platters of a selection of bowl food dishes to the centre of the table - again people serve themselves - but it is limited contact with no shared utensils and no contact with other people’s plates.
This could really have the wow factor desired too as, done well, the bowls can be really pretty and the variety and choice will get everyone talking - a sure fire way to break the ice and kick start the after party.
It is also a really great shot for your wedding photographer to capture - all your guests laughing chatting and swapping recommendations of their favourite of these pretty little dishes!
We have really missed weddings this year. We have missed helping our couples to choose selections that are balanced and tick all the boxes on flavour, while accommodating friends & relatives with more complex dietary needs. There's a real hubbub in the room when a great meal is served, and there has been obvious thought put into it. It's a privilege, as a caterer, to help impact that. We don't know how the wedding landscape will shape up just yet but we're willing to bet that a caterer worth their salt will be able to help you come up with something safe and exciting that gets your tastebuds a jiggle at the thought of it.
photo credit: by Akos Babenyecz
Author Bio
Colleen Sainlo Is Director at Sainlo Events, a family run events catering business that, among other things, caters for weddings both large and small. We specialise in weddings in dry-hire venues bringing in everything you need for the perfect meal and serving up a something delicious and perfectly tailored to you.
Sainlo Events is co-owned by Colleen and Michelin-trained-Chef Husband Jean-Luc Sainlo. They are all about making mealtimes easy. Together they lead you through every step of planning your wedding breakfast, carefully guiding you through each step and making sure that everyone is catered for professionally and to the highest possible standard.
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Images credits: by Akos Babenyecz www.chefwithcamera.com IG @Chef_with_Camera