Planning the perfect wedding day menu can take up a lot of your attention, but it can also be a lot of fun. This is especially true if you are vegetarian and want to introduce your guests to your favourite seasonal vegetables and fruits. Wedding menus are also no longer restricted to the classic filet of beef and twice baked potatoes, so you are free to tickle the taste buds of your guests with Ethiopian or Korean items, Southern or Creole food and just about any other kind of cuisine. When you actually get down to planning the menu, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
Select A Caterer As Early As Possible
Many caterers need advance bookings of as far back as a year, especially if you’re having the reception in the peak wedding month of June. Be sure to select the caterer, get an idea of the menu, sign the contract and ask for a tasting if possible. Some caterers offer free tastings. Also note that some reception venues have a fixed set of caterers they work with, and you’ll have to choose from this list.
Choose A Menu That Means Something To You
Some couples choose menus that have a special significance for them: an Italian-Japanese menu for example, or a meal in a favourite restaurant. If you and your partner have very adventurous palates, however, keep in mind that your guests may not. If you’re including exotic items, you could restrict it to the munchies that you’re serving with drinks.
Image source - behance.net
Include Hors d’oeuvres During The Drinks Reception
You should never let your guests stay hungry for more than three hours, or they won’t enjoy their time waiting for the main meal. Include some delectable hors d’oeuvres during the cocktail hour before the main dinner. This will keep the guests satiated and also prevent drunkenness.
Don’t Stuff Your Guests
You don’t want to feed your guests on a very heavy wedding breakfast so that they’re unable to enjoy themselves on the dance floor later in the evening. Balance out the courses, with light starters and dessert against a heavy main course.
Design A Balanced Course
When you’re choosing your menu items, remember not to have too many items from the same group in the meal. What this means is, if you have seafood starters, don’t include it in the main course. A pastry-based dessert should not be included in a meal in which the main course is a pie. Think about the number of eggs you’re filling your guests with when you serve them both a soufflé starter and a crème brûlée dessert.
Image source - partyplatters.wordpress.com
Think About The Schedule You Have Lined Up
Plan your meals around the day’s schedule. If you plan on dancing into the wee hours of the next morning, your guests may get hungry. A wedding breakfast is a good idea in such a case. Don’t include a full 5-course meal if it is an evening ceremony that you’re having.
Choosing The Service
Your wedding menu can be a self-service buffet with or without stations for different types of food, an elaborate seated dinner and five course meal served by waiters (after a cocktail hour) with either a plate service or a French service. You can also have a family style dinner in which the food is brought to the table in large serving platters and the guests help themselves. Family style service is the least expensive, because you need the smallest staff. But you should keep in mind that the menu items should still taste good at room temperature in this type of dinner.
Course Suggestions For Vegetarians
Vegetarian courses can be very creative, especially since your caterers will be using seasonal ingredients. You can have fresh broccoli, spring lettuces, asparagus and strawberries during a spring wedding in May, corn, blueberries and spicy tomatoes and peppers in summer. You can have root vegetables and comfort food in winter and fall weddings. Some vegetarians do eat fish and shellfish, so lobster can be a great inclusion to your wedding dinner.
Here is a look at some suggestions for vegetarian wedding meals.
Vegetarian Hors d’oeuvres
Stuffed grape leaves
Baba Ganoush with pita bread
Tomato bruschetta brushed with olive oil
Mini spinach quiche
Fruit skewers
Spring rolls with dipping sauce
Bite-sized lobster puffs
Image Source - delicious-knowledge.com
Vegetarian Salads
Caprese salad
Couscous, sun dried fruit and chickpea salad
Red beet tartare
Spinach salad with walnuts, strawberries and balsamic vinegar dressing
Avocado and lobster salad on crisp Fillo shells
Image source: chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.co.uk
Vegetarian Soups
Gazpacho
Potato-leek soup
Tomato and dill soup
Creamy seafood chowder with haddock, scallops and lobster
Image source - allyummyrecipes.com
Vegetarian Entrees
Tofu in ginger plum sauce
Spicy ratatouille over rice
Roasted vegetable lasagne with ricotta, sun dried tomatoes, white beans, broccoli rabe, garlic and chilli
Stuffed butternut squash
Lobster bisque garnished with fresh lobsters
Stuffed peppers with vegetables and rice
Thai vegetable curry with steamed quinoa
Steamed lobster served with butter and lemons
Image source:- veganrecipeclub.org.uk
This article was written by Brena Panin – a full time mum of two beautiful girls and a great animal lover. Besides being simply in love with weddings, she enjoys preparing healthy meals for hear family. Brenda enjoys seeing her readers getting useful information from her articles. Useful information for this text has been kindly provided by North Lakes Resort Golf Club.
When this article came across my inbox, I was excited to share it because as my blog mainly focuses on multicultural and fusion weddings, some religions and cultures do not eat meat. Or they do not eat a certain type of meat, or they don’t eat meat on a certain day. So having a variety of ways to make vegetarian food exciting and appealing was a winner for me. It personally makes me want to try out more mainly vegetarian dishes!
What do you think about an all vegetarian menu? Does this inspire you to suggest more vegetarian options for your wedding menu?
*Featured image source - finedininglovers.com