One of the most important decisions you’ll make about your wedding is the menu – no matter whether you’ve invited a few close friends, or the entire extended family, they’re all sure to remember what you served them. Even the style of menu itself can make an impression – are you after a sit-down meal with fixed seating arrangements, or something more casual like a buffet and open tables? Whatever you decide, David’s Catering can work with you to find your perfect wedding entree ideas.
How To Choose Your Menu
While the standard idea of a wedding menu is a few set courses – soup, followed by chicken, vegetables and potatoes, for instance – this has changed a lot in the past few years. Couples are being far more inventive, both in style and flavour! The first thing to decide is what kind of meal you want.
If you’re aiming for an elegant, classic feel you’re probably safest with a traditional seated meal, with three or five courses depending on just how fancy you’d like it to be!
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This has the advantage of allowing you to have quite strict seating arrangement (useful if you know not everyone attending gets along!), and if you want to offer a few different meals, you can plan in advance by asking people their choices on your invitations.
This isn’t for everyone – perhaps you’d prefer something a bit less formal, with more freedom of movement for your guests. In this case, you might be more interested in a buffet – this is also good for offering a range of options, or if you know you have a few fussy eaters.
It also doesn’t mean you can’t have a central option – buffets can work really well with a centerpiece such as roast turkey or pork loin.
There’s also the in between option – a ‘family style’ way of serving, where the food is placed centrally on each table and then shared out. This can work with a variety of food styles, though they should ideally be something that won’t need too much heating!
Once you’ve chosen the style of meal you want, it’s time to start looking at the menu itself. Since a wedding is a reflection of the couple, why not start by thinking about what you like and dislike? Perhaps you have a favorite meal, or perhaps a certain kind of food reminds you of your first date!
This can be a great place to start getting ideas – and once you have one key dish or course decided, the rest are much easier. If you have a fondness for Italian, then that’s the entrees and the mains decided – and a buffet-style spread of Italian meats and cheese is sure to be memorable!
One of the trickier bits of the menu can be deciding on the entree – you want something tempting, but not filling, inspiring but not distracting.
Wedding Entree Ideas
Once you’ve decided on the style of meal you want, it should help narrow down entree options. For a buffet menu, something small and easy to eat standing, or during conversation is ideal, whilst for a three course seated meal, you can go for something a little more complex.
It’s worth taking into account the season too – if you’re getting married in spring or summer, your guests will likely prefer a lighter, cold entree.
That said, no matter the season, you can’t go wrong with salad. Whether it’s a homely fresh garden style salad, or something a little different (lentils and goats cheese, anyone?), a salad is crisp, fresh and even includes vegetarians.
Of course, for a winter or autumn wedding, you’ll want a warmer, more homely feel – and that’s where something like grilled corn or stuffed mushrooms might come in.
Again, it’s important to remember to avoid anything too heavy – after all, we want to leave room for that main course – but these entrees will leave your guests satisfied.
You can always theme your entree to the theme too – and one of the most on-trend themes at the moment is a rustic vibe.
Whether you’re getting married in a barn, or simply adding a touch of the outdoors with a wildflower bouquet, you can use your entrees to invoke a feeling of down-to-earth, honest goodness – and BBQ wings or pulled pork can be a great way to do this.
It’s also a little bit different from your usual wedding fare, but without being so exotic that people might be scared to try it.
Much as theming can be important, don’t be afraid to go wild and have a variety – a tightly controlled menu is a joy, but so too can be a ‘pot luck’ style affair with a bit of everything.
You could even have a few stations for different styles of food – just make sure you keep at least one or two entrees vegetarian or suitable for any allergy sufferers you might invite!
Conclusion
Whatever you decide to do, remember that a good caterer will be able to work with you, whilst sharing their expertise. If you’re not confident choosing the entire menu yourself, they should be able to take your ideas and build on them – and they’ll be able to help you stick to your budget too.
You can even save yourself a bit of time by having your caterer do both the wedding and the rehearsal dinner – they’ll be able to create different, but complementary menus that make your wedding a truly memorable occasion.
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