What's For Dinner ? Choosing A Wedding Menu

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Part 1

When it comes to choosing a menu for your wedding, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Whether the facility is catering for you or you are bringing in a caterer, deciding what everyone will eat is kind of a big deal. Not only do you want the food to be delicious and beautifully presented, but you want to make sure that you choose things that most people (hopefully everyone) will enjoy. Below are a few tips to help keep your menu decisions as stress free as possible.



Decide what kind of wedding you want to have. Think about what you want the overall feel of the event to be. Do you want a buffet meal or a plated meal? Are you looking for food stations or an hors d’oeurves reception?

If you are looking for an elegant, classic and mostly traditional wedding, stick with plated. Assign everyone a seat with a menu card to let people know what they can expect. If you want to be even more formal, try serving several courses, such as a plated appetizer, followed by salad, then a soup or sorbet course, and then your entrée. And get creative if you want! Just because it’s a formal meal doesn’t mean it has to be stuffy. Ask if the chef has a signature dish or maybe a comfort food that can be served in a gourmet fashion. For example, I once had a bride who had to have macaroni and cheese at her wedding, but didn’t want it look like a kids meal. So she served a gourmet macaroni and cheese as its own course. Your guests will love that you incorporated a favorite side dish into your meal.

Added benefit: Plated meals take the least amount of time to serve- about an hour from salad to cake, if you serve the traditional three courses - so you can plan to get to the fun stuff as soon as possible!

Looking for something a little more fun? Try food stations. This relatively new trend in food allows your guests to try whatever they want in whatever order they want. Again, this style can lend itself to some really interesting presentations. Make sure you include stations that guests can make a full dinner out of if you are hosting an evening event. For example, you’ll want to include a protein, like a carving station, a starch, like a mashed potato bar or a risotto station, and a green of some kind, such as a large vegetable display or salad station.

Another way to go is offering different cuisines at different stations. Try an Asian station with sushi and spring rolls. Offer an Italian station with an antipasto display and bruschetta selections while a culinary attendant offers your guests made to order pasta dishes. At the American station, present sliders with a toppings bar.

Added benefit: This is a great way to go if you and your fiancé can’t exactly decide on a theme.

Lindsay Sanders is the Catering Services Manager at the Hilton President, Downtown Kansas City’s only AAA Four Diamond Hotel. She coordinates all weddings and wedding related events for the Hilton President, and has been in the hospitality industry for six years.