Tip of the Day #16: Wedding Food Trends That Should Be Retired
Tip of the Day #16: Wedding Food Trends That Should Be Retired Happy Friday wedding world! As promised, I will be continuing with my series of posts on wedding trends that should be retired to the white ceremony aisle in the sky. Since I just polished off a savory breakfast sandwich and latte, I feel that it is only fitting for today's tips to focus on food trends.
Chocolate Fountains Aside from being extremely unsanitary and a breeding ground for germs, chocolate fountains are reminiscent of bad 80's teased hair -- you are intrigued by the concept but know that it is just wrong to partake. I have been witness to finger swipes and double dips in chocolate fountains at weddings and can't emphasize enough how tired the trend has become.
Chocolate Fountain Alternative: Instead of setting up a chocolate fountain, offer a selection of petite fours and various gourmet chocolates. High end chocolatiers like Jacques Torres have an interesting takes on the standard confections and are able to please the most discerning of palettes with offerings like champagne truffles, chocolate infused with earl grey tea and dark chocolate with chipotle chile.
Eight Tier Wedding Cakes When I saw this image of a wedding cake, my first instinct was to take a running dive and jump onto the cake. Wedding cakes have become so absurdly (and unnecessarily) lavish. Wedding cakes almost never taste good and fondant can be described as "chewy and waxy" at best. Skip the three thousand dollar cake with shooting sparklers and opt for a simpler, more savory array of desserts.
Wedding Cake Alternative: I still love the idea of single-serving cupcakes at weddings. Take cupcakes a step further and incorporate interesting flavors like cinnamon sugar, chocolate marshmallow, banana cream pie and salted caramel. I have also seen brides serve a variety of homemade pies, cakes and other little homemade bake goods in place of a traditional wedding cake. If you don't have the baking bug, a series of bakery-bought pies and standard cakes will make your dessert table appeal to the sweet tooth of all of your guests.
Pop Culture Cocktails: I am so over the Appletini and Cosmopolitan trends. No one in their right mind truly wants to guzzle a glowing neon green cocktail. If I do recall, the ladies of Sex and the City brought back the Cosmopolitan in the 1990s. Ladies, the 90's are roughly TWENTY years behind us - it's time to move on.
Pop Culture Cocktail Alternatives: Take a cue from seasonal favorites and stretch your signature wedding cocktails. Cool, refreshing drinks like lemonade margaritas and gin shandys provide respite from the hot sun at summer weddings. Cocktails like spiked hot chocolate and honey bourbon will appease your winter wedding guests.
Unappetizing Hors D'oeuvres: I still can't let go of comfort food served as appetizers but am so over the standard presentation of wedding staples like pigs in a blanket, sliders, chicken satay and crab cakes. There is nothing more uncomfortable than eating chicken satay and awkwardly holding a pointy foot-long stick in your hand until a server makes his rounds again to collect your trash.
Appetizer Alternatives: Chefs and caterers alike should take note from progressive New York based catering company Scoozi Events who has mastered the art of keeping appetizers fun and easy to eat. Scoozi's amazing Ceviche is entirely edible and perfect for one to two clean bites of food, sans trash or messy dripping sauce. Ask your wedding caterer to incorporate edible pastry cups, endive leaves and scooped out fruit and vegetables into totally edible appetizers.
Pigs at a Trough: I am the first to admit I love to indulge at weddings. I would, however, like to retire the trend of absurd cocktail hour buffets stockpiled with everything but the kitchen sink. No one needs to eat a selection of every food group before a main meal and the catering budget, in my opinion, should be reserved for a stellar main course. Make sure you plan the pacing of your food and beverage service at your wedding so guests don't feel burdened by eating when food is present. You also want to make sure that you have small bites available during lulls in your wedding so guests don't become famished. A hearty, tasty main course served around 8 p.m. perfectly compliments a night of dancing and socializing.
Trough Alternative: Cocktail hour appetizers should be limited to about five passed dishes that are enough to satiate a slight pang of hunger but not enough to drive you to pull off your Spanx before the wedding reception. Instead of focusing on guests filling up their plates with cocktail hour food, work with your wedding caterer to put a signature touch on each of your main course dishes to keep guests buzzing about the quality, not quantity of your wedding food.