Wedding planning can be stressful.What’s the most stressful part of planning a wedding? Some people say it’s picking their flowers, while others will argue it’s trying to find a venue. Still other people contend that the most stressful part is determining the guest list.
There is one piece of the wedding planning puzzle that doesn’t need to be stressful at all: the menu.
Here’s how you can make planning your wedding menu a stress-free affair.
Know Yourself
What style of wedding are you going for? Do you want a big to-do, with all the traditional trappings, like first dances, couple introductions, and so on? Or are you angling for a cozier, low-key affair?
While your budget will also play into your food options, the option you choose should reflect you and your vision for your wedding day. Cocktail parties are great for being less formal than a sit-down dinner,and can be just as filling as a buffet with stations and uniquehors d'oeuvres. Buffets can be great options if you have lots of picky eaters or adventurous palates to please, but they’re not a great idea if your guest list is hundreds of names long.
Once you’ve decided on what kind of food offerings you want—a sit-down dinner or a backyard BBQ—you can think more about the menu items themselves.
Know Your Budget
The next step in planning your wedding menu is setting a budget. This will likely form a significant portion of your overall wedding budget, especially if you have lots of guests on the list. If you’re trying to do things on a budget, you’ll likely know that a cocktail party is less expensive than a sit-down dinner, but you can still pay a pretty penny for fancy hors d’oeuvres. Knowing your budget will help you determine what kind of food options you can have on your menu.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Planning a meal for even the most intimate of gatherings can be difficult, especially if your aunt considers herself a culinary expert with a refined palate and your kid cousin hates everything but hot dogs. Some people are willing to branch out and try anything, while others want to stick to the traditional.
More pressingly, some of your guests may have dietary restrictions or food allergies, which you must take into account.
That’s why you need your guest list in hand before you start planning your menu. Once you know who’s invited to the wedding, you can start planning what you will feed them!
What’s in Season?
Even if you’re not big on the idea of farm-to-table and your wedding isn’t set in a rustic venue, you’ll want to consider what’s in season as you’re planning your wedding menu. The menu for a winter wedding should look different than the menu for one in June.
There are plenty of reasons why you should ask what would be in season for your menu. First and foremost, it will likely please your guests—nobody wants ice-cold lemonade on an ice-cold January day. Cooking tends to centre on what is in season anyway—because the ingredients will be fresh, flavourful, and readily available. That can also mean the food will cost you a little less—if your caterer doesn’t need to truck in strawberries in the dead of winter, you’ll likely find the menu a little more affordable.
Team Up
You are working with a caterer, right? If not, you should be! Great caterers can not only help you plan a fantastic menu, but they alsoknow what will work for your budget and venue, help you stick to your budget, and ensure that everything goes off without a hitch when it comes time to actually dish up the food.
