Wedding Dinner Ideas
6 Wedding Dinner Ideas You’ll Flip For
Once upon a time, when it came to wedding menus, there was chicken, there was steak, and if you were outrageously hip and daring, there was fish. Today’s wedding menus run the gamut from simply elegant hors d’oeuvres to trendy hot bars to semi-casual buffet service. You can also opt for table seating with service by a wait staff, or choose to have butlers serving wine and cocktails. The beauty of having a charter yacht wedding is the ability to fully control how formal, how long, and how involved your wedding dinner menu is. Here’s some stellar ideas for rocking that reception without being anchored to boring … uh, we mean traditional fare.
1. Serve Them Breakfast at the Reception Dinner
IHOP has nothing on you. Blueberry pancakes, omelets, and hot, fresh bagels for dinner? Sign us up! A breakfast buffet is an excellent way to assure that your guests are filled to their liking. Whether they are the simple muffin kind of person or enjoy stuffing with sausage, bacon, and French toast, a breakfast buffet reception satisfies the pickiest of guests.
2. Up the Ante with Hot Bars
Hot bars are all the rage, especially for weddings. Pick from options like:
• Cheese and crackers
• Fresh fruit or vegetables
• Carved meats
• Sushi or seafood
• Potatoes
• Burgers
• Caviar
• Pasta
• Antipasto
• Tacos and nachos
• Desserts, ice cream sundaes, and chocolate fountains
4. Cocktails and Hors d’Oeuvres
Keep things elegantly simple with butler-style hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. You can opt for light fare — such as cheeses, fruit and veggies, and breads — or go for heartier cuisine, like skewers, stuffed mushrooms, mini quiches and pancakes, and meatballs. For drinks, you can serve an uncomplicated menu of champagne with red and wines, or a full selection of cocktails and mixed drinks. The cocktail and hors d’oeuvres option is ideal for shorter yacht weddings and weddings scheduled later in the evenings.
5. The Seated Dinner
Serving a plated dinner is an excellent way to both keep costs under control and to manage the reception schedule. For example, if your charter yacht wedding is slated to last 4 hours, you can’t afford to allow guests to mill about too long at the buffet tables, because that will run any entertainment, games, or photo sessions you planned behind. Seated dinners are also considered more formal, and guests who come wearing those incredibly expensive tuxedos and dresses won’t have to worry about spilling sauce or salad dressing on their pricey duds.
6. Cater to a Diverse Guest List
Today’s couples often have people in their lives who adhere to strict dietary regimens, whether those restrictions are due to health reasons, religious reasons, or moral reasons. Common issues for today’s wedding planners include family members with severe allergies, friends who adhere to Kosher or halāl diets, vegetarians and vegans, and those who must eat gluten-free, dairy-free, or sugar-free diets. You can accommodate all of these groups by working closely with your wedding planner. They can help you select a full buffet menu that includes both red meat and poultry, gluten-free options, and menu items that contain no meat, dairy, or other animal-based ingredients. Be sure to mark tables or individual dishes as “vegan,” “gluten free,” or “clean whole foods.”
Be sure to include mention of the reception in the wedding invitations. This might mean adding a special RSVP card with an area for guests to indicate their dietary restrictions and preferences.
With a little planning ahead of time, you can choose the perfect wedding dinner menu for all your guests (and you, too!) to enjoy and remember. Planning a NYC Yacht Wedding? Contact us today! and
