After months (or years) of planning a wedding, most brides get so wrapped up in the little details of the day that they might forget what the guests really care about: the food and the party. Sure, the guests want to see the bride and groom proclaim their love to one another, but when is the last time someone talked about a wedding and said, “I will never forget the melodramatic pause he added as the bride and groom exchanged rings. Did you notice the wonderful intonation in the priest’s voice during the pronouncement of marriage?”
In reality, the things that stick in the guests’ minds tend to involve taste—the food, the cake, the open bar. While the cake is generally about the bride and groom’s personal taste and the need for an open bar is self-explanatory, the food is all about the guest. Somehow, the bride and groom must pick a menu that will satisfy many taste buds without breaking the budget. Here are three things to keep in mind when planning your spring wedding buffet:
1. Consider the cold
With the onset of spring, not every dish needs to be piping hot. One of the biggest buffet blunders is choosing dishes that will not stand up to heat. Sure, a medium rare beef tenderloin is delicious, but once it’s been sitting on the buffet table for 20 minutes it becomes overcooked, dry, and chewy. Stay away from foods that will overcook easily when heated (beef, lamb, and some fish) and instead incorporate them into a cold dish. Why not try beef carpaccio with fresh tomatoes or cold, jumbo shrimp with radish and lemon? Your guests will get their protein fix without needing a chainsaw to cut through their meat.
2. Bring on the bounty
People respond well to abundance and choice. Even if you can only afford a few main options, there are other ways to visually amp up a buffet table and keep your guests guessing. For example, whole fruit is beautiful and tasty. A bowl fuzzy ripe peaches can take the place of a tired fruit salad and take up physical space. This can be especially useful if there are a lot of guests and therefore, multiple buffet tables. Martha Stewart suggests one buffet table for every 50 people, which could mean a lot of empty table space. A basket of sweet spring cherries could be the solution. Just don’t forget a bowl for those pits!
3. Don’t be afraid to get a little messy
Stuffy food makes for stuffy conversations among strangers. Why not get your guests laughing by offering them food that’s fun? All pretenses immediately disappear when everyone at the table is fighting a particularly wily lobster claw or covered in barbecue sauce from some tender baby back ribs. As long as you offer bibs and wet naps to keep everyone’s clothes looking crisp, I guarantee that your guests won’t be missing the beef Wellington.
Buffets are an easy way to present many options and are great because they allow guests to keep coming back for more. I’ve certainly heard the word “tacky” thrown out in reference to wedding buffets, but with a little forethought, buffets can be an elegant and fun success.
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