Receptions

Choosing a venue for your reception and party, as well as choosing a menu, can be stressful for many couples. The meal is probably the second most anticipated part of the overall day after the actual ceremony itself, and the one part of the day that everyone will remember if it is not up to standard.

If you’re currently faced with the age old wedding catering dilemma of ‘chicken or fish’, we are just going to stop you right there! Your wedding reception is the perfect time to express your personalities, whether it is with a current trending food theme or including your favourite food for the wedding breakfast.

Your magical wedding ceremony is over and your sunset photos have been taken, but your wedding day is far from over – it’s now time to celebrate your love with a feast!

One wedding couple’s stand out buffet menu for me included a dish from every country represented at the wedding. It was a fairly large group of 100+ with guests from 11 countries. The Chef had his work cut out for him, working out a combination of various dishes that all sat well together on a buffet table. The end result? Absolutely delicious, and everyone was so thrilled to see a menu item from their home country.

Interactive food stations are a perennially popular trend. More couples are moving away from a sit-down three or four course dinner where the food is brought to guests by wait staff, and instead having passed canapés in lieu of appetisers or even self-serve food stations during the cocktail hour. Guests still have the opportunity to sit down and enjoy their meal, but there’s less table-time and more mingling time.

If you want to get everyone talking at your wedding reception tables how about serving up sharing platters? Sharing style menus are a great way to get your friends and family interacting on your wedding day. With a more relaxed, family style service, it’s the perfect alternative to the more traditional and formal wedding reception.

Gourmet “grazing stations” are also a popular trend, and they are designed so that couples can set up a few different things to eat, ensuring there is something for everyone, and a catering display that wows their guests. Imagine indulging in a “Champagne & Lobster Bar” – simply stunning, and a treat for the eyes as much as the palette. Or a “Chairman’s Rum & Chocolate Truffle Bar” – two locally produced, award winning products combining to make a sugary mouthful of joy for late night munchies.

Be adventurous with your menu choices and go local! You are coming to the Caribbean for your destination wedding, so what that you have never eaten curry goat before, or green fig and saltfish, or dorado fillet – give it a try, you will love it! Locally sourced food is not only generally healthier, but it tastes a lot better too. Your food will be as fresh as humanly possible as it will not have travelled far from farm to table.

Buffets have been popular since they were first thought of and while they have been used as a way to serve food at weddings for years, it appears that this is a trend that has not died out. Giving guests a larger variety of food and allowing them to eat as much as they want has proven to be a great serving choice both with the wedding party and of course, the guests. Follow this trend and you know your guests will be happy.

Have you ever drunk coconut water straight from a green coconut (or jelly coconut as we call it)? What a novel cocktail hour beverage! Make it really Saint Lucian and have guests add a shot of Chairman’s Reserve Rum to it.

Some of these trends might be perfect for your big day but remember you don’t always need to follow trends, you can make your day unique by serving food and drink in a way that compliments your sense of style and your personalities.