Wedding plans? Express yourself!

Wedding menu planning catches up with the times

Barrows House Family Style platters. (Photo: Hannah Photography)

By Nicole S. Colson

Conventionality when planning a wedding menu is a thing of the past. The modern bride and groom care far less about following what’s customary; they want to express themselves with the food they serve.

Prime rib and chicken are the traditional check-a-box choices for guests on a wedding invitation, but couples today are thinking way outside the box in favor of far more exciting food options for those celebrating with them. The rule in contemporary wedding fare: There are no rules. That means the traditional plated meal has taken a back seat to a variety of more casual alternatives. It’s anything goes. Caterers and event planners will work with the couple’s wish list to the best of their abilities… and that wish list is particularly specific, thanks to such apps as Pinterest and WeddingWire.

While each event is designed to be unique, several trends have emerged in the wedding menu.

Sharon Myers Fine Catering. (Photo: Jason Henske)

Food trucks

A popular idea is hiring a food truck to set up at the wedding.

That is Dosa Kitchen’s specialty. The Brattleboro food truck, which opened a restaurant in the space adjacent to Peter Havens in early February 2019, can drive to a venue and set up to serve wedding-friendly fare.

The truck serves mini-dosas (a dosa is the South Indian version of the crêpe) in different varieties such as Kashmiri chili and turmeric with herbs and a choice of chutney (coconut, tomato, Grafton cheddar, and local apple are among them). Also available on the wedding menu are curry rice bowls and biryani, a marinated meat and rice dish.

Tara Pollio, of Tara Pollio Event Design in Manchester, said she’s seen booked craft beer trucks at her weddings along with trucks that serve everything from dumplings to wood-fired pizza. The trucks are especially popular, she added, for providing late-night snacks.

“The real party is the after-party,” she said.

Dosa Kitchen

Food stations

Another sought-after food request isn’t about the type of food, it’s the method of serving it couples want. It’s food stations, which Sharon Myers of Sharon Myers Fine Catering in Brattleboro explained are a little different from a long buffet—and a long buffet line.

“At stations there are plates at each location,” she said. “You’re supposed to revisit them.”

Pollio planned a wedding last summer with themed food stations.

“There was no assigned seating so it felt like a longer cocktail hour,” she said. She added that the make-your-own stations included french fries with various toppings, sausage sandwiches, and poke bowls.

“It’s more interactive,” she said of the self-serve style.

Heather Hassett, of Bringing You Vermont, a gift shop and café in Bennington, offers catering services.

Many couples want food stations set up at their event. Among Hassett offerings are a baked/mashed potato bar with an array of toppings such as mango chutney, candied bacon jam, and shredded mozzarella, and a pasta station with different choices of pasta and sauces.

“People want a lot of options,” she said.

Dina Bronson, of Manchester, offers private catering services.

“We do whatever people want,” she said. “But stations can be budget friendly.”

The list of asks she’s gotten from couples for stations include tacos, barbecue, and a raw bar with oysters and other seafood.

Passed appetizers

Waitstaff circulating trays of amuse-bouche isn’t new, but the well of ideas for these little bites now runs much deeper and, again, revels in the casual.

Pollio has seen the upscale passed appetizer. For instance, a radish with fresh smear of goat cheese. But she’s also seen comfort food such as mini-slider burgers and mac-and-cheese bites during cocktail hour. The presentation might be a bit more rustic—on a wooden board or log, for instance.

One of Hassett’s biggest sellers: caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato, and basil) on an individual pita round with a balsamic drizzle.

“It’s pleasing to the palette and the eye,” she said.

Copper Grouse Vegan/Vegetarian. (Christian Oth Photography)

Family-style

An alternative to the plated meal is family-style platters heaped with food, which guests can pass around at each table.

“Farm-to-table is big,” said Pollio. “There will usually be platters of fresh meats, vegetables, and starches and sometimes the waiter will come and serve it.”

Pollio has seen cheese boards—again, served on a rustic piece of wood—presented in place of traditional centerpieces, and with either fruit or antipasto-style with olives and cured meats.

Zach Corbin, chef at Peter Havens in Brattleboro, said in addition to a farm-to-table menu, couples are asking for seasonal offerings: pumpkin dishes for a fall wedding, strawberries and fresh vegetables in the summer.

Bronson seeks out local produce and meats for her menus.

Dessert bars

Adapting to special diets remains a strong trend in planning wedding menu, from vegan and vegetarian to nut- and gluten-free choices.

These requests often extend to dessert, the one part of the wedding meal that arguably has been turned on its head the most in recent years.

“Wedding cake has taken a sidestep,” said Pollio. Instead, sweetscapes featuring such items as cupcake towers, pies, cookies, brownies, candy and make-your-own ice cream sundaes have taken the place of the tiered wedding cake with fondant icing.

Leda Scheintaub of Dosa Kitchen offers Leda’s Ladoos for dessert. These are aromatic Indian sweets with a mixture of organic nuts, fruits, seeds, and spices sweetened with maple syrup, honey, and dates. She offers a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dusted with Kashmiri chili powder.

Hassett makes traditional wedding cakes and is fielding an uptick in orders for a small two-tiered cake to use for cutting. Her specialty: a gluten-free chocolate ganache cake. Couples might want a dessert bar or a simpler, more economical sheet cake to keep in the kitchen and serve to guests in addition to the cutting cake.

Couples also have asked Hassett for candy bars for guests to make their own layered wedding favors.

“People can be more interactive,” she said.

Although Myers works with a lot of couples who prefer wedding pies to cake, just as many ask her for a tiered cake. Even if they want pies, she said, couples want a cutting cake for show: standouts in such flavors as lemon, chocolate, and carrot, with real buttercream frosting.

Hassett, who pointed out that casual and simple can be elegant at the same time, said this type of wedding is personal and lends itself toward a more relaxed self-serve style, freeing the bride and groom to more fully enjoy their special day.

“It’s a time of connection,” she said. “Without the formal meal, couples have more time with their guests to enjoy dancing, eating, drinking, and having fun. They’re paying attention to the meaning of what they’re doing.”