Tips for the perfect Wedding Menu

Booking a caterer for a wedding menu and then deciding about the menu has always been a difficult and confusing task. Generally, the toughest task is to pick only some dishes among so many options. For instance, some of the catering services have about more than fifty choices for only the appetizers, and you want to choose only 4-5 dishes. It creates a panic in an already stressful wedding planning activity. And mostly we make mistakes in such situations and get upset later.

To make things bit easier, here we present you 10 simple tips for planning your wedding menu without difficulty.

Select the right cuisine first

This is the first step towards creating a wedding menu. Chinese, Italian, North-Indian, South-Indian- there are many other options available out there.

• Are you going to offer non-veg dishes in the dinner?
• What kind of beverages you would like to offer to your guests?
• Is this a wedding lunch or dinner?

Once you finalize the type of cuisine and ask yourself all the above questions, it becomes a lot easier to pick a perfect catering service accordingly.

Finalize your budget

Yet another very important aspect of any party dinner planning is the budget. It is advisable to have a clear idea of wedding dinner budget. When you know your overall budget, you can make necessary adjustments in advance and avoid unnecessary expenses.

The Season also matters!

Choose the dishes according to the season; for example while choosing fruit salads and desserts, you should see what fruits and vegetables are easily available in that particular time of year. Moreover, if the wedding is taking place in summer season, try including fruit salad and mock tails, but a variety of warm fluids like hot chocolate milk, soups and hot desserts should be served if it’s a monsoon or winter wedding. Warm, milk-based desserts are not suitable for the summer season, because they tend to spoil very easily.

Count your guests

A list of guests should be prepared in advance before you start looking for catering services as all the guests need to be accommodated in your previously fixed budget. So the variety and quality of dishes is basically dependent on the total number of people attending the dinner. Another good thing about having a rough idea about the total guest count is that you can fix your budget as well.

Add the local flavor

Certainly, it is very important to keep the basic tastes of your guests in mind while picking the dishes for a dinner party. Try to include some of the most-popular local desserts or curries, depending on the basic tastes of your family and friends. Don’t forget to take some sample in order to make sure that your selections are satisfactory or not. You can make your wedding menu a complete culinary fair by creating a menu that includes regional specialties.

Choose the appetizers wisely

It is to be noted that the starters that you select will give the very first idea to your guests about the whole dinner. Therefore, you should pick those starters very cleverly. Don’t try to include too many starters if budget is not allowing you to do so. Include some of the wisely picked starters. As you already know that the starters are the dishes that most of the people like to have, it is not very heavy on stomach.

Your guests should also eat the main course of your dinner and dessert later, so keep the starters light.
However, it has become a trend nowadays to serve heavy appetizers/starters before the main course. This idea works well for budget weddings as your guests can still get satisfied with those delicious starters without even tasting the main course.

Variety of salads

Nowadays people have started getting very health conscious, so vegetable and fruit salads make a significant portion of their diet. Try to put a minimum of 2-3 different varieties of salads in the wedding menu. Italian food like macaroni and pasta can also be added in salads and it adds more variety to the spread in general and enhances the taste as well.

The main course

The most essential part of the entire wedding menu on the wedding day is the main course. Try to make a good balance of variety in terms of the number and types of dishes. Make sure that you have chosen some of the most popular dishes of your region along with other delicacies for this special occasion.

Variety of breads

There are so many varieties of Indian breads beyond plain fulka! Rotis, naans, parathas etc. are usually served with some heavy paneer curries. Make good combinations of different types of rotis and spicy curries, and make your mind on what all varieties to serve at the dinner.

Variety of sweets and ice-creams

Desserts are considered as a very significant part of almost every Indian wedding menu and mostly the small kids look forward to it. Certainly you would not want to disappoint them so try to include a good variety of ice creams in your wedding day dinner menu. Always make it a point to add some common ice-cream flavours to keep everyone satisfied. At least 2 -3 traditional Indian sweets (mithai) such as ras-malai, rasgulla or gulab-jamun should be served too.

Presentation

Presentation of the food is as important as the food itself. Ask your caterer to provide you some fabulous-looking dinner tables. Use your imagination and creativity to present food on those beautifully decorated tables.

Remember that even the simplest food offered in a graceful and elegant manner can give a more unforgettable dining experience than a huge variety of dishes. You can win your guests heart with very few yet fantastic dishes. Great food is an important part of an Indian wedding celebration and people like to talk about it for years, so you should plan your wedding menu very wisely and carefully.