While the Signature Drink is so yesterday, the updated version pays homage to both the bride and the groom. If one is good… TWO is even better! So move over signature drink and make room for the bride to pick her favorite and the groom to pick his. Pairings can be exotic; imagine a Cosmo or Lavendar Martini for her served along side a Jagermeister or a Jager Bomb for him. Take it a step further and include a pairing. Consider a Syrah paired with a Dark Chocolate Truffle and a drink from yester-years, the Manhattan along side a cigar. And you don’t have to always think about alcoholic drinks as many people are now lending selections as non-alcoholic drinks or even a small root-beer float shooter? The combinations are endless and will give your guests a taste of your favorite drinks as well as something to talk about.
Going through the new Trend Brochure “Die Schönheit des Augenblicks” (The beauty of the moment), I realized they are concentrating on four things this year, “Authentic”, “Optimistic”, “Eccentric” and “Graphic”. I am thinking to myself can this be applied to our food? Can we use the color trend or home decoration trend toward our wedding menu?
We all know there is a huge interest now a day on ethnic foods and authentic flavors. People are looking for quality and freshness. They want to feel good even on a night that they are not suppose to watch what they eat or drink. My thoughts are, why not do both. There is nothing wrong with an Organic Tomato Bloody Mary, a light calorie beer or grass fed piece of meat.
As I’m learning how people are getting more and more educated about health and the fact that not only being healthier is good for them but also is “trendy & chic” , I discover one more thing, people also want the real thing! For example I am one of those people that if I think of cheese, I want the best and the healthiest out there. If I want a glass of wine, I want the best low calorie wine; especially if it’s local…compromising on quality vs. quantity is not in my system. Lately almost 95% of my brides and grooms rather pay more for a better wine, a better piece of meat or a good organic vegetarian plate then before.
Here are some of the food trends I am seeing and I believe they will continue to 2011:
Miniature desserts and retro sweets, miniature loaves of bread and delicately flavored baked goods, snacks and condiments.
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When planning your wedding, keep it green by serving up eco-friendly libations at the bar! Ask your caterers and bartenders to serve organic spirits along with local and organic bar fruits and juices. Depending on where your wedding is – see if your caterer would be willing to freshly squeeze your juices as well. You can also look into a local wineries and some fun local breweries to stock your bar. Get the best suggestions from your caterer for quantities and make suggestions as needed to be in line with your style and budget!
There’s nothing that says summer more than a chilled slice of watermelon on a hot summer day…but did you know that watermelon is making it’s way into many elegant wedding menus this year in a variety of savory and sweet presentations? From specialty cocktails, to appetizers and greek salads, even some amazing chilled soups, this season’s watermelon is so much more than a slice on a fruit display!
In the realm of shooters, many cold soups abound with watermelon infusion to entertain your pallate. Zambistro Catering of New York offers a refreshing lemongrass watermelon shooter on their cold appetizer list, and Good Food Catering Company out of Tampa recently served Watermelon Gazpacho shooters at a summer wedding. For the recipe visit their blog here.
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Upcoming nuptials bring about more reasons to celebrate than any other event in life…and one of my favorite fetes surrounding a wedding is the engagement party! Here we can celebrate the newness, the promise, the future…try out some ideas floating for the wedding reception, and still have a more relaxed take on the event. Bride and Groom can revel in the attention, and interface with a more intimate number of close family and friends. It gets the party started so to speak.
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The things that most make what I do every day worth it, are the smiles, hugs and sincere thanks we receive from our clients at the end of the day. I know that may sound cliche, but ours is a very laborious and physically taxing business at times, with long hours invested well before and after each event, and that our clients acknowledge that, matters….ALOT.
That said…I recently read a very scathing diatribe against caterers by Time’s food critic Josh Ozersky, who wrote that essentially caterers aren’t good cooks, but rather ineffectual, hacks who serve cardboard food at premium prices. He went on to say that most bridal couples would be better serviced by hiring various restaurant chef’s to prepare their wedding food based upon the chef’s area of expertise. For example– artisan bread from one, authentic lasagne from another, specialty meat from yet another, and so on.
My first reaction was anger at his use of an infinitive to describe the food and service of ALL caterers as a whole. My second reaction was laughter at the mental picture this take-out style reception elicited as the bridal couple drove from restaurant to restaurant picking up their pre-ordered house specialty and rushing to get it to their reception. Not to mention the sobering moment I had when I began to contemplate the amount of money (and carbon footprint) that would be spent for the products of these restaurants.
Bear with me as I step up on my soapbox now for just a moment…I wanted to share a weekend in the life of the average caterer because it is ever SO much more than just food prep.
It is preparing, gathering, packing and anticipating the equipment your reception will require, and loading it into vans and trucks.
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Rachael and Jake were married on a day filled with torrential Spring rainfall. Such heavy rainfall that satin tablecloths and chaircovers were a major concern. However, in the true magical fashion inherent to wedding days, the sun appeared just in time for this lovely ceremony filled with lush florals, cultural blending and scrumptious food- erasing all thoughts of storm clouds.
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In honor of Earth Day this month, I wanted to focus my final conference recap on the amazing professional education I received in the realm of eco-friendly catering practices. Always a big proponent of green and eco-friendly awareness within my own company, I came away from the conference with a renewed commitment to sustainability and Farm-to-table food preparations. Brides seeking eco-friendly wedding services should certainly be amazed by the strides made within the catering industry of late, and should find a growing number of viable vendor options as awareness continues to grow.
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There was so much eye candy in that last linen post of the tabletop variety, that I had to stretch out the good stuff and keep it coming. In this last linen resource post, I’ll introduce you to three more amazing linen resources servicing the national market.
First up: La Tavola Linens
I swooned at the La Tavola display at the tradeshow. Their amazing range of linens, coupled with the lush and delectable floristry by designer Michael Mantalos of LouLoudi design, made my heart race. From the trendy eco-friendly succulents atop an unusual combination of white battenburg and soft burlap linen, to the stunning roses featured on a hot pink communal table, there was just so much to love!
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One of the things that I really focused on while at the tradeshow, was gathering exemplary linen resources for our readers. I know this is a reception decor area of great interest to our bride readers, and I wanted to be able to report back with a “who’s who” of linen company resources for you. Some of the companies I will profile in this two part entry my catering company has utilized, and some we were excited to discover!
First up: Mosaic
Located in my hometown of Pittsburgh, I have had the opportunity to experience first hand the high quality, superior products that this linen firm has to offer. Shipping direct to brides and caterers nationwide, their tag line says it all: “Your vision. Our linens.” They truly have something for every theme, color scheme or event style! The inspiration board above features some sizzling black and white events, along with fabric samples of their Black with White Azalea (bottom left) and the White Black Lusso (top center). I’ve also included a snap of their display from the tradeshow (top right) that barely scratches the surface of the amazing range of fabrics available in their collections!
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