Wedding Caterers

Wedding Cocktail Food

Whether you decide to forgo a sit down dinner altogether and just provide cocktail food, or you just need to come up with a few nibbles for your cocktail hour, wedding cocktail food can be great fun and a real talking point for your guests. These seven tips will make your canapés and cocktail food stand out from the crowd.

• 1. Keep it simple

  When you start looking at cocktail food menus you will find a variety of foods you may never eat in any other situation. Sea food tends to feature highly along with exotic sauces or spices. Don’t forget your cocktail food can be simple items that you know all your guests will enjoy. Freshly cooked French fries are a perfect example of simple wedding cocktail food. Serve them in shot glasses with a small amount of sauce in the base, or in miniature newspaper cones resting in ice cream cone holders.

• 2. Avoid messy foods

  Your guests will undoubtedly have spent some time and money getting dressed for your wedding, so you don’t want them to be covered in spaghetti sauce half way through the cocktail hour. Find foods that are easy to pick up and eat with the fingers, and try to stick to bite sized morsels to save crumbs and mess. If you want to serve something with a sauce, try using Chinese spoons or another type of small bowl with a co-coordinating fork or spoon.

• 3. Consider your drinks

  The idea of cocktail food is that it complements the cocktails or other drinks that you are serving, rather than overshadowing them. Make your drinks selection first and then use that as the starting point for your food. If you are having a signature cocktail created, you should also be able to get some advice on the types of wedding cocktail food that would complement it from your bartender.

• 4. Mix hot and cold

  Ideally wedding cocktail food should mix both hot and cold dishes unless you are getting married in the middle of summer when you can just serve cold. Cold food is easier to serve, but hot food is more satisfying and filling. Have large platters of cold cocktail food scattered throughout the reception venue, and then just have hot food prepared and served by waiters as the party progresses.

• 5. Stick to the budget

  Individual cocktail dishes may not seem very expensive on their own, but it’s easy to get carried away and for the costs to stack up. Some effective dishes that don’t cost a lot include shot glasses of hot or chilled soup, miniature hot dogs, or tiny tubs of popcorn.

• 6. Cater for all tastes

  Providing a wide range of dishes is a good way to make sure everyone can find something they like. Make sure you have a vegetarian option, and if possible a dairy free and gluten free option. If you have a very spicy theme to your cocktail food, try to include something a little blander for those guests that can’t tolerate hot food.

• 7. Consider your presentation

  How your wedding cocktail food looks is almost as important as how it tastes, and presentation is the key to creating a great selection. Check out the colours of your cocktail dishes; are they appealing, do they work together, and do they work with your wedding theme? What will the food be presented on? Are the shapes, materials, and colours of the serving platters compatible with your theme? Could you think of something more creative to better suit your wedding?