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Thoughts on wedding menu?

lokatelynvelokatelynve member
First Comment First Anniversary
in Wedding Cakes & Food Forum
Hi! My fiance and I are throwing ideas back and forth and we finally found something we both love: a new years eve brunch wedding. Its a compeltely diy wedding, even the food and set up. Here is our possible menu:

-Breakfast burritos (sausage and eggs, bacon and eggs)
-Hashbrown bar (toppings will include bacon, cheese, green onions, etc)
-Self serve waffle bar
-Parfait bar (fruit will be in waffle cones)
-Bagels and bread for toast (with cream cheese's and butters, jams, etc)
-Coffee cake and cinnamon rolls
-Mimosa bar
-Juice and milk
-Gourmet coffee/hot cocoa bar

Our cake will be a pancakes with cheesecake filling to separate the layers. Our favors will be an assortment of doughnut holes which guests can nibble on prior to the ceremony to tide them over until the reception.

I'm trying not to overdo or underdo it with food. Thanks in advance!
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Re: Thoughts on wedding menu?

  • ElcaBElcaB member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    That sounds delicious! I do have a few suggestions, though:

    First, if the food is DIY, I'd simplify. Instead of burritos for example, offer sausage and bacon. Change the parfait bar to fruit salad or a fruit platter Keep the bagels and pastries, but add a quiche or scrambled eggs. The menu is pretty carb-heavy, so these suggestions will offer something a little less carbtastic. 
    image
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  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    First of all, I want to say that I LOVE brunch weddings and I don't think people do them enough. Kudos to you for looking outside the typical evening reception!

    That said, a couple of thoughts on your plans:
    - Be prepared for a lot of declines just based on your date choice. Holiday weddings are often not well attended.
    - Food is nothing to mess around with - especially because you have meat and other perishable stuff. How big is your wedding? If just a very small group with family/a few friends, I could see you pulling this off with the proper equipment, but anything bigger than that and you run the risk of: 1) sickening your guests and 2) not enjoying your wedding because you're running around worrying about food and serving people. Whatever you serve should be low maintenance (meat is not low maintenance) and self-serve.

    I would suggest the following changes to your menu based on the DIY food aspect:
    DRINKS
    - keep the mimosas (obviously!)
    - keep the juice and milk
    - keep the gourmet coffee and cocoa
    - add hot tea
    - add bloody mary bar
    FOOD
    - keep bread/bagels
    - keep coffee cake and cinnamon rolls
    - keep the waffle bar 
    - keep the parfait bar (build your own - but I'd do cups instead of waffle cones due to drippage on nice wedding clothes)
    - add a meat and cheese tray - next to the bread
    - add croissants and danishes
    - add bowls of whole fruit (e.g. bananas, apples, oranges)
    - add assortment of mini quiches

    For the stuff with perishable ingredients, you need to find a way to chill it (e.g. milk, cream for coffee, waffle batter, yogurt, meat/cheese tray, quiche, etc.). 

    I would not do the burritos or the hash browns. Both sound amazing, but if this is DIY, unless you're preparing them in your wedding dress, they won't be fresh and will probably turn out soggy and kind of gross - waste of money. Plus there's the food safety aspect.
    *********************************************************************************

    image
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  • JaxInBlueJaxInBlue member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Agree with PPs.  This seems like a lot of work to DIY and may pose some trouble keeping fresh.  I like the ideas of simplifying and scaling back.  Have scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage separately.  Add toppings that people can put on their eggs - cheese, scallions, salsa, etc.

    Add some vegetables. Brunch isn't just breakfast foods.  Some steamed broccoli or asparagus would add bulk to your menu and reduce the carb-heavy list.  Or a veggie tray. 

    I don't think you need coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, waffles, donuts, and pancake cake.  I would pick one or two and, as southernbelle suggested, replace the rest with rolls and sandwich supplies.  Things like sliced turkey or ham, tomato wedges, maybe some avocado could all do double duty as things people could put on eggs or with eggs.
    image
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  • hyechica81hyechica81 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment First Answer
    can you hire someone to cook the food and serve it dyi your own food causes all kinds of food risks. your menu like someone else said is very carb heavy i would reduce the number of carbs and do more veggies and fruits add a cheese tray etc. 
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    I'd suggest going with a smaller menu. Go with light options: fresh fruit, salad, croissants, mimosas, and coffee.
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper

    southernbelle0915 said:
    First of all, I want to say that I LOVE brunch weddings and I don't think people do them enough. Kudos to you for looking outside the typical evening reception!

    That said, a couple of thoughts on your plans:
    - Be prepared for a lot of declines just based on your date choice. Holiday weddings are often not well attended.
    - Food is nothing to mess around with - especially because you have meat and other perishable stuff. How big is your wedding? If just a very small group with family/a few friends, I could see you pulling this off with the proper equipment, but anything bigger than that and you run the risk of: 1) sickening your guests and 2) not enjoying your wedding because you're running around worrying about food and serving people. Whatever you serve should be low maintenance (meat is not low maintenance) and self-serve.

    I would suggest the following changes to your menu based on the DIY food aspect:
    DRINKS
    - keep the mimosas (obviously!)
    - keep the juice and milk
    - keep the gourmet coffee and cocoa
    - add hot tea
    - add bloody mary bar
    FOOD
    - keep bread/bagels
    - keep coffee cake and cinnamon rolls
    - keep the waffle bar 
    - keep the parfait bar (build your own - but I'd do cups instead of waffle cones due to drippage on nice wedding clothes)
    - add a meat and cheese tray - next to the bread
    - add croissants and danishes
    - add bowls of whole fruit (e.g. bananas, apples, oranges)
    - add assortment of mini quiches

    For the stuff with perishable ingredients, you need to find a way to chill it (e.g. milk, cream for coffee, waffle batter, yogurt, meat/cheese tray, quiche, etc.). 

    I would not do the burritos or the hash browns. Both sound amazing, but if this is DIY, unless you're preparing them in your wedding dress, they won't be fresh and will probably turn out soggy and kind of gross - waste of money. Plus there's the food safety aspect.
    I agree with this.

    Your menu is very carb heavy.  I would have a tough time finding something to eat.   Pancakes, waffles and all the breakfast pastries throw my hypoglycemia into a tailspin. 45 minutes later I'm in a sugar low. 

     For breakfast and brunch I need protein to balance out my meal and I'm not really a breakfast burrito fan.  I prefer to just be able to grab some eggs, bacon, yogurt and fruit and skip all the other carbs.  Although I do envy everyone who gets the pancakes and waffle. 






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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  • atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
    5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Can you contact venue or local culinary school, etc. to provide someone to do omelets on the spot.  They could do them easily with induction burners and pans.  I've seen chefs working on three at once.  That would add a nice touch, and be something you could have that's healthier--egg white and veggie omelet.

    If I was standing around in a nice outfit, not sure I'd try to eat a breakfast burrito, let alone one I had to assemble myself.  Definitely wouldn't if it was sitting and had gotten soggy.  I'd probably just start NYE drinking early and have four mimosas.

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  • jacques27jacques27 member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited July 2014
    When you say DIY, are you at least hiring someone to tend over this - refill things, make sure hot food stays hot (I'm assuming you're renting chafing dishes and using sterno) and cold food stays cold?  Also, will there be people under the age of 21 (assuming you're in the US)?  Who will be tending over the mimosa bar?  Are you renting a venue and are you sure you're allowed to have unattended alcohol (many places require a bartender for liability reasons).

    That said, as someone who is gluten-free and who has diabetics in my family, there is virtually nothing on that list I can have except beverages and the fruit if I don't put it in a waffle cone and many in my family couldn't make a healthy balanced meal out of that (I get that it's a celebration but still - balance = good).

    -Breakfast burritos (sausage and eggs, bacon and eggs)
    It would be nice to have a protein option not wrapped in a carb.  Can you do chafing dishes of scrambled eggs and meat or do quiche AND fritatta (the latter for the carb counters and gluten-free).  Bonus: both taste good at room temp and can be made ahead of time and gently reheated.

    -Hashbrown bar (toppings will include bacon, cheese, green onions, etc)
    I love hashbrowns, but not soggy ones, which these would inevitably be.  What about roasted, seasoned new potatoes?

    -Self serve waffle bar
    Loved waffles before I went gluten-free, but will these be make your own with waffle irons right there?  I know you're DIY, but as a guest I don't want to have to DIY for my breakfast.  Line could also get long if you don't have enough irons, batter inevitably gets messy and spilled on tables/clothes.  If they are pre-made in a chafing dish - see hashbrown argument.  I'd rather have pastries than soggy waffles.

    -Parfait bar (fruit will be in waffle cones)
    Parfait as in yogurt and fruit?  How am I supposed to hold a waffle cone and eat my plate of other food?  Have small bowls or parfait glasses instead. 

    -Bagels and bread for toast (with cream cheese's and butters, jams, etc)
    Ok, provided you have enough toasters/outlets.  I'd still just prefer pastries, maybe mini-muffins and corn muffins, and some sandwich rolls (see below) rather than stand in line to make my own hot bread.

    -Coffee cake and cinnamon rolls
    Ok.

    -Mimosa bar
    -Juice and milk
    -Gourmet coffee/hot cocoa bar
    Ok.  Add hot water and tea maybe.  And have bottled water if water isn't otherwise readily available at the tables.

    Also, this seems more breakfast than brunch.  It's missing the lunch part of brunch and I definitely prefer savory for my breakfast, let alone brunch.  What about veggie trays?  Maybe a spiral sliced ham or meat and cheese tray with some rolls and condiments for mini sandwiches?  Maybe a pasta or a grain-based salad (like quinoa)?

    Finally, the doughnut holes = favors prior to the ceremony?  Are your guests sitting at their tables where they are eating brunch for the ceremony, too?  Are they each getting an individual box of these doughnut holes at their seat?  Or are you just putting them out to enjoy before the ceremony?  If it's the latter, then don't call them favors - they're just another component of your brunch, just served before.  What if someone shows up just before the ceremony and doesn't have time to partake?  Do they not get the thank you favor doughnut holes then?  It's ok to not have a favor at all - I wouldn't call the doughnut holes your favors unless that are served individually at each seat to enjoy at their leisure before or after the wedding.
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  • JennyColadaJennyColada member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    @jacques27 gave you some AWESOME input.
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