Destination wedding food

Re: Destination wedding food

• RlovesR member

  

  December 2015

  I don't think it's a problem per se; whenever I've been to Scotland I've eaten a wide variety of foods from different cultures.  I do think though, that you should ensure there are some familiar and crowd-pleasing foods among the tapas for those who might not like eating something unfamiliar.  I'd also encourage you to make sure tapas are plentiful and have some heavy options.  I'd be starving after a starch-based main and just some little nibbles if I had been dancing all night.

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• jacques27 member

  

  December 2015

  Can it work?  Sure.  But I think it depends on the type of event, how many people there will be and how well coordinated it is.  If it's true tapas, then those tend to be very small bites paced over the course of the whole evening.  At a long reception with dancing, I probably would be starving.  If it was a shorter reception with a smaller crowd - say 40 people or less - then I think it could work. 

  I have yet to go to a cocktail-style reception (where they are designed to do heavy apps, probably heavier than tapas, as a meal replacement) and not be hungry all night.  Either I couldn't eat half of what was available due to dietary restrictions and allergies (it's easy to ask a caterer for a full meal that meets restrictions - harder when most apps are composed bites and usually have a dairy and bread component that is difficult to avoid).  Or the crowd was large (I've been to three - approx. 100 people, 220 people, and 340 people) and the catering staff couldn't keep up with demand or things were so poorly timed that only one or two items was available at any given time with very long lines, which made it hard to have a traditional reception timeline (it could have maybe worked if they were doing a shorter more mingling cocktail style, but they were following a traditional timeline dinner/dance and most people got maybe three bites of food total if they were lucky before the food ended and dancing started - they also had fried rice, which also wasn't available consistently).  I know some people have made it work, but I truly believe you need to have top-notch catering staff, extra servers, and the right conditions to make it work well.

  I'm not sure what you mean by back-to-back meal.  Is there another meal earlier in the day? 

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• artbyallie mod

  

  December 2015

  Provided there is enough food to constitute dinner and enough seats for every butt, this is acceptable.

  

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• [Deleted User] member

  

  December 2015

  Oops, i suppose i could've worded that differently.
  
  I was meaning by the three or five course meals that I'd prefer to stick away from. I like the informal feel rather than it needing to be a formal sit down for an hour or two. I'd rather it feel more like a party gathering for people to have fun the entire way through.
  

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• jacques27 member

  

  December 2015

  Lakinn said:

  Oops, i suppose i could've worded that differently.
  
  I was meaning by the three or five course meals that I'd prefer to stick away from. I like the informal feel rather than it needing to be a formal sit down for an hour or two. I'd rather it feel more like a party gathering for people to have fun the entire way through.
  

  Well, again, I think it depends on the size of the crowd, how well the caterer is used to doing that style, and making sure the caterer is sufficiently staffed, prepared to keep food rolling constantly (which is a little harder when every dish is a composed bite or two vs. a tray of pasta), and your set-up can handle the crowds (like I think having smaller stations well staffed and stocked work better in this situation).  Like I said, based on my experiences (hors d'oeurves buffets with larger crowds) it was NOT FUN waiting in line for food to be constantly restocked.  The conversation centered on how hungry we all were and questioning each other on whether they spied anyone else from the kitchen bringing anything more out the last time they went up to the bar because we didn't want to wait in line for nothing - so NOT FUN.
  
  I don't know - I don't think it's the style of food that makes something fun vs. not fun - it's the company, conversation, and atmosphere.  People will remember your food, but in the respect of was there enough of it and was it tasty - not whether it was "fun".  I may sound biased because I've seen this concept strike out 3/3 with larger crowds at wedding venues that didn't specialize in it because they wanted to be fun and different from the traditional sit down.  But people care about being fed, not being different.  If you do it, do it because logistically it works for the type of setting and the number of people you got.  For instance, a group of 30 having a the reception in a tapas restaurant who does that day in and day out would probably work great.  A group of 150 in a venue where the catering staff are not working in their own kitchen and the caterer doesn't specialize in that style - maybe not.
  
  Otherwise, consider other options.  There's a lot of middle ground between bites of food and formal five course plated dinner, for example family style Italian or dinner buffet.
  

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• [Deleted User] member

  

  December 2015

  Yes, that helps A lot. Thank you for the insight!

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• TrixieJess member

  

  December 2015

  I would make sure that you could find catering for the style that you are looking for. I have a friend who had taught all over England, Scotland and Wales and one of her pet peeves is that while some ethnic food is easy and plentiful to find, others are not. 

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