A wedding is a significant event in the life of two people who decided to unite their lives, so the organization of the celebration on such a significant day should be approached with particular responsibility. The newlyweds’ gowns, the wedding cortège, the wedding ceremony – everything should be on top.
Well, the culmination of the celebration is a festive banquet. Its organization is perhaps the most responsible thing. The decoration of the hall, wedding tables, the banquet menu, the size of the dishes – all this will attract the maximum attention of the guests and remain in the memory of the newlyweds for many years. It is convenient to prepare for the banquet in a large and cozy kitchen.
How to compose a wedding menu: basic rules
When drawing up the menu, imagination and creativity will not be superfluous, but there are a number of basic rules that should be remembered.
The first thing to consider is the number of guests. The menu should be drawn up in such a way that the guests can try all the dishes, have the opportunity to enjoy various viands throughout the festive evening and, of course, be satiated.
At the same time it should be properly calculated, allowing you to avoid unnecessary costs and unnecessary questions at the last moment: what do they make a dish without restrictions, what else is needed to calculate, whether one treat is enough for all participants, etc.
It is also important to take care of the personal preferences of guests. Moreover, it is very likely that there will be vegetarians, allergic people, children and the elderly among the guests.
All of these nuances can be reflected in the guest list, putting the appropriate notes for each of the invited guests. The time of year is also very important when preparing the menu.
If in summer, they prefer light meals and an abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables, in winter, the food should be nutritious and nourishing. Celebrating the wedding in a restaurant or café, you can greatly facilitate the process of preparing a menu.
In such institutions are usually a good help – ready lists of dishes, and the chef or the owner of the restaurant, relying on his experience, will help to compose a menu taking into account the wishes of the newlyweds.
What should be in the wedding banquet menu
Guests at the wedding eat almost all the time, so the tables should be full. Fresh hot dishes should be served every hour or hour and a half (at least 4-6).
Cold appetizers (at least 7 types) should be added regularly, and sweets and fruit should be replenished.
Variety in the wedding menu plays a large role – guests should be able to choose. If they plan to serve soup, let there be two options, such as borscht and mushroom soup, and later everyone will decide which one they prefer to eat.
If there will be people at the wedding who don’t eat meat, it’s worth making sure there are vegetarian dishes on the tables. For example, along with chop patties and stuffed pig, there should be soy bean dishes, or tofu. If foreigners will be attending the wedding, they will want to eat something from their country’s traditional cuisine. There should also be seafood, both in salads and as appetizers.
Keep in mind that the wedding menu should not be limited to what is on the tables.
Of course, all sorts of other offerings involve additional costs, but to enrich your wedding banquet, it’s worth taking a look at such offerings:
- An open bar – that is, a place where all sorts of drinks are prepared at the guests’ request. By the way, you can organize a bartending show, which will be a great highlight that complements the wedding.
- Live cooking is the equivalent of an open bar, a variation with food. The chef prepares various dishes in front of the guests, such as pies and various pies in a large pan, hot pancakes with chocolate and fruit, and flambéed desserts.
- Rustic table is nothing but a semblance of a buffet or buffet, with typical rustic dishes: ham, smoked bacon, roasted boar, salted or lightly salted cucumbers, smoked sausages and sausage products, and sometimes moonshine.
- The chocolate fountain is something that will please fans of sweets. Real hot chocolate flows through a specially built fountain, with which you can fill cups and drink or dip various fruits, such as strawberries, in it.
Appetizingly served food is also a table decoration, but you should not be too overzealous. Sometimes there are more decorations on the tables than the food itself, and no one likes to be cheated. The food should be served beautifully, cleanly, and in a timely manner.
How to make a budget menu for 20-100 people
No matter how many people are invited to the wedding, the order in which the food is served remains the same – appetizers are served first, then the hot dishes, and finally the cake is brought out.
Of course, this is a somewhat simplified version. The appetizers are divided into fish, meat and salads, hot and cold.
The hot dishes are served in the following order: first comes the fish, then the meat. And at the end of the celebration comes the turn of the wedding cream cake, which is the culmination of the feast.
Of course, such subtleties are not necessary when organizing a budget wedding because of the high cost.
A wedding for twenty people can be organized at home, if, of course, the room allows. Although in a private home, installing and decorating a tent, you can take a much larger number of people.
The menu is calculated so that for 6-7 people was one plate with each course. Accordingly, for 20 people, there are 3-4 plates. In the same way, calculate the number of plates and for a greater number of people (30, 50, 100).
It should be remembered that men eat more than women, respectively, if the guests are dominated by men, then there must be more food.
As a rule, alcohol is purchased on the basis of about 3-4 bottles of spirits, 2-3 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne per five people. It should be remembered that men and women prefer different drinks, and take this fact into account when buying and calculating alcohol.
From this video, you’ll learn how to create a perfect menu for your wedding:
If the wedding is celebrated in a café or restaurant, you can arrange for the bulk of the liquor to be brought with you. This will save money, since liquor is much cheaper in the store.
Sample wedding menu for 50 people – what dishes to put on the table
A wedding banquet for fifty people is quite a large-scale enterprise, and to hold it at home seems, with few exceptions, quite problematic. For a celebration with such a number of guests will have to use the services of a restaurant or café. To compose a summer menu for 50 people, you should assume that there should be 1-1.2 kilograms of food per person.
However, it is better to insure and consider 1.5 kg per person. Approximate menu for a banquet for fifty people:
- cold appetizers – cold cuts, smoked and salted fish, a few kinds of cheese;
- salads – vegetable, seafood;
- hot appetizers – small pies with spicy sauce, pancakes, julienne;
- main dish – fish first, then meat with side dish;
- dessert – jellies, cupcakes, ice-cream, fruit salads;
- cake.
The main course can be served in portions or whole and cut in the presence of guests.
Despite all the difficulties with the composition of the wedding menu, showing imagination, it is possible to achieve an excellent effect. It does not hurt to consult with a specialist. In this case, the guests will remember the celebration for a long time.