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There’s a lot to be said for plated menus … no queuing at buffet counters, and the food is beautifully presented just the way the chef envisaged. Between courses is a good time to have your speeches, ensuring the evening flows according to your timetable. It’s also a more formal dining option, harking back to an age of grace and elegance. However, it should be said that this is by no means the only option.

FINGER FOOD vs CANAPE

Finger food is designed to be just that – eaten with your fingers. Your guests won’t need a knife, fork, spoon or chopsticks. Finger foods often include miniature pies and burgers, spring rolls, petit, sandwiches, little pizzas or skewers, arancini, tarts etc. They’re generally fairly filling items, often around two to three bites, ensuring your guests feel like they’ve eaten rather than just nibbled.

If dinner and dessert aren’t being served, you could include ice cream cones, small pastries, cookies or other sweet items to be served in the last 45 minutes of your event. This also helps to signal the winding down of your event – as does turning the lights up, music off and opening the front door.

CANAPÉS

Canapés are usually more refined than finger foods, smaller and more formal. Traditionally served on a toasted bread base, there are a huge range of bases that can be substituted – rice cracker, rosti, cucumber rounds or wonton crisp. However, it is a single delicate bite where you can let your imagination run free. Use a small shot glass for soup sips, a Chinese spoon for a petit duck salad or a rosemary sprig to skewer prawns.

Because canapés are generally created as one-bite morsels, it’s very easy for guests to indulge while still holding their glass of bubbly and a napkin. Your canapé dishes could include little tartlets, delicate cigars, savoury cones, blinis, or a host of bite sized delicacies!

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BOWL – CARTON – FORK FOOD

Bowl food is not just soup. Commonly described in the industry as walk‘n-talk food, these dishes can be served in bowls, baskets or boxes. The dishes themselves are obviously more filling – they’re mini meals – and guests will usually need some sort of utensil to eat them with, although something like fish and chips can be nibbled using the fingers.

Your bowl food dishes could include a salad, pasta or noodle options, soup or gazpacho, risotto or a variety of seafood dishes. You can either individually portion these dishes as we would or, for ease of service, salads can be served on a large platter for guests to help themselves or a hot wet dish like curry or tagine can be placed on low setting in a slow cooker for self service.

CARVERY STATION

A simple way to fill up later in the evening is a carvery station. This can consist of a glazed ham, a roast sirloin or leg of lamb kept warm in a very low oven, then carved and served with warm rolls, salad fillings, accompaniments and chutneys. To compliment the carvery, we often serve small salad cartons for the vegetarians, gluten free guests or those wanting a lighter option.

PLATED

For a more formal level of guest service, plated dinners are a natural choice. You endeavour to create a pop-up restaurant where a full meal is served in courses to seated guests. The meal may consist of a set menu where the guests are served any number of courses pre-chosen by the host, or the host could offer their guests a limited choice of dishes per course. Offering variety to guests can slow down the service slightly as the waiters will need to take the orders and the chefs will need time for plating the dishes. However, this does allow for speeches or other formalities of the evening to take place between courses, if desired.

An alternative is to have an Entrée Trio to start. This is a tasting plate of three small choices of entrée, offering your guests a visual sensation and a variety of tastes while removing the need to take orders.

Plated events generally increase costs over the cost of a buffet event due to additional staffing requirements for on-site meal plating and for service to all of your guests at the same time.

BUFFET

When catering for larger numbers, the old adage of ‘less is more’ is worth bearing in mind. A well-planned buffet is more appetising than lots and lots of different contrasting flavours and foods. Think about flavour combinations and avoid clashes, as people often pile a little bit of everything onto their plates.

The standard buffet generally includes a compound salad, a hot vegetable dish, a starch and up to three main dishes, with condiments and dressings. A bread selection can either be served at the buffet table or on each individual table. A selection of desserts may either be served at a separate station or served once the mains have been cleared.

At a wedding the top table would be served at their table followed by each table being invited to the buffet in a pre determined order (generally family first followed by the remaining tables).

One alternative is to have themed buffet stations, which is a full meal where menu items are served in various areas of your venue at several tables in a buffet style. Often, each station has a specific theme. This can be so much fun, as the station themes are endless! Stations can also be combined, with a Chef to prepare items to order.

This type of menu style often allows guests to enjoy a wider sampling of menu items compared to a standard buffet. Your guests are also likely to circulate more, often leading to a talk / mingle atmosphere.

INDIVIDUAL TABLE BUFFETS

Individual table buffets are fast becoming a favourite. Guests are served central platters that generally consist of two mains, a salad and a vegetable dish, placed in the centre of each table.

This is a more formal style than a buffet, as guests are not required to stand and move to a get their meal. It is a very interactive form of dining and helps break the ice, promote conversation amongst guests who may be unfamiliar with each other as the platters are passed around the table.

Desserts can either be served in the same central platter style or on a dessert station if you would like your guests to stand and mingle at this stage of the evening.

This is a more cost effective option as fewer staff members are required than a would be for a plated meal, and the meal is easier to portion per table.

With their interesting shapes and ornate details, birdcages are no longer just for birds. Whether they are made of wood or metal, newly painted or rusted and bent, these stylish floral receptacles instantly create a display and can showcase anything from indoor plants and freshly cut blooms to books and nests.

Vintage cages tend to be more decorative and visually interesting than today’s mass-produced pet store versions, and are typically the style used for decorating. You can also find good reproductions that mimic the style and details of their vintage forefathers, but which aren’t an actual, working birdcage.

As an alternative to your standard floral centrepieces, birdcages add a tasteful element and project a sense of order and refinement. They also provide some height.

You’ll find them in various shapes and sizes and, if purchasing them, you can paint them to tone with your theme.

Small floral arrangements can fill up the space inside most adequately, but let your imagination run wild. Think votive candles, wedding favours, a seating card or advice cards for the new couple.

To take this idea a step further, you could try using cages of alternating heights or sizes, but keeping the colour uniform in order to hold the overall look together. A long row can make a striking presentation at your reception, and they’re sure to be great conversation starters.

Hang them off trees to decorate an outdoor area, from the ceiling or rafters, and even a marquee … picture cascades of flowers oozing through the bars.

By simply adding ribbon, candles, florals, signs and other accents, you can make a boring birdcage into a fun and creative addition to your special day – stylish centrepieces that won’t break the bank. A handful of roses placed inside and trailing ivy spilling through the bars can instantly turn an empty birdcage into a work of art with little effort.

Centrepieces featuring herbs such as sage, rosemary and parsley can channel the aesthetic of the Italian countryside. Rustic potted plants convey comfort and intimacy when they’re used as table arrangements at your reception.

Perfect decorative centrepieces for a beach wedding are glass vases filled with sand and seashells, or even a gold fish in its very own bowl.

Garden weddings can take a cue from the same concept, but with colourful stones or fresh lavender instead. Children and kids-at-heart are sure to enjoy these unique centrepiece options, which can double as party favours.

Candles can be reused, and they always reflect romance and add ambiance. With so many styles of candles to work with, wedding candle decorations provide an easy way to craft that specific look you’re after. Never has it been so affordable or simple to design and enhance your wedding décor with candles … and let’s not forget the wonderful fragrance they often emit!

If you’re looking to use what you already have to create centrepieces throughout the year, start saving as many glass jars as you can. In every size and shape; they can be reused for just about anything. Simply remove the labels and clean thoroughly (in a dishwasher if you have one) and dry before reusing. Yes, I’ve actually brought a jam or pickle just so I can use the jar when empty!

Don’t just use your jars for flowers – consider putting a photo of you and you’re beloved into a jar and placing them on the guest tables. Just slide the photo in and turn the jar upside down and display for all to see. You can fill jars with items of your choice … reception candles or battery operated lights. You can also paint them or glue fabric or coloured paper to the outside to match your colour scheme or festive decor.

Decorating your table with picture frames adds an elegant look, especially for weddings and other receptions. Table numbers, family photos, menus or place cards are just a few items to place in old picture frames.You can transform old frames into chalkboards, write messages or names on them and place them around your home or at place settings. Remember: you can paint the frame any colour you choose.

These are just a few ideas that can be quite easily transposed from wedding to home. And, if you do still want to add a few florals, perhaps consider a sprinkling of rose petals on the tables.

So, you’re about to decide on your catering options, and you’re bamboozled by the range of menu items on offer. The team at The Difference Catering explain your options and help you work out what will be best to serve to your guests.

It’s worth remembering these points before you get started:

• Provide a variety of foods to please all appetites and tastes.

• Check with guests regards food intolerances – do you need gluten free options?

• Try to provide a mix of hot and cold food.

• How long is your function and what time of day is it?

• Is your event formal or informal?

And remember – you are not in the kitchen at your own event, so preparation is a key ingredient.

The amount of food you require per person depends on how long your guests will be milling before the main meal, whether there is indeed a main meal to follow, and whether that main meal is light or more full. As a general guide allow 3-4 canapés per person for pre-dinner drinks of an hour’s duration or four pieces of finger food per person per hour for a cocktail or standing event.

A popular option, if you do not have the time or space for a sit down meal, is to have a standing or grazing menu consisting of a combination of the following styles eaten over the duration. This allows guests to mingle, encouraging a fun and fluid atmosphere.

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As with all aspects of your wedding cake, the covering comes down to your own preference and style. I were to marry my gorgeous husband all over again, I would choose frosting. I love the informality of frosting; it’s very nature ties in beautifully with the vintage themes that are so popular. To my mind, there is nothing prettier than a frosted cake with beautiful ribbon, adorned with fresh flowers – just stunning!

If you like a slightly more formal design but prefer the taste of frosting, then you should consider opting for a smooth frosted base, embellished with fondant decorations. Hand-made sugar flowers are particularly effective.

If you do opt for a frosted design, remember to ask your cake designer what type of frostings they offer. A cream cheese frosting or a pure white snow cream frosting seem to appeal to the vast majority, but there are other options available that your cake designer may also be able to offer, including Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Italian Meringue Buttercream or American frosting – all super yummy!

If your tastes lean more towards fondant, then the design options are extremely varied. I would feel confident to say that any theme can be bought to life with fondant. It is possible to create all sorts of magic, right across the board, from simple elegance to flirty ruffles and intricately detailed sugar flowers. Fondant does exceptionally well in the hands of very artistic cake designers who can create extroadinary wonders with it – whether on cupcakes or a more traditional wedding cake.

One of the main things to consider is the season you are marrying in. Be mindful that your cake designer should be asking you about the venue and where the cake table is situated, particularly if you are considering frosting during the summer. No cake will take kindly to being placed in direct heat or sunlight! Most established wedding venues are well aware of this and will provide an appropriate setting. However, if you plan to marry in a domestic or rural setting, please do not be tempted to think that the cake will look beautiful situated outside for all the guests to admire during the ceremony – it will not look very beautiful after it has been sitting for an hour or two in the February heat and all the icing has melted onto the ground!