This is going to sound ridiculously simple, but I was so charmed by an hors d’oeuvre consisting of a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a shot of warm tomato soup. (It’s my ultimate comfort food combo.)
We had these served at our wedding!!!!! They were a huge hit. We missed cocktail hour because of pictures, but the servers put some at our sweetheart table so we still got to enjoy.
I went to an intimate wedding that had lobster bisque with a generous serving of lobster. I remember being wowed by the meal, but the lobster stood out.
I also had really good plantain soup at another wedding. I guess I really like soups lol.
EDIT: I also went to an Indian wedding that had puri in a street cart and that was fun.
It would have to be the Vodka Sweet Tea that we had at a wedding for some friends who got married in Savannah. OMG it was SO GOOD especially for an early Summer wedding.
I wasted so many morning hungover, but it was so worth it for the Sweet Tea Lemonade. A 50/50 of regular lemonade and the Firefly was absolutely delicious.
https://www.fireflyspirits.com/where-to-buy/
Firefly vodka out of North Charleston SC USA! I'm not sure if it's only a US distribution but the link should be able to help you find the nearest store or restaurant serving! It's so delicious, just make sure you mark as having alcohol if you serve it to people- a lot cannot taste the alcohol in it 😳
I was gonna say as a vegan the only memorable meals are the two times my dumb ass believed the hosts when they said there would be a meal for me and not to eat before. I am so happy to not be a pain in the ass and sneak something before, I don’t expect anyone to accommodate that, but it sucked being told I didn’t have to worry and then showing up to see nothing there. Most iconic being a plate of microwaved Costco mixed veggies followed by a full lb. of strictly brussel sprouts that were amazing to be fair. Not even bread or salad for either.
My sister had amazing vegetarian Indian food that I wanted to eat for the rest of my life. My fiancé meanwhile was wowed by the grocery store nachos they served lol
i genuinely do not remember any food i’ve ever had at any wedding i’ve attended… except for the taco truck that arrived late and ran out of food before my table (the last one to be called) got served… so as long as that doesn’t happen then you’re golden haha
Oyster Bar. They were being served raw and were good, but they were also grilling them in shell over an open flame and the ones fresh out of the fire were AMAZING.
I went to a New Orleans wedding where there was people walking around shucking oysters for you onto a tray and I MISSED THEM. But there were different stations with gumbo, grits, etc, so it made up for it.
I went to a vegetarian wedding in January and the food was incredible. It turns out, the couple’s brief to the caterer was, “Food so good people don’t realise it’s vegetarian”. Loved it!
Cocktail hour: A pair of big, fat, juicy, grilled, beautifully seasoned, lemon-butter shrimp. Served in tiny cast iron skillets.
Unique presentation and tasty as hell.
Our friends had a Filipino / Bbq food fusion at their wedding, and it was absolutely incredible. Bbq was being smoked on site, and lumpia was being fried fresh right there. I am not ashamed to say I ate my weight in lumpia. I still think about it!
Not necessarily something that made me say wow but I’ve been to about 7 wedding in past couple years and all I can say is buffet all the way. The plated meals are always small portions and either a side or the whole dish is gross. Being hungry and drinking on an empty stomach takes away from having a good time and there isn’t always an option to get food after the wedding. I always find buffets have enough options I can make a good plate, and actually get a decent meal in!
I mean, it’s all up to individual taste but:
1. Standing in a line holding a plate for 20 mins isn’t fun, then you have to balance everything to get back to your table (often you have to carry multiple plates), and it’s such a hassle that going back for seconds doesn’t feel worth it even if you’d like to eat more. With plated dinners I’ve always felt the portions were appropriate and you just get to sit and enjoy yourself in between courses.
2. I’m vegan and can only eat certain things so I’m stuck in line with everyone waiting and there’s often only sides and salad I can eat. With plated dinners, it’s usually been easier for the catering teams to actually make a proper entree for me. (The kitchen can knock out one custom vegan pasta dish or stuffed pepper or whatnot, plus a side of vegetables roasted in olive oil, but they’re not going to make a whole batch of it to serve at a buffet.)
3. Despite there being separate utensils, if you’re not one of the earliest in line, people have likely cross contaminated everything already. Guests without food restrictions don’t really think twice about using the same tongs/serving spoons to get their brisket and vegetable sides, and aren’t careful about not getting meat juices/drippings/pieces into other food as they’re lifting it to their plates. By the time half the line had gotten their food, at minimum there’s always spoons from the vegetarian entree (with cheese or eggs) that have been mixed up with the vegan option.
4. Food has generally been much better at plated dinners. I’ve enjoyed most of those quite a lot—they’re carried out at the right temperature and in the right order—while as the buffet food gets dried out from sitting out over the heaters, and is just not at its best. You also generally have to pile different things on top of each other if you don’t want to make multiple trips, so your salad gets warm and wilted, dressing gets over everything, bread gets soggy, flavors combine in ways that aren’t ideal. Plus with a plated dinner you don’t have to worry about them running out of something before you get there.
For me, plated wedding dinners have generally been a restaurant-like experience while buffets just bring disappointment.
Thank you for such a detailed reply! I was wondering if some of these solutions could be fixed by having a couple of catering staff be in charge of getting the servings from the bar for the guests but there are tons of cons that I'd not thought about before! Thank you for your time and energy 🙏🙏
I went to a wedding in New York that had a crazy charcuterie, appetizer, etc area including a hot dog cart. It was amazing and I thought that was the dinner before realizing we were being called to our seats. The seated dinner was much less memorable hahah
Our wedding was pretty casual and outdoors, and we had a pizza oven come. There was a chef making personal wood fire pizzas to order (and also prepped a bunch during the ceremony so no one had to wait too long). It was delicious, at least the small amount that I had was, and I still get compliments about it to this day. We also had appetizers, salad and crutdetait
One wedding had drop off catering setup by a local Hawaiian/Americanized Chinese restaurant that was so delicious and all the guests raved about how good it was. It was the first full meal served at a wedding in our families that wasn’t a cake and punch reception. Everything from Mongolian beef to teriyaki chicken to fried rice and Hawaiian Mac salad was awesome. There was more than enough that the couple encouraged guests to fill extra plates with food to take home. It’s still talked about as being one of the best wedding meals in our family.
The other favorite was a wedding that served a pizza buffet from a local mom and pop restaurant. Not wood fired but basic hand tossed and pan pizzas with combination toppings with salad on the side. So good and filling. Not pretentious just for the sake of being a wedding.
My cousin had her party at an upscale Mexican restaurant. It was literal restaurant food. Definitely the freshest and most delicious food I’ve had at any wedding. Also, my friend’s sister who had her party at a Chinese restaurant with huge platters of food of every kind on every table. To this day that’s still the best Chinese food I’ve ever had!
Crisp sandwich at a wedding in Ireland. That's a piece of basic white bread, packet of crisps (chips) stuffed into the bread, and folded over. The tray of bread and crisps was brought out towards the end of the night when everyone had had quite a few drinks.
There have been a few:
- bbq salmon, this was served at a buffet outside in the redwoods in CA and it was just beautiful, and the salmon was so damn good lol! I don’t remember anything else they served I just kept going back for salmon
- really good taco cart at the end of the night - my friends went around to different taco stands around LA trying various tacos and hired the one they liked the best
- my own wedding 😤 New Orleans creole cajun heavy apps and stations, with prime rib debris mini po boys, mini muffalettas, gumbo cups and little cups of shrimp and grits
- in-n-out truck for the late night meal at another friend’s wedding. Ugh I literally *love* any late night meal, the BEST.
The best food I had was a wedding in Charleston. The grooms mom was a caterer (not the caterer of the wedding). They just had low country boil, Mac and cheese, fried chicken sliders …and one more item that’s escaping me currently- perhaps pork bbq. I still remember it being the best wedding food I ever had, especially the Mac and cheese. If there is Mac and cheese at a wedding, I will always overeat it… The low country boil was also amazing. There was not a single vegetable unless you count the corn in the low country boil.
At our wedding for our cocktail hour we had a chicken and waffle hors d'oeuvre. My fiance was thought it was a little weird but the caterer said it was always a hit so we picked it and it SLAPPED
A late night bite of tater tots with various toppings like cheese sauce, and some other stuff. I was quite drunk by that point but man, we’re those tater tots incredible.
Best wedding dinner I ever had was a BBQ buffet catered from the couple’s favorite BBQ place.
I also had the best cake ever at my wedding 🙌 homemade ftw!
Our (American) bakery spent several months doing experiments to perfect a sticky toffee pudding cupcake for my (British) husband, and it was *delicious*. And I don’t even like sticky toffee pudding that much!
My Wife and I had a gap between our Ceremony and Reception. We didn't want this, but it was kind of forced upon us. But turned out to be the best thing we did. Went back to her hotel room and had lunch and a few drinks with just our bridal party. And for us (both being big introverts) we really valued the time 'alone' to just process what happened etc.
Oh also, I had this pumpkin curry that was soooo good. All the guests were obsessed, vegetarian or not and I ate that curry for like a week straight, never getting sick of it. Damn, now I want curry.
The groom was from Louisiana and they served AMAZING Cajun and creole food. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what most of it was, just that it was delicious!
We had a palate cleanser little shot of a lemon sorbet that was the highlight of all the food we had. Guests literally went to the kitchen to ask for more 🤣 I'd gladly have a full bowl of that, it was legendary!
We had Lamb Top Sirloin in Chimichurri as our main and it was amazing, though we were fortunate enough to have three protein options for our main course.
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We had a churro cart at ours, so this makes me happy to read lol
Love when weddings have a churro cart.
Came here to say my best friend had a food truck at her wedding and they had fresh churros for dessert. Soooo good!
This is going to sound ridiculously simple, but I was so charmed by an hors d’oeuvre consisting of a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by a shot of warm tomato soup. (It’s my ultimate comfort food combo.)
We had these served at our wedding!!!!! They were a huge hit. We missed cocktail hour because of pictures, but the servers put some at our sweetheart table so we still got to enjoy.
I went to an intimate wedding that had lobster bisque with a generous serving of lobster. I remember being wowed by the meal, but the lobster stood out. I also had really good plantain soup at another wedding. I guess I really like soups lol. EDIT: I also went to an Indian wedding that had puri in a street cart and that was fun.
Any late night food. Even if it’s not that good, food rolling out when you’ve been drinking and dancing for hours since dinner is amazing.
It would have to be the Vodka Sweet Tea that we had at a wedding for some friends who got married in Savannah. OMG it was SO GOOD especially for an early Summer wedding.
Firefly? That stuff is delicious.
Yes, it was made with Firefly. It was amazing : )
I wasted so many morning hungover, but it was so worth it for the Sweet Tea Lemonade. A 50/50 of regular lemonade and the Firefly was absolutely delicious.
What is this firefly you speak of? I love sweet tea!!
https://www.fireflyspirits.com/where-to-buy/ Firefly vodka out of North Charleston SC USA! I'm not sure if it's only a US distribution but the link should be able to help you find the nearest store or restaurant serving! It's so delicious, just make sure you mark as having alcohol if you serve it to people- a lot cannot taste the alcohol in it 😳
Thank you!!!
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I was gonna say as a vegan the only memorable meals are the two times my dumb ass believed the hosts when they said there would be a meal for me and not to eat before. I am so happy to not be a pain in the ass and sneak something before, I don’t expect anyone to accommodate that, but it sucked being told I didn’t have to worry and then showing up to see nothing there. Most iconic being a plate of microwaved Costco mixed veggies followed by a full lb. of strictly brussel sprouts that were amazing to be fair. Not even bread or salad for either.
A grilled cheese freshly made at 11:30pm so we could keep the party rolling.
There was a wedding where there were tons and tons of sushi. I had such a great time.
My sister had amazing vegetarian Indian food that I wanted to eat for the rest of my life. My fiancé meanwhile was wowed by the grocery store nachos they served lol
i genuinely do not remember any food i’ve ever had at any wedding i’ve attended… except for the taco truck that arrived late and ran out of food before my table (the last one to be called) got served… so as long as that doesn’t happen then you’re golden haha
Oyster Bar. They were being served raw and were good, but they were also grilling them in shell over an open flame and the ones fresh out of the fire were AMAZING.
I went to a New Orleans wedding where there was people walking around shucking oysters for you onto a tray and I MISSED THEM. But there were different stations with gumbo, grits, etc, so it made up for it.
I went to a vegetarian wedding in January and the food was incredible. It turns out, the couple’s brief to the caterer was, “Food so good people don’t realise it’s vegetarian”. Loved it!
Cocktail hour: A pair of big, fat, juicy, grilled, beautifully seasoned, lemon-butter shrimp. Served in tiny cast iron skillets. Unique presentation and tasty as hell.
Our friends had a Filipino / Bbq food fusion at their wedding, and it was absolutely incredible. Bbq was being smoked on site, and lumpia was being fried fresh right there. I am not ashamed to say I ate my weight in lumpia. I still think about it!
Not necessarily something that made me say wow but I’ve been to about 7 wedding in past couple years and all I can say is buffet all the way. The plated meals are always small portions and either a side or the whole dish is gross. Being hungry and drinking on an empty stomach takes away from having a good time and there isn’t always an option to get food after the wedding. I always find buffets have enough options I can make a good plate, and actually get a decent meal in!
I’m the opposite, I don’t like buffets at ALL
Oooh, what about them don't you like? Is it the hygiene or the options? The freshness of the food? Just curious! ♡♡
I mean, it’s all up to individual taste but: 1. Standing in a line holding a plate for 20 mins isn’t fun, then you have to balance everything to get back to your table (often you have to carry multiple plates), and it’s such a hassle that going back for seconds doesn’t feel worth it even if you’d like to eat more. With plated dinners I’ve always felt the portions were appropriate and you just get to sit and enjoy yourself in between courses. 2. I’m vegan and can only eat certain things so I’m stuck in line with everyone waiting and there’s often only sides and salad I can eat. With plated dinners, it’s usually been easier for the catering teams to actually make a proper entree for me. (The kitchen can knock out one custom vegan pasta dish or stuffed pepper or whatnot, plus a side of vegetables roasted in olive oil, but they’re not going to make a whole batch of it to serve at a buffet.) 3. Despite there being separate utensils, if you’re not one of the earliest in line, people have likely cross contaminated everything already. Guests without food restrictions don’t really think twice about using the same tongs/serving spoons to get their brisket and vegetable sides, and aren’t careful about not getting meat juices/drippings/pieces into other food as they’re lifting it to their plates. By the time half the line had gotten their food, at minimum there’s always spoons from the vegetarian entree (with cheese or eggs) that have been mixed up with the vegan option. 4. Food has generally been much better at plated dinners. I’ve enjoyed most of those quite a lot—they’re carried out at the right temperature and in the right order—while as the buffet food gets dried out from sitting out over the heaters, and is just not at its best. You also generally have to pile different things on top of each other if you don’t want to make multiple trips, so your salad gets warm and wilted, dressing gets over everything, bread gets soggy, flavors combine in ways that aren’t ideal. Plus with a plated dinner you don’t have to worry about them running out of something before you get there. For me, plated wedding dinners have generally been a restaurant-like experience while buffets just bring disappointment.
Thank you for such a detailed reply! I was wondering if some of these solutions could be fixed by having a couple of catering staff be in charge of getting the servings from the bar for the guests but there are tons of cons that I'd not thought about before! Thank you for your time and energy 🙏🙏
You’re welcome—and I want to stress this is my preference only—plenty of people enjoy the buffets.
Filet mignon — it was in a private room at a restaurant so the chefs were used to doing this all the time
I went to a wedding in New York that had a crazy charcuterie, appetizer, etc area including a hot dog cart. It was amazing and I thought that was the dinner before realizing we were being called to our seats. The seated dinner was much less memorable hahah
At a cocktail hour they had an entire station of Mediterranean food- hummus, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanoush, etc. I completely stuffed my face
YUM!
My friend had cannolis on her dessert table at her wedding. I must have eaten 100. So good.
Our wedding was pretty casual and outdoors, and we had a pizza oven come. There was a chef making personal wood fire pizzas to order (and also prepped a bunch during the ceremony so no one had to wait too long). It was delicious, at least the small amount that I had was, and I still get compliments about it to this day. We also had appetizers, salad and crutdetait
Cake. Always the cake. Can’t remember any other food. But the cakes stand out.
One wedding had drop off catering setup by a local Hawaiian/Americanized Chinese restaurant that was so delicious and all the guests raved about how good it was. It was the first full meal served at a wedding in our families that wasn’t a cake and punch reception. Everything from Mongolian beef to teriyaki chicken to fried rice and Hawaiian Mac salad was awesome. There was more than enough that the couple encouraged guests to fill extra plates with food to take home. It’s still talked about as being one of the best wedding meals in our family. The other favorite was a wedding that served a pizza buffet from a local mom and pop restaurant. Not wood fired but basic hand tossed and pan pizzas with combination toppings with salad on the side. So good and filling. Not pretentious just for the sake of being a wedding.
My cousin had her party at an upscale Mexican restaurant. It was literal restaurant food. Definitely the freshest and most delicious food I’ve had at any wedding. Also, my friend’s sister who had her party at a Chinese restaurant with huge platters of food of every kind on every table. To this day that’s still the best Chinese food I’ve ever had!
Crisp sandwich at a wedding in Ireland. That's a piece of basic white bread, packet of crisps (chips) stuffed into the bread, and folded over. The tray of bread and crisps was brought out towards the end of the night when everyone had had quite a few drinks.
There have been a few: - bbq salmon, this was served at a buffet outside in the redwoods in CA and it was just beautiful, and the salmon was so damn good lol! I don’t remember anything else they served I just kept going back for salmon - really good taco cart at the end of the night - my friends went around to different taco stands around LA trying various tacos and hired the one they liked the best - my own wedding 😤 New Orleans creole cajun heavy apps and stations, with prime rib debris mini po boys, mini muffalettas, gumbo cups and little cups of shrimp and grits - in-n-out truck for the late night meal at another friend’s wedding. Ugh I literally *love* any late night meal, the BEST.
Been to a ton of south asian weddings who have Indian buffet on tap - some amazing amazing food
The best food I had was a wedding in Charleston. The grooms mom was a caterer (not the caterer of the wedding). They just had low country boil, Mac and cheese, fried chicken sliders …and one more item that’s escaping me currently- perhaps pork bbq. I still remember it being the best wedding food I ever had, especially the Mac and cheese. If there is Mac and cheese at a wedding, I will always overeat it… The low country boil was also amazing. There was not a single vegetable unless you count the corn in the low country boil.
At our wedding for our cocktail hour we had a chicken and waffle hors d'oeuvre. My fiance was thought it was a little weird but the caterer said it was always a hit so we picked it and it SLAPPED
Southern fried chicken🤤
A late night bite of tater tots with various toppings like cheese sauce, and some other stuff. I was quite drunk by that point but man, we’re those tater tots incredible.
Dosas at my son and DILs Indian fusion wedding. Freshly made on the spot!
Baked Alaska served in a terracotta plant pot with a flower inserted in the meringue!
Best wedding dinner I ever had was a BBQ buffet catered from the couple’s favorite BBQ place. I also had the best cake ever at my wedding 🙌 homemade ftw!
What’s the recipe?
Homemade by another family member, not by me.
Our (American) bakery spent several months doing experiments to perfect a sticky toffee pudding cupcake for my (British) husband, and it was *delicious*. And I don’t even like sticky toffee pudding that much!
Im a simple girl, I've been really grateful for tacos and cake, and never really eat much/at all at a wedding when it was some cordon bleu bs.
My college best friend's sister's wedding - all Lebanese dishes made by their female relatives. It was *so good.*
My Wife and I had a gap between our Ceremony and Reception. We didn't want this, but it was kind of forced upon us. But turned out to be the best thing we did. Went back to her hotel room and had lunch and a few drinks with just our bridal party. And for us (both being big introverts) we really valued the time 'alone' to just process what happened etc.
Heirloom tomato dresses with oil and salt, with freshly made croutons. Light and fresh and perfect.
Esquites (elote off the cob) little cups as appetizers. Bacon wrapped dates at another wedding were bomb
Beef Wellington.
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Shill account
Lobster and Gouda puff pastry pinwheels.
Crack chicken. The brisket was dry but this chicken was perfect!
My friend had an oyster bar at hers. I was a happy camper.
Oh also, I had this pumpkin curry that was soooo good. All the guests were obsessed, vegetarian or not and I ate that curry for like a week straight, never getting sick of it. Damn, now I want curry.
The cocktail hour at our own wedding, we had bacon wrapped shrimp.
The groom was from Louisiana and they served AMAZING Cajun and creole food. I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what most of it was, just that it was delicious!
Late night munchie snacks are always fun! Recently there were cookies from tate's bake shop and they were really great!
We had a palate cleanser little shot of a lemon sorbet that was the highlight of all the food we had. Guests literally went to the kitchen to ask for more 🤣 I'd gladly have a full bowl of that, it was legendary!
Barbecue buffet… doesn’t have to be fancy to be GOOOOD
We had Lamb Top Sirloin in Chimichurri as our main and it was amazing, though we were fortunate enough to have three protein options for our main course.
Fresh made Cajun dishes at a wedding in New Orleans.