Menu Choices and Serving Options

I thought that a chat about menu choices is over due.  It is quite a hard call to make but I think the first choice to be made is if you want a buffet or table service dinner, or even a mixture of the two.  There are pros and  cons to both options depending on what kind of reception you aim to have.

Images from friends

 We went for a mixture of the two.  It was decided to serve the main bulk of the starters during the cocktail hour and for this we had a mixture of both served meze and a buffet table for those who wanted to help themselves.  I have been told by the caterer that never in the history of their wedding catering has anyone served so much food at a wedding (am not sure this is a good or a bad thing) and on the Sunday they were astounded at how much food had actually been consumed!  I am not going to lie, it does make me slightly proud that we hold the record with them for a hideous amount of food consumption!  I am surprised any of us could even dance afterwards.

For the meze we had a mixture of classic Greek, dolmades, keftedes, chicken and pork souvlaki to name a few.  Once the cocktail was over everyone was seated with bowls of olives on the table as well as houmous, pittas and melintzanoslata.  Then came the onslaught of the mains.  Spit roasted lamb, gemista, lemon roasted potatoes, gamopilafo and agkinares kokkinistes.  As you can see, it was a little excessive but it was delicious.  We opted for the classic, taverna style food as a lot of the guest came from abroad and we felt that a Greek menu was appropriate and I was delighted with the result.  It truly was mouth watering.  The main course was served to the tables although, the tables were not big enough to hold such a large amount of dishes along with all the water, wine coolers and candle holders.  But in a way it added to the atmosphere of the wedding when all the plates ended up piled onto of the coolers or on the ground next to the tables, sounds bad but was quite cool really.

Image from a friend

The desert course reverted back to buffet style with some table service.  As you all know we had mini puddings as our 'cake' so these were at the buffet table with some mizithra pancakes being made to order and an array of fresh fruit and ice cream cones!  I know, food over kill.  I just couldn't make up my mind so we had it all.  I found the mixture of buffet and table service worked really well and also enabled us to keep a handle on the time.  Buffets can lead to a disjointed dinner service if not organised well and I wanted all the guests to be eating their mains at the same time, we did over run a bit but as there was no time cap on the party it was not a deal breaker.

I think the important part of getting the menu and serving choice right is to establish what feel you want for your wedding.  Also taking into account what time limit you are on, is going to be key in deciding how you want to serve your meal.  Also what type of food and the amount will also play a key part.

NY