Menu Ideas for your Greek Wedding

Good afternoon all, today I thought we should talk about a really important element of any wedding reception around the globe and that is the food that will be served to your guests!

Of course when having a destination wedding in Greece the three important elements are going to be finding a beautiful outdoor venue, preferably with a sea view, great wine and of course some great Greek food.
Some of your guests may never have tasted the local cuisine so it is a chance to incorporate some local dishes and perhaps serve the meal "meze" style, with all being served to the centre of the table so everyone can try a little of each!

As it's really difficult to choose one "ideal" menu that will suit all tastes, I will just indicate what I think should definitely be included on a menu and how I would structure it ideally!

Meze or starters

Great selection of bread, ask for the village loaves, perhaps small ones on wooden cutting boards for guests to slice themselves!
A selection of dips which must include tzatziki, skordalia, taramosalata and olive oil flavoured with oregano!
A Greek salad (obviously, although you could embelish with Cretan rusks, they call it Dakos salad)
Fried vegetables, this is really tasty, especially combined with the skordalia as above
Fried cheese (called saganaki)
Roasted feta with spices, absolutely love this dish!

You would then go on to include either seafood like kalamari and grilled octopus or meat based dishes like bekri meze (pork cooked in wine, the exact translation is boozy starter)

Image from 123rf.com

Main Course

For main course again I would suggest keeping it simple with a large fish with olive and lemon dressing served with roast potatoes with oregano and lemon and some other vegetables of your choice.

Alternatively I would serve a fillet of meat that you prefer, again if cooked well this is tasty with just some freshly squeezed lemon on top, but you could also offer a choice of pepper sauce or hollandaise for those that want to add some interest to their main course!

Loukamades image from Tiny Bites flickr.com

Dessert

Dessert is really important to me, being a "sweet" loving girl, this is where my attention is focused, I think you must include a platter of Greek pastries i.e. baklava and kataifi, perhaps served with ice cream. Another vey Greek flavour is mastiha, do try before adding to your wedding menu, some love it  and other hate it (Natty being one!), I love it, so would serve mastiha flavoured ice cream.

Loukoumades are always a favourite as well, for those that are not certain what these are, dough balls with honey and cinnamon on top, served hot!

SP