What's on you wedding menu?

[marose17]

^ Your menu sounds really delish.  Best wishes! 

[lourd3ss]

Just sharing our menu from K by Cunanan during our wedding reception last Saturday.

Cocktail hour:
- Hoisin chicken wrap
- Mini eggs benedict
- Smoked salmon, toast, ricotta, truffle oil
- Portobello fries, wasabi cream

Bread service:
- Assorted bread with: Balsamic and olive oil & Creamy pesto spread

Soup:
- Broccoli and cheese soup

Salad:
- Watermelon and feta cheese, citrus dressing

Seafood entrée:
- Red snapper, mango salsa, coconut cream, served on carrot rice

Sorbet:
-  Dalandan basil sorbet 

Main course
- Slow cooked beef, corn bread, creamed spinach, root vegetables

Dessert table:
- Creme brûlée
- Queso de bola cheesecake
- White chocolate cake
- Flambéed mangoes with vanilla ice cream

Drinks:
- Raspberry iced tea
- Brewed coffee and tea by request
- Bar service

[Chili1113]

^ Your menu sounds really delish.  Best wishes! 

Thank you Marose!! =) =) Food was really a big concern. But OK na din for the price since we got 2014 rates. I was shocked when I found out how much our menu would cost under the new prices of the venue... So it seems like we got a good deal!

[itsKat!]

^hi chilii113! this is your sit-down set menu pala for the wedding. If I understood it correctly, your main dish is fish? so ganon ba talaga for sit-down, if fish, no pork and beef na, unlike sa buffet na lahat ng variants meron? Ang worry ko lang kasi if i go for one main course is baka may ayaw nun or may allergy? Meron ba kayong mga sinerve the specifically fora particular person only? Thanks!

^ hi lourd3ss, sit-down type ka din ba and main course is beef?

I really want to go for sit-down style on my wedding kasi, ang worry ko lang kasi, okay lang ba talaga na isang main course lang? haha I just need some more inputs about this.

TIA!

[marose17]

^ I didn't hear any complaints when we served rib-eye as our main course.  I did seek the consensus of the guests, particularly the elderly and the principal sponsors as to their preference.  Since there were vegetarians/non-beef eaters, I arranged with the hotel for a fish main course (i think it was snapper fillet) for those guests.  Less than 10 pax lang naman sila.

I wanted my guests to feel pampered and I guess the sit-down dinner fulfilled my objective.  They were happy, considering they were used to the fiesta-style wedding buffet.  The steak was more than enough.  My salad, soup and dessert courses were so pretty pa.  We also served cocktails pala prior to the dinner, and the wedding cake as the festivities wound down. Aesthetically pleasing ang sit-down dinner compared to buffet style (I don't like seeing different dishes in one plate, with the sauce from one dish overlapping with another dish) and for me lang, it is more appropriate for a wedding dinner.  I can have a party with buffet setting anytime.

It all boils down to your priorities and preference.  Either way is good.

[lourd3ss]

^itsKat! Same with marose17 I wanted sit-down dinner service so that my guests will feel pampered. I was adamant about this decision even if my mother and mother-in-law was trying to persuade me otherwise. I didn't want my guests have to wait and line up to get food as it reminds me of cafeteria setting. I find buffets at events such as weddings to be tacky and chaotic but that's just my opinion.

I had a fish/seafood course and a meat course so parang 2 main courses na din. The red snapper entree was already filling enough so by the time the beef course came, busog na yung iba. On top of that, we had cocktail service, bread, soup and salad too.

[itsKat!]

^thanks for the replies lourd3ss and marose17! Now, I am more inclined to sit-down dinner. SAbi naman sakin ng AE ko, they will make sure na sufficient yung food and we will see it during food tasting naman daw. So i guess i'll go for it na! more formal and less chaotic, which is !

Just like marose, siguro i'll just ask the preference of some vips and elderly, as to their diet restrictions.

Thank you for the inputs! 

[stella021817]

@lourd3ss: Did you feel like a lot of the meat course was wasted or not eaten by guests? This is what I noticed in past weddings I've attended that served a fish and beef main entree -- by the time the steak came, most guests were too full to eat....

I really don't want to waste food, but I want to make sure that my guests are full! I'm considering a pasta/risotto course instead of the fish entree so it's filling but not too much food either.... Also, vegetarians or those who don't eat red meat/fish can still eat the risotto, salad, soup, dessert -- and not starve hehe.

Would love to hear how your menu was received! Trying to find a menu that would please everyone is stressing me out, haha.

[lourd3ss]

^stella021817 Unfortunately you can't avoid wasting food talaga. Even at buffets, there will be people who will get a bunch of food on their plate para matikman lahat ng dishes.
We were supposed to have a seafood pasta dish with lapu-lapu but because my AE said lapu-lapu was more expensive than the red snapper at the time (which means upgraded cost), we opt for the latter with rice. It was a good thing actually because the beef course came with corn bread and veggies. Also, we thought baka may maghanap ng rice so it was a good pair with the fish.

The guests I asked said that the food was good and they were full. I didn't hear anything negative about the menu from our guests (and frankly I don't care na if there is/was). Just remember, you can't please everyone. I believe our menu pleased the majority and that's good enough for me. 

[Chili1113]

^hi chilii113! this is your sit-down set menu pala for the wedding. If I understood it correctly, your main dish is fish? so ganon ba talaga for sit-down, if fish, no pork and beef na, unlike sa buffet na lahat ng variants meron? Ang worry ko lang kasi if i go for one main course is baka may ayaw nun or may allergy? Meron ba kayong mga sinerve the specifically fora particular person only? Thanks!

Hi Sis! Actually that's the problem talaga with a sit-down menu, that some people might have dietary restrictions and cannot eat some of the dishes. This is why, we had two main courses. First main course was seafood in cream sauce in a puff pastry shell. Second main course was a duet/duo of steak and fish so that was non meat eaters can eat the fish. Sorbet was served in between the two main courses.

The best way to go about a set menu is that the main course has to have both seafood and red meat. However, this does drive the cost up.  And you're right, with buffet the guest guests only what they can eat and so nothing is wasted. Unlike with us, we didn't have any leftovers to share with suppliers or take home. Once the plate is served even if guests only take one bite, they throw everything out after and this is what I dislike the most about set menus. I don't like wasting food, but I had no choice since I didn't like the buffet dishes and the food presentation at our food tasting.

[stella021817]

@ lourd3ss: You're right, I need to stop trying to please everyone! My original menu was softshell crab with greens, then steak for the main course. But then I got worried that some might have shellfish allergies AND not eat red meat, so they'd starve, haha. I guess I'll go with a second entree of either pasta/risotto or fish, then. That way everyone can choose which course to eat, and still be full.  Thanks for the input!!

[corpse_bride]

Regarding dietary restrictions & food allergies, maybe you could include it in your RSVP card. Or if you'll message your guests for your save the dates & addresses for invites, ask them nalang if you're not sure. Apparently, we have 28 vegan guests up from 3 that we personally know of. & a couple of people who'd prefer fish over beef.

Total savings of 20k on food! Yey!

[stella021817]

^that's a good idea! Maybe I'll post it on facebook when I make my event invite Wow 20K savings because of the vegans?? What did you end up serving them instead of steak?  Now I'm starting to hope I"ll have a lot of vegetarians, haha! I'd save a lot...

[itsKat!]

^nice idea corpse_bride! maybe i can also do that once i message them for RSVP! Thanks for the bright idea.


^Chili: You're right. No excess food if plated.

Question lang, did you include your supplies sa plated menu? or did you have other menu or food for them?

[Chili1113]

^with us, we ordered plated crew meals from the venue's restaurant, and this was served in the supplier's room/holding area. We also ordered kid's meals. However, some flower girls (refused to stay at the kid's room because it was all boys running around) sat with their parents at the main dining and were served adult menu. But ok lang because the excess kiddie food went to yayas/nurse of elderly guests who didn't tell me they were gonna bring assistants.

[mika]

My menu-

Soup:
Mushroom Soup with Truffle oil
Rolls & Butter
 
Salad:
Mixed Green Salad with complete condiments
Dressings: Caesar, Balsamic Herb Vinaigrette
 
Canape:
Chorizos Fritos
Egg Salad Canape
 
Hot Items:
Barbecue Sirloin with Scorched Corn Salsa & Romesco Cream Sauce
Iberian Chicken with Baby Potatoes
Nori-Crusted Pork Belly in Roasted Sesame Dressing
Salmon Florentine
Asian Vegetables
Paella Valenciana
Steamed Rice
 
Desserts:
Assorted Mini Cakes & Pastries
Decadent Chocolate Cake
Honey & Strawberry Pana Cota
Assorted White & Dark Chocolate Truffle

[corpse_bride]

^that's a good idea! Maybe I'll post it on facebook when I make my event invite Wow 20K savings because of the vegans?? What did you end up serving them instead of steak?  Now I'm starting to hope I"ll have a lot of vegetarians, haha! I'd save a lot...

I think we'll end up with more than 20k pa pala coz I missed calculated the kids. The vegan is half the price off the regular menu kasi. Although I doubt if the price will change with the fish option.

Via Mare gave us this 5 course Vegan Menu:
- Vegetable Terrine with crackers & toast
- Spiced Pumpkin Soup with Whole Wheat Roll
- Asparagus Salad
- Vegan Ratatouille with Vegetable Quinoa
- Fruit Slices
- Lemongrass Tea

We haven't tried their vegan option but fiancé's aunt assured us that their vegetarian option was delicious when she attended a wedding at our venue few months ago.

Share ko lang my experience when I was working back of the house. If you're having a 5 course sit down with just 1 main entrée but 2 choices chosen prior to the event, there will be guests who'd see the other dish & would change their mind. You should discuss this with your AE & Coord. You won't be involved in that hassle for the night but your kitchen people would be annoyed. Seasoned caterers & their people would know how to handle guests like that. But not all coords are. Best to choose a varied spread for the entire menu. Like have seafood in your appetizer, soup or salad if it's not part of your main. Or serve surf & turf. options even if you'll just have few courses.

And remember, you can serve a vegetarian vegan food but you can't serve a vegan vegetarian food. How will you know someone's vegan? They never shut up about being a vegan. Haha just kidding happy preps!

[stella021817]

^Thanks for that tip! Will definitely try to have a varied menu, including both seafood and meat. I want to avoid offering entree choices, other than the veggie option. Gosh, some people can be so fussy with food! When I've attended weddings in the past, even if I didn't like the food, I never said I word. I just ate what I could from the courses that were served.  Hopefully my guests will be as respectful, and not make a fuss!

[itsKat!]

^thanks for the tip Chili113! That's good to hear, I will be attending a wedding on my venue this year, and I think they will have it buffet style. So during our food tasting, I will ask for plated set up so I can see the difference!

 

[gingerbreadwoman]

Just posting here not sure which thread this should go =)

Mayroon bang catering or supplier na nagcacater ng finger foods lang? haha =) like after the ceremony, tambay muna guest before they head to dinner. I'm not sure what to call it e. haha

Thanks in advance.