Serving your guests the perfect wedding dinner starts with hiring the perfect wedding caterer. We’ll make sure to turn your ideas into an amazing meal. We will help you choose the perfect menu for the season, your budget, and your wedding style. We want everything to be customized so that the food is a cohesive and memorable aspect of your wedding.
The food at your wedding does several things other than just keep your and your guests’ stomachs from growling. The dishes at your wedding serve several different roles, and give you a chance to introduce your guests to local flavors, to share your favorite cuisines, and so much more. To help you with the food planning process, we’ll break down all of the different parts of your wedding day menu.
Appetizers
A cocktail hour is a time-honored southern tradition at a wedding. It’s the brief respite between the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception. They’re usually held in a gorgeous area of the wedding venue and allow guests to mingle and grab a drink while the couple finishes all of their wedding photos. Whether you prefer a light stationed appetizer of fruits or cheeses or decide to have a little more fun with butler passed hors d’oeuvres, the cocktail hour is a time when your guests expect to get a little taste of something.
Feeding your guests a light snack and opening up the bar will make for a happy crowd and keep everyone from grumbling about when they can expect dinner. The cocktail hour is also a great time to have a little fun with your menu! If you’ve got a lot of guests coming in from out of town, you should give them a taste of the local flavors. Since Nashville has so many great iconic dishes, we love to recommend some southern favorites:
Nashville Hot Chicken Sliders
A petite version of the classic! Hot chicken served on a mini bun and topped with a sweet pickle slice.
Beef Brisket & Slaw
A tender, smoky brisket tossed in BBQ sauce, Sweet & Sassy Slaw nestled in an edible spoon.
Signature Shrimp & Grit Bites
Our twist on a Southern staple. A bite – sized Asiago grit cake topped with seared shrimp and hickory smoked sausage.
Your guests will love that they got some amazing nibbles, and it will get them excited about dinner! Your fun and tasting cocktail hour will be something people talk about for long after the wedding.
Main Meal
In no time at all those photos will be finished, you’ll have been introduced, and your guests will be happy to start the wedding reception! Usually this means a quick prayer or greeting by the father of the bride, and then everyone gets to dig in. This meal will fortify your guests for a long night of dancing, so you want to make sure that it’s food people will actually eat. We’ll help you pick dishes with great flavors but that aren’t too intimidating for your friends and family. We want it to be delicious and recognizable!
For your main meal you have a couple of different serving options. You can opt for a plated dinner, buffet, or family style service. If you’re more budget conscious or don’t have a venue large enough to seat everyone, we recommend going with a buffet dinner. Your guests can enjoy a hearty meal, and we’ll ensure that the food is beautifully presented. Plus, to keep the line moving quickly and to save your guests the trouble of waiting too long, we’ll dismiss them by table. Everyone will move quickly through the line and get to enjoy the amazing meal you picked out for them.
The next popular style of dinner is a plated one. This means that our experienced servers will present each guest with a full, beautifully styled plate of food. We’ll serve your entire crowd at once, allowing everyone to enjoy dinner simultaneously. Weddings with a plated dinner are often more formal affairs and the menu tends to include higher end cuts of meat. Your guests will love the charm and elegance that comes with a plated meal. Seeing each plate on the table so perfectly styled and set makes for a memorable moment!
If you’re looking for something that’s more casual than a plated meal but more intimate than a buffet, you should consider trying a family style meal. This is when a platter of each dish- meat, sides, etc- is set on each table allowing the guests at the table to pass dishes amongst and serve themselves. Sharing dishes gets guests chatting and leads to a very lively dinner!
Late Night Snack
You’ve eaten cake, had some drinks, and been dancing the night away, but there’s still at least another hour to go! Instead of having your guests start trailing off because they’re tired or had one too many, serve them a fun-filled late night snack to help them get a second wind! Now that all of the bridesmaids have ditched their heels and most of the formality has worn off of the evening, play up your fun side by working with us on picking an amazing late night snack! We love:
Flaming Donuts with Iced Coffee Drinks
Homemade donut holes lit on fire to create an amazing spectacle before they are served to your guests.
Tater Tots & Soda Bottles
Tater tots served in easy to handle paper bags alongside cold, bottled cokes.
Mini Chicago Style Hot Dogs & Bourbon Bacon Popcorn
Petit hot dogs served with relish and peppers alongside buttery popcorn tossed in our rich, bourbon caramel sauce and served in paper cones.
Your guests will love the familiar snack and be ready to leave a few more moves on the dance floor!
Serve a Meal Your Guests will Remember
Every part of your wedding is important, we know that! So we want to help you figure out the best menu to serve your guests to ensure that your big day is one that they remember forever.
We’ll help you through every detail of the process and give you tons of options to choose from. When you’ve got a great caterer like us, you won’t have to worry about a thing!
To get started with planning your wedding meal, fill out our easy event request form or send us an email and we will contact you to start planning.
Good and innovative ideas can I share this with my community?
Thanks Sienna. Yes, please share with your community!
I like that you mentioned the options that you have when you choose to cater. You can have a more intimate plated meal or do a buffet style. Whichever you choose you want someone that makes quality food that people will enjoy. I have been to many weddings this summer and the food makes a big difference.
Serving matters a lot. I agree with you on that. Your tips are really nice and considerable. I love the post. Thanks for sharing.
Choosing a right caterer can serve food in the way you want. Liked your article. Thanks for sharing.
It makes sense that having the perfect dinner starts with hiring the perfect caterer. That makes a good point about why it’s important to take your time searching for a caterer. Personally, when it comes to food, I feel like this is one service that’s ok to splurge a little on.