Ideas for a Smashing Wedding Cocktail Hour!

Tiny bites and delectable morsels! Who doesn’t love hors d’oeuvres? And what a better way to “wow” your guests from the very onset of your reception than by having delicious selections in tempting displays? Nothing will guarantee a better conversation starter and get the festive mood going than happy guests dining on munchies! However, choosing hors d’oeuvres can be quite challenging, considering the vast number of options.

Here are some tips to get you started:

(1)    “Let your food talk” - that is, use your hors d’oeuvres as a way to communicate your wedding’s theme or to give meaningful hints about your family heritage, for example – is your mother or grandmother famous for making something? Serve a mini version of it! If you’ve had a double ceremony, featuring two religions, serve up nibbles that reflect those two cultures.

(2)    Create a tasting bar based on the countries you have travelled to. This way, guests get an insight into your romantic journey together and they also get to sample unusual fare.

(3)    Serve foods that are inspired by your location; for example, if you’re giving a garden wedding, foods with fresh, garden influences, lemons and herbs would be lovely; or if it’s a beach wedding, easy seafood dishes such as: ceviche (raw fish marinated in citrus juices and seasoned), accra, crab cakes, mini shrimp cocktails, served in shot glasses or grilled items would be appropriate.

(4)    Try miniature versions of your favourite foods – If you enjoy fast foods, you can certainly have sliders (mini burgers), doubles, aloo pies, tiny shark and bakes, “coo coo” squares, meatballs, mini pizzas, or French fries served in beautiful paper cones to match your décor.

(5)    Have an unusual food station such as sushi or a “baked potato bar,” where guest can choose their own toppings such as: cheddar cheese, bacon, chives, sour cream etc.

(6)    Ensure your drink selections do not clash with your food selections. For example, if you’re going with more Mexican-inspired foods, choose margaritas or if you’re having an Italian-inspired menu, offer up some limoncello. Garden weddings would do well with lemonade and a selection of iced teas. To close your reception, a nice idea if you’ve had an “all-Trini” menu would be to serve some Trini cocoa tea in take-away mugs, which serve as wedding favours.

Go to: http://www.trinidadweddings.com for more great articles!

or join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/trinidadweddings

Food & Drinks for Your Outdoor Wedding

It has often been said that entertaining is an art, but have you ever thought about moving the canvas outside for your wedding? That’s right, perhaps we can look to the vast outdoors for inspiring ideas on how to entertain wedding guests. And there’s no better way to entertain guests than with delicious food!

However, having an outdoor wedding does indeed present a few challenges. Here are some factors to consider and some ideas to go along with them:

Factors to consider:

How food will be served

It is best to avoid serving food items that are too sticky, saucy or sweet when having a self-service buffet; since these tend to attract bees and flies. However, if your hors d’ouevres will be passed on trays by wait staff; you can have a wider selection of food types, since the food will be monitored and brought out in fresh batches.

The time of the day or type of reception
If you’re having a cocktail reception, some choices for appetizers could be: stuffed mushrooms, spring rolls, mini quiches, meatballs with a dipping sauce, shrimp or scallops wrapped in bacon, chicken satays, vegetable crudités, pot stickers, a cheese tray and for dessert, cupcakes and fruit kabobs or chocolate-covered fruit.  Always ensure that dishes containing seafood, mayonnaise and onions are kept at the correct temperature, to avoid the threat of bacteria!

Let your location lead you - for example, if you’re giving a garden wedding, foods incorporating fresh, garden influences such as lemons and herbs would be lovely – for example: grilled vegetables, stuffed tomatoes, wild rice pilaf, pesto pasta salad and lemon-infused chicken. A beach wedding could  feature seafood dishes such as: chowder or bisque, ceviche (raw fish marinated in citrus juices and seasoned), accra, crab cakes, mini shrimp cocktails served in shot glasses or grilled meats.

Theme of your wedding – your food choices will be much easier if you have a specific theme for your wedding. For example, for an Indian-theme, you can try samosas, biryani, tandoori chicken, naan bread, vegetables and an assortment of curries and chutneys. If you’re having a more casual wedding, you could try a “picnic theme” for the wedding and have a selection of: fried chicken, bar-b-qued meats, coleslaw, potato salad and corn on the cob. If you are going with an Italian theme, you can choose stuffed olives, lasagna, eggplant parmesan, caprese salad and top it off with a dessert of tiramisu or panacotta.

Get inspired by your own local favourites - Try miniature versions of your favourite foods, for example, if you enjoy fast foods, you can certainly have sliders (mini burgers), doubles, gyros, aloo pies, tiny shark and bakes, “coo coo” squares, meatballs, mini pizzas, shot glasses of souse or French fries served in beautiful paper cones to match your décor.

Ensure your drink selections do not clash with your food selections. For example, if you’re going with more Mexican-inspired foods, choose margaritas or if you’re having an Italian-inspired menu, serve your guests some limoncello or an assortment of Italian wines. Japanese-inspired weddings could have sake on offer and garden weddings would do well with lemonade, daiquiris and a selection of iced teas. To close your reception, a nice idea if you’ve had an “all-Trini” menu would be to serve some Trini cocoa tea in take-away mugs, which serve as wedding favours.

A Trini Holiday Wedding Menu

 And the countdown is on – only a few more days till Christmas! And of course, there’s that tingly, “Christmasy” feeling in the air, parang is on the radio, the Christmas tree is up and nearly everyone feels a bit more light-hearted. And so with all the feelings of romance floating around, perhaps you’re thinking ...what a better time to have a wedding than during Christmas?

 

At http://www.trinidadweddings.com most engaged couples who visit our website tend to have their weddings around mid-year, however, weddings carded for Boxing Day, Ole Year’s Day and New Year’s Day are also hot contenders! Many people opt for Christmas-time weddings because it’s a wonderful, festive time of year to get the family together. Even foreign guests can usually manage to leave their schedules around this time.

 

Menu Selection

The main challenge is that with “Trini” Christmas food abounding during this Yuletide season, many guests will more than likely predict what your Christmas wedding menu will be like. Here’s your chance to serve up some traditional or classic favorites with new twists, so that you can surprise and delight your guests!

For example:

1. Instead of serving full-sized pastelles, try serving a pastelle pie (a casserole with the corn meal base and the meat filling layered) in your buffet, or “mini pastelles” as an appetizer instead.
2. Serve your green salad with apple or pear slivers and a cranberry-orange or sorrel-inspired dressing, instead of the regular types of salad dressing.  
3. Have a selection of homemade bread rolls with sliced ham and turkey fillings, as a late night wedding reception snack.
4. How about a green fig Waldorf salad instead of the regular potato Waldorf salad?
5. Have turkey with sorrel jelly instead of cranberry sauce

Wine selection
Couples who are opting for a reception where alcoholic beverages will be served will no doubt be wondering how to choose the perfect wine that will complement their wedding feast! Choosing wine for your wedding need not be a daunting task. Generally, there are 3 broad categories that wine falls into:

 

(1) Still wines such as: red wines, white wines and rosé wines

 

(2) Fortified wines, like port or sherry and;

 

(3) Sparkling wines such as: champagne or sparkling wines

 

Most weddings usually feature still wines and sparkling wines or a combination. When choosing your wines, it is best to start the process with your menu by letting the types of food you will be serving, determine the types of wine you will serve.

Dessert Buffets
Dessert buffets are in vogue at the moment; with couples making buffets out of their favourite candies, fruits, cookies, cupcakes and desserts and featuring a variety of toppings and sauces. To add some traditional Christmas flair, you can serve sweet “paime” as one option or for a more modern approach, you can incorporate toppings in your dessert bar such as: coconut or white-chocolate shavings, nuts, cranberries, candied peel, cinnamon or caramel-rum sauce. If you don’t want to go this route and you would like to have a plated dessert served instead; two selections can be: baked apples topped with cinnamon and served alongside vanilla ice-cream or warm fruit cake (or “black cake”) and punch a crème ice cream.

  

Fabulous edible favours
Christmas time presents a whole slew of unique options for wedding favours that are often readily-available in bulk, for example Christmas cookies or fruit cake truffle balls ( balls of fruit cake dipped in chocolate!). You can even “do-it-yourself” by distributing tiny bottles of spiced nuts and dried cranberries, punch a crème, egg nog, sorrel, ginger beer, homemade wine or preserved fruit.

 

Return to : http://www.trinidadweddings.com

 

 

Tobago – it is Truly Romantic!

I’ve just returned from a week in beautiful Tobago at the “Tobago, Truly Romantic - A Weddings and Honeymoons Symposium.” The weather was glorious but I was far too busy - so my swimsuit sadly, never made it out of my carry-on!

Anyway, there, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with wedding industry professionals from the USA, publishers of leading American bridal magazines, friendly hoteliers and vendors from Tobago and also vendors from Trinidad, like those from our TW vendor network: Shelly Fossick (photographer), Anthea Walcott (florist) and Emerald Designs Limited (event planners).


It really warms my heart that the Department of Tourism in Tobago is taking Tobago’s role in the “romance market” so seriously and hopefully, through its efforts, it will give Tobago a fighting chance to be known and appreciated for its obvious appeal as a destination wedding and honeymoon option (versus the much more heavily-promoted Caribbean island destinations.)


While there, I couldn’t help but be inspired by Tobago’s natural beauty and culture and so, here are some thoughts on how to incorporate some of  Tobago's essence into your wedding:


1. One day, I had a terrific lunch at a charmingly rustic place called “Shore Things” – it’s a combination of an art and craft store and a restaurant. Everything is freshly made – from the breads to the ice cream ( I’ll get to that in a second!). I had shrimp crepes with a salad, accompanied by home-made vinaigrettes: honey mustard and a heavenly balsamic concoction.

So, why not incorporate crepes into your wedding menu? It could be an interactive appetizer. Think about it…a crepe station with different fillings – savoury ( like cream of mushroom or chicken) or sweet like chocolate-filled crepes! You could also make your own vinaigrettes as wedding favours for your guests or serve them a home-made flavoured ice cream? I had passion fruit-mango ice cream and it was delish!

At another restaurant called "Surf n Turf", I had a very tasty shrimp and vegetable tempura - that's another great idea for a wedding appetizer!


2. Just like the “Shore Things” menu – you can use coloured burlap, twine, shells or twigs on your own invitations if you’re going for an island-feel or if you want an eco-twist.


3. Skip expensive crystal and glass receptacles for your centrepiece and opt for centrepieces done in a whole coconut shell or in a large conch shell. They’re unique and will definitely be a conversation-starter for your guests.

(The 2 centrepieces in the photo slide show were done for the event by Emerald Designs Limited. Photo of the coconut shell arrangement kindly provided by Emerald Designs Limited. Photo of the conch shell arrangement was taken by my phone's camera, so I apologise for the fuzziness!)


4. For entertainment, treat your guests to a re-enactment of an Ole Time Tobago wedding. I got to see one up front at this event and it immediately got all the participants smiling, clapping and ready to chip along to the violin and tambrin!

(The photos of the Tobago wedding were kindly provided by Tobago photographer, Celeste Hart.)


Return to: http://www.trinidadweddings.com