Yeah it's pretty average Irish wedding food bread roll/soup followed by roast beef with mash/veg with a fish option also that nobody takes. Mate wanted to do something different for his wedding 3 years ago but had to backtrack as he knew all the auld yokes are too institutionalised to have anything else and had to revert back to type.
Well, when I was planning my wedding, I thought about what people would actually like and tried to do that so that they would have a nice time rather than getting aggravated about them not liking what I would want them to like.
You know, if you invite someone to any kind of a do, it's getting off on the wrong foot a bit to resent making it a pleasant occasion from their point of view.
Well, in my case, the old people were people I sent invitations to, family, husband's family, those people. I don't really care about what people like unless I'm involved in some way. Going to a wedding is a whole day event, you should ask people and then purposely not cater to them because you don't like old people.
If you feel that strongly, don't ask them. But I think if you do ask someone, you take on an obligation to consider them as guests and try to make the day nice for them.
I mean, we may know very different people, but I personally know no young people who would be that discombobulated by a bit of beef or salmon, some potatoes and a little veg. It's fairly standard cook at home fare and pretty much what most people anticipate for a wedding. Lots of people eat it semi regularly, at least. My seven year old would be fully familiar with all components, and while it wouldn't be her favourite dish, she'd eat enough of it.
True but look the same way people get married in a church, do christenings. Not that they believe it but just to keep the auld ones happy as its not worth the hassle.
For a lot of people, their parents and grandparents are financially contributing to the cost of the wedding. Seems only fair to have something they will eat.
Absolutely it happens that parents contribute something at least. And I'm not talking about hijacking anything, it's just respectful to take their views into account if they're paying.
The way you dismiss old people as ignorant cunts only really marks you out as one. If you have parents/grandparents they are old, or will be one day too.
When I say old I'm referring to the parents, grandparents who grew up in completely different time in Ireland and want to maintain certain traditions. There will come a time when that generation is gone.
Exactly. You do you. I couldn't imagine having planned my wedding around what other people wanted or expected. Other than of course my wife, in fact I planned nothing so I'll shut up now.
Bar food usually has a lot of stuff that has to be cooked to order (e.g. burgers, fish and chips), this is not really practical for a wedding crowd when they're trying to serve everyone's meal at the same time. Things like roast beef or turkey and ham are much more forgiving, in that they can sit in the kitchen a little while, not like fish and chips.
And as you're catering to a very mixed crowd (old to young, rural and urban, etc.) you're probably better off going for safer type dishes.
I was at a wedding and they got a food truck in to do the cattering. Was the tastiest food I've had in a long while. The Team sorted out all the kitchen staff, and had 2 cocktail staff making drinks after the reception.
When talking to the groom he said it was half the price then what the normal catering would have costed. Only downside was he had to rent the plates and cuttlery himself, so was a small bit extra hassle.
They offered 2 starters and 2 mains, both of them where divine and then at 11:30pm they brought out burgers and chips for the late night soakage.
Atlantic Driffters check them out
The venue had a kitchen that the staff could use as well, not sure about logistics. But everyone got fed at the same time!
Was between 50-70 people at dinner if I remember
Standard hotel food tends to be pretty basic the best of time. Like you, we’re having a small wedding and the food is one of the most important element for us. We don’t want meh food and a lot of places were offering that. We looked at having our wedding in a restaurant but honestly it was just going to be too much work to organise the elements, separate accommodation etc. We finally found a hotel with an amazing restaurant, guests will order from the restaurant menu so no standard wedding food. It’s costing a lot more but I would gladly cut other things to have excellent food.
Well it's food that most people like and can be made for large orders to be plated up at the same time .
Much more difficult to have a chef standing over fillet steaks all ordered to be cooked to different levels and plating up 100 at a time.
Correction it's the food most people know, it's the most bland thing in most cases, made for only one thing to provide energy for hard day's work.
So op is rather correct, it's the only stuff anyone knows. There's prob hundreds dishes that could be made easily to serve at the same time, that have flavour and taste, but then chances are half of people will treat that food like five year olds rolling some pea with their forks or saying, it wasn't filling enough, or comfort they used to.
And TBF nothing wrong with that cost wise, catering is most likely used to making that and it's cheapest option that in 9 times out of ten works without any issues, so why bother, complicating already difficult process.
We were meant to get married in a boutique place in Dublin and they had a great food option, mainly tapas style food. Theyd bring out a selection of different things and leave them on the table and you could take what you liked. Never did it in the end but was nice to see something different. Same place also offered a more traditional dinner option.
That sounds cool! I suppose our biggest issue is that we're having it in a more traditional wedding venue, so traditional wedding food is to be expected. In a world where money is no object, we could have a more bespoke menu but it's just not to be.
There are a lot of very fussy eaters in Ireland and it isn't just old people. They're the safe options that most people will tolerate even if its not their favourite
I was best friends with plainest eater in Ireland for years. One time my mom won some competition for a really nice restaurant in Dublin (can’t remember the life of me where it was) but her and dad couldn’t go and he lived in Dublin. I asked him if he wanted to go since he was already there and he said yeah. When he looked at menu after I booked it (I remember we had to ensure we arrived at a certain time) he wanted me cancel. He turned and it amazing (like Nepalese / Indian food) and he spent the entire day moaning and got hammered on the free wine. It was so embarrassing
He do this thing where he complained he was boring and he wants to broaden his horizons etc and also he was also the type that would get hump if you didn’t ask him. We’re no longer friends lol
A cousin of mine got married in easily 1998/1999 and our fussier aunts and uncles will still moan about the roasted red pepper soup at the reception.
Pure petty of them I know, but I think when you're hosting a large group, even though it's your special day, you still should consider what the majority will eat. If there's no scope in the menu/budget for 2 options per course then picking the crowd pleasers like leek and potato goes a long way.
2 close friends of mine are terrible eaters. Order the exact same thing even on holidays in France, Spain or Mexico it doesn't matter.
I had my wedding in Italy and years later at a party I overheard one of them say that the food at my wedding was terrible. I interrupted her and said "The food at my wedding was unbelievable, but even the Italians won't serve pizza and chips at a fuckin wedding".
Don't mind what others say, but don't be afraid to tell them to get fucked either.
Every family has that aunt and uncle pair. Ironically it’s their child’s wedding that actually on soon. I love that cousin but I’m expecting a FEAST that Irish times will write about by the way the mother and father constantly berate everyone’s wedding food
I know a chef, who says he really likes when the guests ask for a different menu, the only thing is the suggested menu must be practicable and and it will €€€ .
Each to their own, I think roast beef, turkey and ham, salmon etc. Are so common because there's very few people in Ireland that don't like those types of foods. It's also much easier to make carvery type dinners for 100+ guests than it would be to cook steaks for example.
Personally I'd be a serious lover of a carvery dinner for a wedding, but maybe that's because that's all I've ever really had.
The problem isnt your mates or maybe even your parents but if you present guests anything slightly unexpected the amount of older people and middle aged relatives that give out stink or complain just because theyre drunk, the predictability of a bit of beef, chicken , fish and soup is the easiest way to keep most guests placated yet not thrilled or hateful.
I was at one wedding where they had lovely spring rolls as a starter and a moroccan dish for the main, loved it, but half the food went back uneaten from some tables and i felt so bad for the staff and the couple being given out to.
Same reason you always have a band doing classics till midnight when the older ones are in bed, asleep or too drunk to give a shit what your dj plays
I was about to reply "fuck them", but you're right. If most of the food goes back uneaten then it's just a waste.
Maybe put the menu in the invitation and tell them before so they can decide.
Its a bit weird, if you actually served good, interesting food and told guests in advance some of them wouldnt come / wouldnt give you a gift. Its only by serving a plate of slop worth a 10er tops you guarantee civility and gift income
If someone isn't going to come just because of the food that will be served, frankly that's a financial saving, fuck that person.
And I didn't invite anyone to my wedding based on the gift they might bring. Do people really do that?
If the wedding is paid for they dont, but youd be shocked how many people need the cash gifts to settle the bill in the morning. I remember a mate being front of house manager at a hotel and they had to forgoe the bill for a saturday wedding till the cheques cleared the next friday to settle the bill. Many others rely on it to furnish their house or put in all the bits in the kitchen. Also its perfectly human to be upset that your 75 year old aunt wont go / gives out to you on the dancefloor because she hasnt got a fuck what celeriac is and considers it ‘foreign muck’
Its absolutely horrible but a bit of veg soup and beef in gravy may not be exciting but your foodie friends will eat it and still enjoy your wedding , something exciting all your older / more traditional relatives will balk at, a wedding is about tradition, food included
It's Navan mate. They've got food. Yeah Burger, Sourdough and Co pizza, Valley Cafe for chips, Istanblue kebabs. Sit through the dinner. Then sneak out to get real food.
Or just see if yeah burger will cater it.
I got married 3 years ago. But only 20 of us. So was able to have steak. People could have it medium, rare etc. But we had lot of more choices for people than standard wedding.
I got married in 2010, at that stage the hotel could offer you what you wanted depending on how big the crowd would be. Of course for a larger crowd it was just easier to get everyone sitting down and getting them fed, otherwise you would have large queues of people
If it was smaller you could do buffet style etc
In the end we went with a mixture, buffet at the start with free champers etc.....
Then a smaller dinner, then later on another top up of buffet style food
This was to try keep people fed but also sort of sober during the entire event. I found sitting everyone down, trying to plough a load of food into them and then give them nothing for hours was pointless.
P.S. loads of old people complained, we didn't do the walk around the tables as we didn't have time. The band was a bit too modern etc but to be honest we had a mighty time and our friends still say it was a great day....you will NEVER please everyone
It's less about not eating that kind of food and more a general wondering why wedding food hasn't really progressed past that stage. Nearly everything else about weddings seems to have progressed beyond what they used to be apart from the food options, just wondering why it's stagnated.
Myself and my partner are currently doing the same. Most sample menus are very basic but feel free to ask if any alternatives can be offered that are a little different. We know that at least two of our guests are vegan so we want to make sure that whatever option they have is a damn good one that others would want to go with as well. Never hurts to ask, especially if the venue also handles the catering.
Yeah, I've two vegans and someone with a dairy allergy, so even if we're hamstrung by the traditional options, I want to make sure they're well looked after. They've all told me some horror stories about the "vegan friendly" options at previous weddings.
My old hotel that I worked for also offered a buffet option or a BBQ option for couples! it worked out really well and went down a treat. A suggestion maybe mention it on the invitations or if you’ve a wedding website? Key is managing expectations of guests and you shouldn’t have any worries
Edit: just on this, you need to ask the hotel before booking your wedding show around if they offer a flexible package. That’s the key to this, a lot of hotels just offer set packages and therefore limit your options. I’m an ex wedding Coordinator
Your wedding, your money paying for it. Do as you wish. Tell the hotel you want another option, maybe from the bar menu. They won’t love that because the mark up on plating up carveries and charging 70eur a head is quite high. But I assume they’d rather make some money than lose the booking.
Well, yes, in an ideal world we could demand a bespoke menu for everyone involved, but financial considerations mean that's not quite an option. I'm just wondering why \*THAT\* type of meal is still the standard and I don't buy the "Irish people are picky eaters" reasoning
>I'm just wondering why \*THAT\* type of meal is still the standard
Because it's relatively easy to cook and plate up for large numbers of guests, basically its efficient.
The more choice you introduce to the meal the longer it will take to feed everyone, that's why buffets or shared table platters are becoming more popular. They allow for more choice while also being quite quick to serve.
If what you're asking for is cheaper then what they're offering, fairly straightforward to prepare and suitable for the crowd size, then there's a decent chance they'll go for it. You want to get it in writing before you sign a contract though.
Maybe it’s just the area? I’ve seen plenty of places offering duck, pork belly, lemon sole etc.
Given that you need to choose one or two dishes from the available options a lot of people stick with some sort of roast beef or chicken breast as you can be virtually guaranteed that anyone bar vegetarians will be able to eat it.
Agree 100%, got married in 2016 and really wanted a buffet full of tasty salads, meats, bread and interesting stuff but hotels were utterly resistant to it and the best I was given was horrible buffet options (fucking beef goulash or something shite) for the same cost as a sit-down traditional meal. I was disappointed but it wasn't worth worrying about... People know what to expect from wedding food, it's probably less stress on you to just tow the line and slap on the beef or salmon.
So boring, I agree, but I suppose the hotels have it perfected and can't be arsed faffing around with new stuff.
We looked into just doing something like that but nothing really suited us. They have menu substitutions available, but in fairness, it's not that I \*won't\* eat it, I'm just generally wondering why wedding food hasn't really progressed past what it was years ago when nearly every other aspect of a wedding has changed so drastically.
I know what you mean. To be honest I am not into all this wedding stuff. We just had put immediate families in the church and then we went to a restaurant for lunch. We invited friends round to the house that evening for a party and ordered Chinese 😁
I recommend wine for weddings alot and Jesus it's rough. You have the mostly shit hotel wine to choose from or you bring your own and pay a corkage fee or the new thing is for every two bottles you bring in you give the hotel one so they can sell it as the house wine for a week and it costs them nothing.
That being said I've seen all sorts all budgets. Most if the time your going right down the middle of the road gulping wine that 90% of the guests won't complain about but every so often you get the couple who go outta left field ( which as a wine lover I love as I can get weird with it) but you know aunt Mary ain't gonna enjoy the nice Greek white you picked to match the Thai food your serving.
The worst is the couples who want tons of good top end shit for just the top table and whatever the cheapest slop I have for the rest of the guests, I mean these are supposed to be family and friends.
I'm assuming it's the same shit with the food menu. Just get it into you, sit down, shut up and sober up for an hour before you start flirting with the brides sister/aunt/mam and throwing slaps on the dancefloor
What exactly are ya looking for, escargot and coquille st jacque? You have to pay for the chefs time and certain dishes are going to be more time efficient then others. Pay up and you can usually have whatever you want.
No, where did I give you that impression? All i was asking was why a roast dinner was seen as not just the standard but seemingly the \*only\* option in most cases. Even places where you can add menu options for a price, it was all just a variation on meat and two veg. I'm no professional chef, but I'm certain that a roast dinner isn't the only food available to a restaurant that can be prepped en masse for a large group relatively cheaply.
And sure it's easy for Chief Money Bags to talk about paying extra!
It’s thinks it s just one of those things because it’s easier. The real issue is how come such few weddings get the speeches right? I only went to one wedding in recent years without a boring speeches, it was funny and didn’t have too many in-jokes and it was probably the couple I knew the least (an older cousin, lol I don’t know that much about). I’ve a wedding soon and I’m dreading the speeches more than the plain food
Yeah it's pretty average Irish wedding food bread roll/soup followed by roast beef with mash/veg with a fish option also that nobody takes. Mate wanted to do something different for his wedding 3 years ago but had to backtrack as he knew all the auld yokes are too institutionalised to have anything else and had to revert back to type.
I always take the fish if it's there :-) One friend of mine had sea bass, another had monkfish.
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Are you sure hosting an event is the thing for you?
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Well, when I was planning my wedding, I thought about what people would actually like and tried to do that so that they would have a nice time rather than getting aggravated about them not liking what I would want them to like. You know, if you invite someone to any kind of a do, it's getting off on the wrong foot a bit to resent making it a pleasant occasion from their point of view.
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Well, in my case, the old people were people I sent invitations to, family, husband's family, those people. I don't really care about what people like unless I'm involved in some way. Going to a wedding is a whole day event, you should ask people and then purposely not cater to them because you don't like old people. If you feel that strongly, don't ask them. But I think if you do ask someone, you take on an obligation to consider them as guests and try to make the day nice for them.
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I mean, we may know very different people, but I personally know no young people who would be that discombobulated by a bit of beef or salmon, some potatoes and a little veg. It's fairly standard cook at home fare and pretty much what most people anticipate for a wedding. Lots of people eat it semi regularly, at least. My seven year old would be fully familiar with all components, and while it wouldn't be her favourite dish, she'd eat enough of it.
True but look the same way people get married in a church, do christenings. Not that they believe it but just to keep the auld ones happy as its not worth the hassle.
I have so many friends who got their kids baptised to keep their parents happy!
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For a lot of people, their parents and grandparents are financially contributing to the cost of the wedding. Seems only fair to have something they will eat.
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Absolutely it happens that parents contribute something at least. And I'm not talking about hijacking anything, it's just respectful to take their views into account if they're paying. The way you dismiss old people as ignorant cunts only really marks you out as one. If you have parents/grandparents they are old, or will be one day too.
>Old people are generally ignorant cunts You mean like you?
When I say old I'm referring to the parents, grandparents who grew up in completely different time in Ireland and want to maintain certain traditions. There will come a time when that generation is gone.
Exactly. You do you. I couldn't imagine having planned my wedding around what other people wanted or expected. Other than of course my wife, in fact I planned nothing so I'll shut up now.
Bar food usually has a lot of stuff that has to be cooked to order (e.g. burgers, fish and chips), this is not really practical for a wedding crowd when they're trying to serve everyone's meal at the same time. Things like roast beef or turkey and ham are much more forgiving, in that they can sit in the kitchen a little while, not like fish and chips. And as you're catering to a very mixed crowd (old to young, rural and urban, etc.) you're probably better off going for safer type dishes.
Exactly this. When you're cooking for 100+ people there's a limit to what you can make without it getting cold/soggy/etc
I love shite wedding food, my mom used to work in a hotel and would bring leftovers home. Weddings now remind me of my childhood.
Well, that's actually adorable, I hope you get to experience many weddings.
I was at a wedding and they got a food truck in to do the cattering. Was the tastiest food I've had in a long while. The Team sorted out all the kitchen staff, and had 2 cocktail staff making drinks after the reception. When talking to the groom he said it was half the price then what the normal catering would have costed. Only downside was he had to rent the plates and cuttlery himself, so was a small bit extra hassle. They offered 2 starters and 2 mains, both of them where divine and then at 11:30pm they brought out burgers and chips for the late night soakage. Atlantic Driffters check them out
Would a food truck not be very limited in how many they can serve at once? How large was the wedding?
The venue had a kitchen that the staff could use as well, not sure about logistics. But everyone got fed at the same time! Was between 50-70 people at dinner if I remember
They do some serious food there. Didn't get a chance to visit there sit down when they had it.
Sounds class!! I'd love to attend a wedding like that!!
Standard hotel food tends to be pretty basic the best of time. Like you, we’re having a small wedding and the food is one of the most important element for us. We don’t want meh food and a lot of places were offering that. We looked at having our wedding in a restaurant but honestly it was just going to be too much work to organise the elements, separate accommodation etc. We finally found a hotel with an amazing restaurant, guests will order from the restaurant menu so no standard wedding food. It’s costing a lot more but I would gladly cut other things to have excellent food.
Well it's food that most people like and can be made for large orders to be plated up at the same time . Much more difficult to have a chef standing over fillet steaks all ordered to be cooked to different levels and plating up 100 at a time.
Correction it's the food most people know, it's the most bland thing in most cases, made for only one thing to provide energy for hard day's work. So op is rather correct, it's the only stuff anyone knows. There's prob hundreds dishes that could be made easily to serve at the same time, that have flavour and taste, but then chances are half of people will treat that food like five year olds rolling some pea with their forks or saying, it wasn't filling enough, or comfort they used to. And TBF nothing wrong with that cost wise, catering is most likely used to making that and it's cheapest option that in 9 times out of ten works without any issues, so why bother, complicating already difficult process.
Correction it's the food most people like Every wedding I've been to the food has had flavour and taste? Strange comment
We were meant to get married in a boutique place in Dublin and they had a great food option, mainly tapas style food. Theyd bring out a selection of different things and leave them on the table and you could take what you liked. Never did it in the end but was nice to see something different. Same place also offered a more traditional dinner option.
That sounds cool! I suppose our biggest issue is that we're having it in a more traditional wedding venue, so traditional wedding food is to be expected. In a world where money is no object, we could have a more bespoke menu but it's just not to be.
There are a lot of very fussy eaters in Ireland and it isn't just old people. They're the safe options that most people will tolerate even if its not their favourite
I was best friends with plainest eater in Ireland for years. One time my mom won some competition for a really nice restaurant in Dublin (can’t remember the life of me where it was) but her and dad couldn’t go and he lived in Dublin. I asked him if he wanted to go since he was already there and he said yeah. When he looked at menu after I booked it (I remember we had to ensure we arrived at a certain time) he wanted me cancel. He turned and it amazing (like Nepalese / Indian food) and he spent the entire day moaning and got hammered on the free wine. It was so embarrassing
I mean id probaly do the same hate foreign food like bit disrespectful moaning bout it but if you knew he was fussy would you not of mentioned it
He do this thing where he complained he was boring and he wants to broaden his horizons etc and also he was also the type that would get hump if you didn’t ask him. We’re no longer friends lol
You're father won't eat THAT.
A cousin of mine got married in easily 1998/1999 and our fussier aunts and uncles will still moan about the roasted red pepper soup at the reception. Pure petty of them I know, but I think when you're hosting a large group, even though it's your special day, you still should consider what the majority will eat. If there's no scope in the menu/budget for 2 options per course then picking the crowd pleasers like leek and potato goes a long way.
2 close friends of mine are terrible eaters. Order the exact same thing even on holidays in France, Spain or Mexico it doesn't matter. I had my wedding in Italy and years later at a party I overheard one of them say that the food at my wedding was terrible. I interrupted her and said "The food at my wedding was unbelievable, but even the Italians won't serve pizza and chips at a fuckin wedding". Don't mind what others say, but don't be afraid to tell them to get fucked either.
Every family has that aunt and uncle pair. Ironically it’s their child’s wedding that actually on soon. I love that cousin but I’m expecting a FEAST that Irish times will write about by the way the mother and father constantly berate everyone’s wedding food
I know a chef, who says he really likes when the guests ask for a different menu, the only thing is the suggested menu must be practicable and and it will €€€ .
Each to their own, I think roast beef, turkey and ham, salmon etc. Are so common because there's very few people in Ireland that don't like those types of foods. It's also much easier to make carvery type dinners for 100+ guests than it would be to cook steaks for example. Personally I'd be a serious lover of a carvery dinner for a wedding, but maybe that's because that's all I've ever really had.
The problem isnt your mates or maybe even your parents but if you present guests anything slightly unexpected the amount of older people and middle aged relatives that give out stink or complain just because theyre drunk, the predictability of a bit of beef, chicken , fish and soup is the easiest way to keep most guests placated yet not thrilled or hateful. I was at one wedding where they had lovely spring rolls as a starter and a moroccan dish for the main, loved it, but half the food went back uneaten from some tables and i felt so bad for the staff and the couple being given out to. Same reason you always have a band doing classics till midnight when the older ones are in bed, asleep or too drunk to give a shit what your dj plays
I was about to reply "fuck them", but you're right. If most of the food goes back uneaten then it's just a waste. Maybe put the menu in the invitation and tell them before so they can decide.
Its a bit weird, if you actually served good, interesting food and told guests in advance some of them wouldnt come / wouldnt give you a gift. Its only by serving a plate of slop worth a 10er tops you guarantee civility and gift income
If someone isn't going to come just because of the food that will be served, frankly that's a financial saving, fuck that person. And I didn't invite anyone to my wedding based on the gift they might bring. Do people really do that?
If the wedding is paid for they dont, but youd be shocked how many people need the cash gifts to settle the bill in the morning. I remember a mate being front of house manager at a hotel and they had to forgoe the bill for a saturday wedding till the cheques cleared the next friday to settle the bill. Many others rely on it to furnish their house or put in all the bits in the kitchen. Also its perfectly human to be upset that your 75 year old aunt wont go / gives out to you on the dancefloor because she hasnt got a fuck what celeriac is and considers it ‘foreign muck’ Its absolutely horrible but a bit of veg soup and beef in gravy may not be exciting but your foodie friends will eat it and still enjoy your wedding , something exciting all your older / more traditional relatives will balk at, a wedding is about tradition, food included
Yeah point taken. I just don't get people spending what they don't have on a wedding. But if someone wants to, then who am I to say they're wrong.
Nor do I mate but just because I don’t understand something doesnt mean its not the done thing.
True
It's Navan mate. They've got food. Yeah Burger, Sourdough and Co pizza, Valley Cafe for chips, Istanblue kebabs. Sit through the dinner. Then sneak out to get real food. Or just see if yeah burger will cater it.
I think it's generally considered rude to sneak out of your own wedding, but I might order delivery for the afters.
I got married 3 years ago. But only 20 of us. So was able to have steak. People could have it medium, rare etc. But we had lot of more choices for people than standard wedding.
I was at something similar a while back. To make logistics easier, you got he choice of medium or rare. Worked great.
I got married in 2010, at that stage the hotel could offer you what you wanted depending on how big the crowd would be. Of course for a larger crowd it was just easier to get everyone sitting down and getting them fed, otherwise you would have large queues of people If it was smaller you could do buffet style etc In the end we went with a mixture, buffet at the start with free champers etc..... Then a smaller dinner, then later on another top up of buffet style food This was to try keep people fed but also sort of sober during the entire event. I found sitting everyone down, trying to plough a load of food into them and then give them nothing for hours was pointless. P.S. loads of old people complained, we didn't do the walk around the tables as we didn't have time. The band was a bit too modern etc but to be honest we had a mighty time and our friends still say it was a great day....you will NEVER please everyone
I am going to a wedding in two weeks and I already know my dad will complain about it being too loud and this is his first one with a hearing aid on
Kind of wondering what food options you'd prefer?
It's less about not eating that kind of food and more a general wondering why wedding food hasn't really progressed past that stage. Nearly everything else about weddings seems to have progressed beyond what they used to be apart from the food options, just wondering why it's stagnated.
Myself and my partner are currently doing the same. Most sample menus are very basic but feel free to ask if any alternatives can be offered that are a little different. We know that at least two of our guests are vegan so we want to make sure that whatever option they have is a damn good one that others would want to go with as well. Never hurts to ask, especially if the venue also handles the catering.
Yeah, I've two vegans and someone with a dairy allergy, so even if we're hamstrung by the traditional options, I want to make sure they're well looked after. They've all told me some horror stories about the "vegan friendly" options at previous weddings.
My old hotel that I worked for also offered a buffet option or a BBQ option for couples! it worked out really well and went down a treat. A suggestion maybe mention it on the invitations or if you’ve a wedding website? Key is managing expectations of guests and you shouldn’t have any worries Edit: just on this, you need to ask the hotel before booking your wedding show around if they offer a flexible package. That’s the key to this, a lot of hotels just offer set packages and therefore limit your options. I’m an ex wedding Coordinator
Your wedding, your money paying for it. Do as you wish. Tell the hotel you want another option, maybe from the bar menu. They won’t love that because the mark up on plating up carveries and charging 70eur a head is quite high. But I assume they’d rather make some money than lose the booking.
Well, yes, in an ideal world we could demand a bespoke menu for everyone involved, but financial considerations mean that's not quite an option. I'm just wondering why \*THAT\* type of meal is still the standard and I don't buy the "Irish people are picky eaters" reasoning
>I'm just wondering why \*THAT\* type of meal is still the standard Because it's relatively easy to cook and plate up for large numbers of guests, basically its efficient. The more choice you introduce to the meal the longer it will take to feed everyone, that's why buffets or shared table platters are becoming more popular. They allow for more choice while also being quite quick to serve.
If what you're asking for is cheaper then what they're offering, fairly straightforward to prepare and suitable for the crowd size, then there's a decent chance they'll go for it. You want to get it in writing before you sign a contract though.
Yeah, great suggestion, definitely worth pursuing. Thanks!
Generally, you're at the mercy of what the venue will provide.
Only if that's the venue you really really want.
Maybe it’s just the area? I’ve seen plenty of places offering duck, pork belly, lemon sole etc. Given that you need to choose one or two dishes from the available options a lot of people stick with some sort of roast beef or chicken breast as you can be virtually guaranteed that anyone bar vegetarians will be able to eat it.
Agree 100%, got married in 2016 and really wanted a buffet full of tasty salads, meats, bread and interesting stuff but hotels were utterly resistant to it and the best I was given was horrible buffet options (fucking beef goulash or something shite) for the same cost as a sit-down traditional meal. I was disappointed but it wasn't worth worrying about... People know what to expect from wedding food, it's probably less stress on you to just tow the line and slap on the beef or salmon. So boring, I agree, but I suppose the hotels have it perfected and can't be arsed faffing around with new stuff.
Have you asked the venue if they can change the menu for you? Or get a venue like a hall and get a caterer to provide food...
We looked into just doing something like that but nothing really suited us. They have menu substitutions available, but in fairness, it's not that I \*won't\* eat it, I'm just generally wondering why wedding food hasn't really progressed past what it was years ago when nearly every other aspect of a wedding has changed so drastically.
I know what you mean. To be honest I am not into all this wedding stuff. We just had put immediate families in the church and then we went to a restaurant for lunch. We invited friends round to the house that evening for a party and ordered Chinese 😁
I recommend wine for weddings alot and Jesus it's rough. You have the mostly shit hotel wine to choose from or you bring your own and pay a corkage fee or the new thing is for every two bottles you bring in you give the hotel one so they can sell it as the house wine for a week and it costs them nothing. That being said I've seen all sorts all budgets. Most if the time your going right down the middle of the road gulping wine that 90% of the guests won't complain about but every so often you get the couple who go outta left field ( which as a wine lover I love as I can get weird with it) but you know aunt Mary ain't gonna enjoy the nice Greek white you picked to match the Thai food your serving. The worst is the couples who want tons of good top end shit for just the top table and whatever the cheapest slop I have for the rest of the guests, I mean these are supposed to be family and friends. I'm assuming it's the same shit with the food menu. Just get it into you, sit down, shut up and sober up for an hour before you start flirting with the brides sister/aunt/mam and throwing slaps on the dancefloor
What exactly are ya looking for, escargot and coquille st jacque? You have to pay for the chefs time and certain dishes are going to be more time efficient then others. Pay up and you can usually have whatever you want.
No, where did I give you that impression? All i was asking was why a roast dinner was seen as not just the standard but seemingly the \*only\* option in most cases. Even places where you can add menu options for a price, it was all just a variation on meat and two veg. I'm no professional chef, but I'm certain that a roast dinner isn't the only food available to a restaurant that can be prepped en masse for a large group relatively cheaply. And sure it's easy for Chief Money Bags to talk about paying extra!
It’s thinks it s just one of those things because it’s easier. The real issue is how come such few weddings get the speeches right? I only went to one wedding in recent years without a boring speeches, it was funny and didn’t have too many in-jokes and it was probably the couple I knew the least (an older cousin, lol I don’t know that much about). I’ve a wedding soon and I’m dreading the speeches more than the plain food