My lovely boyfriend of 11 years asked me to marry him recently, and I of course said YES. So in the midst of trying to renovate our house on a budget, and live with my (rather manic) family we are now also planning a wedding! Hooray!
The two things I am looking forward to organising most are the music, and food! I used to imagine my wedding with a fantastical full band, a funky brass ensemble and a charming lead singer, and all my favourite foods served during the day with myself and hubby in rather low-key attire just enjoying the day with close family and friends. I have since realised that this is not all that feasible, not only does the amazing band not exist in real life, (only in slushy chick flicks) but even if it did I wouldn't be able to afford it! Next comes my awakening at wedding breakfasts. I never realised that the standard option is a Sunday dinner! I find this rather dull, also being Welsh I love my dinners practically swimming in gravy... Not really practical with an ivory dress! Nevertheless it's probably what we'll end up having as realising that we not only have to pay for the wedding but we also have a home to complete, a honeymoon to plan (and not to mention start a bit of a maternity fund to supplement my rather measly statutory maternity pay) so this has turned me into a frugal bride rather than bridezilla!
It's still something I like to daydream about nevertheless! So what would your dream wedding menu include? Here are some of my ideas and tips I've found out so far.
Drink:
I don't like wine (shock horror) you'll find me drinking shorts and liqueurs over wines any day. Even though I put foodies to shame at not knowing the difference between Chablis and Merlot, I am a bit of a rum and dessert wine connoisseur. So what does the bride who doesn't like wine choose for her & hubbies wedding day? Well I'd be happy to provide white and red wine to guests during food, whichever the maitre dee advises, but on arrival and for toast I would really love an elderflower wine or even elderflower bubbly. I adore elderflower and my wonderful best friend is a bit of a farmers girl and forager and makes me the odd bottle of elderflower wine and it is fantastic! Far lighter and sweeter than grape, with the delicate hint of elderflower. That's my ideal drink for my special day.
Canapes:
Next comes the canapés, in all honesty I'm not going to be able to afford canapés and the few weddings I've been to so far they haven't been served either so I don't think I'm alone. Instead I like the idea of giving a food related favour which serves as a canapé/nibble for guests to eat on arrival. The venue I have chosen offers a local package of Merlyn cocktails (almost like a Welsh baileys) served with warm Welsh cakes. We're getting married in March so it will work quite well. So for me Welsh cakes are definitely a great canapé option, served warm they're even better! But what if money were no option? What would I choose? Well smoked salmon belinis are always a winner, and I don't even like smoked salmon! Next some sort of mini leek quiche gives a nice veggie option. I tasted something like this in a wedding fair recently and it was really good! Maybe a mini Welsh rarebit (a special tasty cheese on toast) served warm would be great. Can you pick up on the Welsh vibe here?! Finally another meat option which I can't decide on yet. A definite no no is a prawn volovaunt! Uch a fi, really don't like these!
Now onto the big bit... The wedding breakfast!
My ideal starter would usually involve mushrooms, be it served on crusty bread, in a parcel or stuffed I love them! My only issue with this is that a staggering amount of our guests don't like mushrooms! That's that idea out then! I probably won't go for a soup as it can be a bit messy and smoked salmon is out as we're not really big fans of gravlax unless it's in teeny weeny canapes. I'm hoping for some inspiration from our venue to help decide where to go with the starter! Any other brides or grooms choosing their second option for food because they have family members or friends who don't like certain things? How do you deal with trying to please everyone? I've come do the conclusion that I'll never please everyone but I'm quite happy to try to 'go with the majority' for food options. Another idea is pan-fried halloumi with capers and salad as this is not only super tasty but also good for veggies too.
Next is the main. My all time favourite meal is probably the cajun chicken supreme served at both Lambs and the Oppo (sister restaurants) in Stratford Upon Avon. Cajun spices are my favourite and I love the mixed pepper salsa it comes with along with sautéed potatoes. I know this isn't exactly classy but it's such a comfort food for me, it's one of those meals I can always eat, even if I'm not hungry! I could never realistically have this in my wedding though, not only would I be rather garlicky for the rest of the day but I don't think it would cater for all my guests! The few weddings I've been to have only had either a veggie or meat option. In each I chose the meat option and ended up with lamb and then beef dinner. Did you know most venues now offer a choice of meats during the day as well as a veggie option? The venue we have chosen offers this at no extra cost, as did most of the other venues we looked at so this is something to think about when planning your wedding breakfast. It's not always in their information packs so just ask! You'd be surprised at how accommodating they can be! With this in mind as well as keeping to a budget we'll probably go with a dinner with 2 meat choices and then a non-mushroom based vegetarian option!
Finally comes the dessert. I usually love hot desserts served with cream or custard, real British comfort food. I don't think this will be appropriate for our wedding day however as I don't really want to be slipping into a food coma during the speeches! So what desserts should I consider which are tasty but light? I'm not a lover of ice-cream or super chilled dessert so need to think outside the box. My fiance is a major fan of pastries especially cream or custard ones and in our dream wedding we would have custard slices from our favourite lunch spot in Swansea- Verdi's (where we got engaged). The venue we have picked states that any food served needs to be from their kitchens (excluding the wedding cake) for health and safety reasons so I'm not entirely sure if they could order in Verdi's custard slices for us! On top of this I'm not sure if that would work out as a lot more expensive for ordering in. This is on my 'to do' list, after all if you don't ask you don't get! Failing this we'll probably opt for an alternative light pastry for dessert such as profiteroles or choux swans (this is on the menu and is apparently a chefs special so I'm looking forward to trying it at our taster evening)
Evening
The venue we have chosen offers a really good deal on a mixed buffet in the evening, which although isn't my first choice we will probably go for due to cost. In an ideal world this choice is easy- hogroast! I absolutely adore a hogroast! Pork is my favourite meat and a hot pork roll with stuffing and crackling (no apple sauce for me) is ideal. The weddings I've been to have all had hogroasts accompanied by a small buffet to cater for veggies and people who may not eat/like pork. We're getting married in 2015 so if I'm rather frugal who knows maybe we could stretch to a hogroast after all?
Are you planning your wedding? Have you considered the food yet? One piece of advice I would give is if you want something ask for it. What you're hoping for may not always be possible but every venue I visited was really helpful and flexible. Also get as many quotes as you can so you know whether what you're getting is a good deal or not. I have had lots of quotes which I have used to create a wedding budget which I will share in a future blog post. If you have any tips or ideas for me then please share!
