Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 3/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: The wedding is 6 p.m. and i would like to know what kind of menu to serve. one suggestion was; meatballs and sausage in sauce, drummettes,chicken salad, several dips and a fruit and vegetable tray.

ANSWER: Is this a sit down dinner? Or are we talking about cocktail hour?

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QUESTION: This is not a sit down. More like a cocktail hour.





ANSWER: If you are having a wedding at the dinner hour, you need to either serve dinner or have very substantial cocktail buffet food. The sausage and meatballs in sauce along with the wings are a good start, but you need more appetizers along those lines if you aren't going to serve a dinner.  I personally like a cocktail buffet with an open bar rather than a sit-down dinner as it encourages more of a celebratory atmosphere--people tend to stay in their own little group when there's a sit-down meal but will mingle more when there's not. I think it's a better party when people can eat a little, drink a little, dance and mingle a little and then munch a bit more.  It makes for a much more festive time because a big meal makes them go to sleep.  I did a 7 pm wedding that was held at the reception venue--and I had the reception going when the guests were arriving.  They came in and could get a nosh and a cocktail while they were waiting for the wedding to start.  The wedding took place at around 7:30 but the guests didn't care because they were mingling and nibbling on the buffet and were getting cocktails.  The DJ was spinning some tunes in the 60's-70's-80's time frame so everyone was tapping their feet and in a good mood.  The cue for the wedding was the Dixie Cups singing "Chapel of Love" ("Going to the chapel...gonna get married") and the ceremoney was about 12 minutes and the recessional was "Signed, Sealed Delivered" and then the tempo of the music picked up and the dancing began.  It was a spectacular party because everyone was dancing and drinking and having a good time--the choice of music is absolutely vital to the wedding.  Slow classical music will have your guests falling asleep with boredom--but upbeat dance music interrupted with the traditional first dance, bouquet toss, cut the cake, etc. keeps everyone rocking and having fun.  I kept the food going for the whole evening and everyone had a great time. I booked weddings for years afterwards from people who were at that wedding and had such a good time that they referred me out forever!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do you have any suggestions of other appetizers?  I was thinking of chicken salad sandwiches and ham salad sandwiches. I also was considering shrimp mold and two other dips.

Answer
Veggie dip is essential at any party, baby quiche is always a good choice, mini-potato skins are good and easy to make and can be prepared in advance and are very easy and popular.  I wouldn't do the shrimp mold--those are not popular any more and it will go to waste. You can do chips--both corn and potato with salsa and an onion or ranch dip which can be set out in several places.  A fruit dip is good and chocolate fountains are all the rage.