Planning Your Wedding Feast

You may have decided to approach the city's best wedding caterer to conjure a magical feast. Yet, it is equally important for you to be aware of certain pertinent points before you meet a wedding caterer. Enlisted below are some of them-

• Name A Time & Place
  Before you choose the menu, you need to know which meal you're serving. This depends mostly on the time of your wedding: lunch (12:30-3:30 p.m.) or dinner (6:00-10:30 p.m.)
  

• Get Your Numbers Right
  Unless your wedding budget is mammoth, the number of guests will play a vital role in deciding what to serve. You may love lobster, but lobster for 400 guests might be out of question. You also have to think about how long it will take to serve the food-- one of the biggest problems with serving party food is the lag time between its preparation and presentation. In case you decide to go in for a small affair, take advantage by serving a 'menu with a difference'
  

• Vote For Variety
  While choosing your menu, be it a lunch, sophisticated aperitif, or lavish six-course meal, you need to make sure you feature variety -- in flavor, texture, appearance, temperature, color -- to keep your senses stimulated.
  
  For example if you're having a dessert buffet, you wouldn't want the entire spread to consist only of icecreams. While your caterer may be the city's foremost in the field, it's important that you too take adequate interest in ensuring that there's enough variety. More importantly, remember to offer a fare where everyone can find something to eat.
  

• Culinary Sophistication
  A growing number of to-be-weds are forgoing traditional "banquet-hall fare" for more adventurous cuisine. Why serve Dal Makhani and Butter Chicken when there's Oriental soiree! Even if you want an Indian menu, there are plenty of interesting yet economical ways to serve boneless breast of chicken.
  

• Sample the cuisine
  Taste the food before you finalise on a menu (or a caterer, for that matter). But don't just let your taste buds do all the work-- pay attention to the presentation? Does the dish look attractive? Or for that matter is the food served in an imaginative or colorful fashion ? Do all the dishes complement each other? These are some of the important questions you should ask yourself.
  

• Money, Money, Money
  We all know wedding food costs a lot, but you'd be surprised to learn the extent to which a wedding feast menu can hike your total budgets. Ensure that you have a realistic idea of what you can spend before you begin planning an elaborate affair.
  

• Stay In Season
  The time of the year and the corresponding temperatures are important factors in menu planning. Great cooks plan their menus around seasonal food - whatever is freshest in that month or season. For chilly winter evenings, indulge your guests with rich traditional cuisine. Ask your organiser to light a bonfire and hire a specialist bartender to keep the spirits up all through the night. For summer weddings, avoid heavy rich Indian curries. Go for salads, pasta, fresh juices, chaat-papri etc.
  

• Drink & Be Married
  An increasing number of Indians consider 'Liquor' an inseparable part of the wedding menu. Many of the factors that apply to food also apply to the bar -- time of the day and type of reception, your budget and more importantly the tastes of your guests. Let somebody from the family handle the bar to ensure good service and control on usage.
  

• How You Serve
  The most popular way of serving food at a wedding is the buffet system. However, something in between a sit-down meal and a buffet offers a natural way to get tables of guests talking while creating a very festive and homey atmosphere. Having a "live" counter where snacks are prepared in front of the guests adds an appeal to the event.
  

• Eating and Seating
  You may have a very elaborate and fanciful menu. But does the seating arrangement ensure that the guests can consume the same with utmost ease.