It seems like only yesterday I was predicting 2014 — 2015 wedding food and drink trends. Hundreds of weddings later, how many did I get right?
- Out with homemade vintage, in with artisan elegance — tick
- Champagne back at the top for wedding toasts over Prosecco — tick
- Gastro pub casual replaced by stylish smart suppers, and not a single buffet in sight — tick
- Gin everywhere, and nothing but the gin, in canapés, dessert, cocktails, as favours — Tick, tick, tick
So, in my fifth year of trend predictions, what does 2015/16 hold for wedding menus? Here are my 10 predictions:
1. Multicoloured Plates
It seems everyone wants colourful food to match the latest trend in colourful flowers — an amazing opportunity for our chefs to go all out!
2. Multicultural Menus
Every menu I’m working on seems to be fusion. More than ever, couples seek to display their culture through the medium of food.
3. East Meets West
You can’t avoid Middle Eastern flavours (especially Persian). They are influencing and infusing every menu since the success of Yotam Ottolenghi and the like.
4. Cocktails Man-Up
Put that girly jam jar down; it’s time for cocktails to get serious again. I’m talking dark, I’m talking tall… I’m talking rum. Spiced rum to be exact — it’s already the biggest seller of 2015 and beyond. Add a shot or two to lashings of Gosling’s Ginger Beer; divine.
5. Super Waters
Serving teetotal guests a pint of lukewarm orange juice just won’t do any more (and hasn’t done for a while!). Healthy juices and so called “super waters” are having their moment and couples are seizing it. Use these super waters as a base for an ice-cold, refreshing alternative such as coconut water, lemongrass and ginger sherbet. If you really want to be ahead of the curve, find a way to include birch water; it is the next big thing.
6. Healthy Wins Over Heavy
Something that I’ve noticed is that more and more couples want to talk to me about nutrition. It seems that the fresher and greener the plate, the better. They are bursting with veg, kale, cauliflower, seaweed…
7. Canapés Rule
Finally the penny has dropped and everyone has remembered that the reception is the most important part of the day (after the ceremony of course!), rather than just “that bit after when everyone hangs around whilst we get our photos taken”.
It’s when families meet. It sets the scene and starts the atmosphere. In fact, the atmosphere set at the reception will continue for the rest of the day. Hungry guests never equate to a happy atmosphere, so get straight in there and serve wave upon wave of hot and cold canapés. Choose a wide selection of items with high visual impact and lip smacking taste, then serve lots of them.
8. Fromage Fatigue = Bacon Abound
2016 will be the year of saying cheerio to the evening cheese buffet and getting back to bacon. But not your average butties, oh no. I’m talking fully loaded gourmet hot dogs, chorizo and brioche rolls, Bourbon pulled pork buns, prosciutto wrapped everything… perhaps even a few crispy ears if you’re really brave.
9. Surprised and Delighted Faces
Couples are rewriting the predictable pattern of a ‘traditional’ wedding day, shunning routine for the chance to throw in unexpected elements designed to stop everyone in their tracks and create a memorable moment.
Food wise this means weird yet wonderful flavour combinations (coffee-rubbed meats), live-action food theatre (oyster shucking stations), lavish self-service bars (jugs of fruit purees and magnums of Champagne) and showstopping canapé platters (with their own lighting). These are just some of the things you’ll be seeing all over your Facebook feed in 2015/16
10. Sweet Treats as a Parting Gesture
Just when your guests turn to leave they are presented with something wonderful to eat on their way out. A cup of warm milk with a cookie, a shot of espresso and some Turkish delight, hot chocolate with mint marshmallows… proof that you’ve thought of them right to the last moment.
Guest post by Julie Gray of Bovingdons
Image from Bovingdons
