As you plan your wedding in 2024, you might want to be aware of these trends in wedding catering. Read on to find out what is trending for 2024 wedding food!
Hey, Christie!
Dylan and I are getting married in 2024 at your fabulous wedding venue! We are so excited!!!
OK, I am confused with this aspect of the planning. I know that giving our guests experiences that entertain is a huge trend for next year. Is there any way that our food could be an experiential entertainment for our guests?
Thanks!–Stephanie Stymied in Stafford, Oregon
Hey, Stephanie!
I am happy to help you!
The major trend is downsizing the food by creating individual portions instead of giving a guest a piece of something larger.
For instance, we are seeing more individual-sized pies for dessert instead of slices of wedding cake.
Let’s dive deeper. Your wedding planner and your caterer will have additional ideas for you as well.
Do you want to let your guests graze at different stations or do you want to serve a plated dinner? During the pandemic, couples changed HOW they fed their guests and opted for individual servings to reduce contagion. As the world returns to normality, we are seeing more buffet and grazing options for the reception.
Let’s dive deeper into 2024 wedding food trends.
- Become a Locavore!
In 2007, the esteemed Oxford English Dictionary selected “locavore”—a person who eats produce grown locally—as their Word of the Year. Sourcing local produce for your wedding is being intentionally sustainable by supporting local farmers, creating less waste, and generating more carbon offsets. By working with your caterer to select in season produce that is grown and harvested locally is evidence of your sustainability mindset.
2. Opt for a Plant-Based Menu
If you value inclusivity, you might want to contemplate a plant-based menu. By creating a menu that anticipates the dietary needs of your guests, you delete the need for special diet plates. By opting for vegan, you may meet any dietary needs your guests have. A plant-based menu is so much more than a variety of salads and countless roasted vegetables—you might consider a fried “chicken” sandwich crafted from seitan or a barbecue Jackfruit sandwich that tastes a lot like a pulled pork slider.
3, Mooove Over! Grazing is Trending!
You might be familiar with charcuterie boards loaded with delicious cheeses, meats, grapes, and artisan crackers or breads.
OK, make that board into a table of fabulous foods! You can add buffalo cauliflower, sushi rolls, chicken wings (with sauces), mini-burritos, or doughnuts—whatever you like! Add a stellar presentation and you have an unforgettable wedding reception!
4. Individual Portions
As recently as 2020, the world turned upside down during the pandemic. Those weddings which went forward shifted radically from buffets to individual portions to create a safer experience for the guests.
Since we live in an uncertain world, this is an option which can make sense to protect your guests, your elderly grandparents, and children.
5. Sushi Stations
A sushi bar adds color and variety—it’s fun, light, festive, and it’s easy to eat! You can opt for a display of sushi or a chef-run station where guests gain the entertaining experience of watching their food being created while they watch!
Heads up! There are sweet sushi crafted from fresh fruit, coconut rice, chocolate sauce, and more sweet delights!
6. Street Foods
Whatever your ethnicity and whichever culture nurtured you, there’s a street food infused with fantastic spices and flavors which could be served at your wedding! Around the world, street vendors serve up the most amazing food from their street carts. These dishes can be adapted for your wedding! You might consider tacos, shish kebabs, arepas, Takoyaki, and/or street corn!
Those are Mango Catfish Tacos to the left. 🙂
7. Comfort Foods
Do you have a nostalgic family recipe or a comforting childhood favorite food? Serve it at your wedding to tell your story. Are there regional specialties which you would love to share with your guests? Do it! For instance, if you or your partner hails from New England, you might consider adding clam chowder, oysters, or lobster rolls to your menu to celebrate the regional flavors that you love!
8. Interactive Food Stations
As part of the experiential entertainment at a wedding, interactive food stations are increasing in popularity.
Whether you allow your guests to select the ingredients for their own artisan pizza, design their own tacos, or a mashed potato food station, this trend is growing and becoming more inventive every week!
9. Butter Boards
This is a new spinoff of the charcuterie board: Delete the meat and cheese while adding flavored butters and artisan breads or rolls.
Possible flavors which could be spread on any of the breads include a rosemary butter, pistachio butter, Italian garlic butter, honey, chili oil, ube, umami-flavored butter, or Calabrian chili butter.
What a spread!
10. Plated Dinners
If you prefer the elegance of a plated dinner, go for it!
This is a surging trend.
By remaining seated, your guests have more time to mingle and get to know each other instead of charging around the reception seeking the latest taste sensations.
11. Late-Night Wedding Snacks
While the trend of sending guests home with a few snacks to nibble on is not new, the foods a bride and groom select is changing. Trending foods for late-night snacks include hand-rolled burritos, pizza rolls, ramen soup, or opting for sweeter fare such as sprinkled doughnuts, brownies, or ice cream sandwiches.
Those are pizza rolls to the right.
12. The Recovery Post Wedding Brunch
This trend is making a comeback…with a few refinements.
The brunch is an opportunity for the couple to spend time with close family and friends while savoring a breakfast or brunch menu.
Grazing tables, an omelet station, chicken and waffles, or a smoothie bar are all popular options.
If you have any questions, let us know! We’re here to help you have an amazing wedding!
Your friend in the wedding business,
Christie Shyne
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