by Tie The Knot Catering | September 20, 2023 | Trends, Wedding Catering
Imagine the elegance of your special day, the enchanting ceremony, and an exquisite three-course meal… And as twilight sets in, ties loosen, shirts become untucked, high heels are swapped for flip flops, and alcohol flows freely—this is when the party takes off… There’s something about street food that perfectly complements this lively atmosphere.
When it comes to wedding food, there are endless possibilities. But if you’re looking to add a little something extra to your evening menu, why not consider embracing street food?
Street food is a growing trend in the wedding industry, and for good reason. It’s a great way to add variety to your menu and keep guests entertained throughout the night. As the party gets started, in comes your street food truck serving your favourite takeaway food, think noodle pots, pizza, or even some French Crepes… the world is your oyster…
We all enjoy a variety of different plates served from food trucks and stalls when visiting festivals, food markets, and other types of events, so why not at your wedding.
While you don’t categorically need to offer evening food if you are not inviting additional evening guests, it is something we would recommend, particularly if you are having a ceremony earlier than 3pm. The Wedding breakfast may well be your guests first meal of the day and therefore they are likely to be hungry again by the time 8pm rolls around. It doesn’t need to be a full meal, just something to satisfy any peckish guests and soak up a bit of alcohol.
Popular Types of Street Food to Serve at Weddings
The options for evening food are fairly limitless especially in the age & popularity of street food trucks/pop ups and vans. Whilst we offer a range of evening food we also like to recommend friends of TTK to offer a different vibe to your evening, During peak season, we cannot guarantee an evening food offering as we tend to be working back to back Wednesday to Saturdays in these months and like to focus our attention on the wedding breakfast and ensure the teams hours are managed. We have a number of street food trucks that we would happily recommend. These include:
Gourmet Hotdogs & Burgers & Sides – Kurbside Kitchen
CurrySquad
Tin Roof Pizza – (converted dodge car)
Happy Go Souvlaki
Crocus Paella
Scandilicious
Little Pasta Company
Rogue kitchen
Ronnies Black Cab – Pie & Mash & Liquor
Crepes de la crème
Dough and Deer – Pizza
Safari Pizzas
Hog Roast
Lorenzo Kusina – Filipino Takeaway
When it comes to hiring a street food truck for your wedding, the sky’s the limit, and it will give you the opportunity to add variety to your menu. Use the food trucks to make sure you have all your favourite food in one day. If you are a different nationality or your partner is, you could choose a food truck that specialises in food from your motherland… Paella, Souvlaki, Pasta, Curry… the choice and variety available is amazing, all you need to do is choose!
Tips for Choosing a Street Food Truck
Here are some tips to help you choose the right street food truck for your big day:
- Consider the logistics of serving street food at your wedding. If you’re planning on having food trucks at your wedding, make sure you have a plan for how they will get in, set up and out again.
- Browse the menus of various trucks. Once you’ve decided on the type of cuisine, take a look at the menus of different food trucks in your area to see what they offer. Some trucks specialise in certain dishes, so it’s important to find one that has the specific items you’re looking for.
- Consider your budget. Street food trucks are typically very affordable, but there can be some variation in price depending on the truck and the menu items being offered. It’s important to consider your budget when choosing a truck so that you don’t end up spending more than you wanted to.
- Read reviews from past customers. When you’re narrowing down your list of potential street food trucks, be sure to read reviews from past customers. This can give you a good idea of what you can expect.
- Most importantly, have fun with it! Embracing street food for your evening wedding menu is all about adding a touch of fun and personality to your big day. So go ahead and get creative!
TOP TIP
6. Try before you buy. Many of the food trucks will have regular days when they sell food to the general public, ask where and when you might be able to find them and give the food a try! No better excuse for having a takeaway than “menu tasting!”
At TTK we love not only the variety food trucks bring to the evening of a wedding, but also the vibe that goes with them. Another opportunity for you to inject more of your personality into the day and also a signal to the guests, they can let their hair down and get partying!
by Tie The Knot Catering | April 26, 2023 | Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding venues
Your wedding day is one of the most important events in your life, and it’s only fitting that you make it truly memorable. From finding the perfect dress to selecting a beautiful venue, everything needs to be nothing short of perfect. But have you ever considered how choosing a marquee or creating an outdoor wedding can transform not only the atmosphere but also the menu selections for your big day? Choosing a marquee can make all the difference when it comes to creating an unforgettable day for you and your guests. It is your blank canvas to create the vibe you want. Choose the menu that reflects you as a couple, the theme and decor to match – everything is more flexible all you need is your vision…
Picture the scene… a glorious summer’s day, chilled champagne in coupe glasses, delightful canapes being circulated by smartly dressed waiters. Garden games on the lawn, jazz band playing, roaming photographer with dreamy floral backdrops. And there you are, stunning, in your wedding attire with your newly betrothed stood by your side laughing and joking with friends and family. The marquee in the background decorated exactly as you wanted, to match your theme and reflect you as a couple. All the little details you had carefully thought about and hand-picked being enjoyed by your closest friends and family… Welcome to your Alfresco Wedding.
The options are limitless when it comes to marquee weddings, and it really is your own blank canvas to style and create your dream day. But where do you start?
Firstly, think about the style of marquee that you want for your day… it’s more than just your average white tent style marquee with poles that you typically find at a Garden Fete. There is so much to choose from – stretch marquees, tipis, traditional marquees, sailcloth tents… We tend to work with three amazing marquee suppliers :
Sail and Peg
Southern Events Group
Arundel Marquees
These marquee companies offer a range of styles for different budgets, so do get in touch if you’d like some help selecting the perfect marquee partner.
What we love (obviously) about marquee weddings is the freedom and flexibility you have for the catering. You could go for a traditional sit-down fine dining wedding breakfast, or you could go for something more relaxed such as BBQ boards – delicious BBQ food served to the table. If you have been lucky enough to fit the marquee in your garden or saved a penny or two on the venue location, you could splash out and upgrade your dining experience or add an additional canape or two?
If you have a love of seafood, you could add a Champagne and Oyster bar. For the meat lovers think Aperol and Charcuterie, balanced out with a selection of Vegan treats (we’re thinking mini Moroccan rolls, mini tacos packed with falafel, hummus, tzatziki and mini spiced potato cakes) for those who often get overlooked. The world really is your oyster when it comes to a marquee wedding and we are here to help create your vision. – creating bespoke menus, providing advice on the practical side in terms of what you need to consider when it comes to planning an outdoor wedding.
Generally, with a marquee wedding the caterer takes on more of a venue manager role ensuring your day runs how you had envisioned and we are happy to share our knowledge, experience and expertise.
Not sure what to do about the drinks? You can provide all the drinks yourself or ask your caterer (like us) to provide a bar service. Evening food you could choose your favourite street food van to provide the soak-up food – there is so much choice available you can go as quirky or as traditional as you like.
If you don’t want the celebrations to end, the joy of a marquee wedding is that you can easily extend it to a two-day celebration. How about an informal lunch the next day to reminisce abut the night before and catch up on any bits you missed!
No matter what style of marquee wedding you are planning, there is sure to be a catering option that will wow your guests. Here are some of our faves:
- Seaside Platters with refreshing cocktails – binging the beach to your wedding day!
- Bistro boards – hearty modern British classics served informally for guests to help themselves
- Traditional Fine Dining – A three course sit down meal with all the opulence and elegance your wedding day deserves
- BBQ Boards – perfect for summer weddings – cooked on the BBQ and served to the table – bringing a sense of occasion to the much-loved British BBQ!
If you’re looking for ways to take your wedding day up a notch, choosing a marquee could easily be one of them – it’s sure to transform not only your venue but also what’s being served on your big day!
Venue – Balcombe Place
Photographer – Voytek Photography
Marquee – Sail & Peg
by Tie The Knot Catering | March 16, 2023 | Trends
It’s the age-old question every bride and groom-to-be must ask themselves: to cake or not to cake? Wedding cake dates back to Roman times and is a long-standing tradition, however times are changing and with so much choice, and costs ever spiralling should you even have a wedding cake? We love a wedding cake, and everything it stands for, however that doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up a bit and put a modern twist on how it is cut and served..
History of Wedding Cakes: the Evolution of a Sweet Tradition
Wedding cakes began in Ancient Rome, when marriage ceremonies ended with a scone-like wheat or barley cake broken over the bride’s head for luck and fertility. The new husband and wife would eat a few crumbs together as one of their first unified acts as a married couple. Once the newlyweds had their share, wedding guests would scoop up the leftover crumbs for good luck.
The Romans brought their bread-breaking wedding tradition with them when they conquered Britain in 43 CE. We took the tradition one step further, throwing the bread at the bride to show her fertility.
By the medieval days, the English elaborated on the wheat cake and started stacking spiced buns, scones, and cookies as high as possible— the beginning of the tiered cakes we see today. The bride and groom would try to kiss over it, and legend said if they smooched successfully without letting the whole thing topple over, they’d have good fortune.
Today, having a wedding cake as part of your day is completely personal choice, there are no hard and fast rules about it. While some couples opt for a simple cake with just a few layers, others go all out with towering multi-tiered cakes adorned with everything from flowers to fondant figures. Whatever you choose, make sure it reflects your personal style as a couple.
Our Take on Cutting the Cake
Traditionally, the wedding cake is cut after the wedding breakfast and speeches; it signals the last formal part of the wedding reception. The bride and groom cut the first slice together, and if you follow tradition, feed each other the slice of cake. The rest of the cake is then cut and served to the guests, keeping the top tier cake for the christening of the couple’s first baby. The cutting of the cake was also taken as a sign that older guests may leave if they wish.
As lovely and traditional as this all sounds, what normally happens is… everyone has had a few drinks and are keen to get on the dancefloor. Ties and hats may have been removed and not everyone is as interested as they might have been a few hours ago. Therefore, we propose a new model… why not cut the cake before everyone sits down for the meal?
Hear us out, everyone is engaged and relatively sober (including yourselves we hope), and it is a good way to gather everyone ready to sit down for the meal. It makes for a much slicker movement to the dining area as everyone naturally gathers to see you cut the cake. It also gives caterers (like us) more time to prepare the cake and have it out ready on your coffee and tea station. Also, on those hot sweaty days it ensures the cake is looking at its best -especially those heavy icing cakes.
Different Ideas for Serving Cake During Wedding Receptions
There are many differing opinions on how and when the wedding cake should be served. Some believe that it is a timeless tradition that should be respected, while others see it as an outdated custom that could be replaced or updated. The other factor to consider is whether you want your cake primarily as a centrepiece or whether you lean more towards its primary function of being something to eat and enjoy.
If you’re undecided on what to do, consider some of these different ideas for serving cake during your wedding reception:
- Serve cake as the traditional dessert after the meal has been completed. This is a classic option that will please everyone. If you are serving the cake instead of dessert, we serve this with berries and cream to enhance the presentation and make it more of a dessert.
- If you like the idea of the photo opportunity or want to maintain some of the tradition, make it light-hearted and go for a novelty cake such as a Colin the Caterpillar who has seen somewhat of a spike in wedding cake turnout.
- If you have a budding baker in your family, they could perhaps provide individual cupcakes for people to take home or to be served with the tea and coffee
- Forgo wedding cake altogether and spend the money on enhancing the wedding breakfast.
Whatever you decide with your wedding cake, we hope we have given you some food for thought and new ideas on how you might incorporate your wedding cake into your special day.
Image credit: The Unscripted
by Tie The Knot Catering | August 12, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
We consider ourselves to be connoisseurs of the perfectly balanced menu. Starters to get the conversation flowing, mains to wow even the most traditional of Aunts and desserts so good that your cousin Steve will be gesticulating about them at family BBQs for years to come
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by Tie The Knot Catering | June 1, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
Well 2020, what a crazy first six months you’ve been! If 2020 was the year you were supposed to be saying ‘I do’, and now your wedding has changed season or even year, let’s all agree on this:
The world has understandably and irrevocably changed in such a short time. You’ve lived through a scary and traumatic six months that has completely thrown all your plans out the window. But, once this is all over you are going to marry the love of your life, surrounded by all the people who love you most. The world around you will be brighter, and you will love and laugh that much harder, and treasure every moment of your incredible day, for everything that has happened.
It is definitely okay to feel sad for the day that you haven’t been able to have, but it is also okay to be excited again – for the celebration that lies ahead, whenever it happens. Now is an excellent time to do some regrouping. Getting married in a different season to the one you had planned doesn’t have to feel daunting.
So, if your Spring nuptials have become Autumn/Winter ones, here are our top tips on what to do when your wedding has changed season, and how you can make the very best of the situation.
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by Tie The Knot Catering | March 20, 2020 | Sustainability, Trends, Wedding Catering, Wedding Insights
You need cheering up, we need cheering up and so, in the only form of distraction we can offer, the content-rich kind; here are the top wedding trends we have observed and loved over the last four wedding seasons. Here are the pithily named, four wedding seasons and a trend.
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