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Luxury Outdoor Wedding Catering Ideas Guide

By Blog

You’ll want to make the day memorable for friends and family. The gown is beautiful, the floral arrangements are stunning, and everyone you love is around. What else could make the day worth a lifetime of memories?

Food!

Food is one of the wedding’s highlights. As a result, you’ll not want to treat your visitors to the usual meals. Instead, you’ll want something unique; meals that will tantalize your taste buds and imprint the experience to memory.

Catering is not an easy task. It means getting creative with the meals you want to offer and then getting the perfect caterer. You’ll also need to find out the catering policy of your venue.

Curated Events works alongside amazing catering teams, and we are more than happy to make recommendations for your event. 

At Curated Events, we help you give visitors something new. We have compiled a list of luxury wedding catering ideas to give everyone one of the best highlights of their lives.

Our Favorite Wedding Menu Ideas

Let’s have a look at our favorite wedding menu ideas.

Traveling Seafood Station

Seafood station

Imagine a bucket of fresh oysters moving around your outdoor wedding venue. Exciting, right?

A traveling seafood station creates an interactive element where the guests will mingle while trying out the different delicacies. Serve your favorite seafood, and don’t forget to provide sauce.

Wood Fired Pizza

Wood fired pizza

To maintain simplicity at your wedding, you can creatively offer pizza. After all, pizza is a fan favorite, and you could make it incredible by offering it freshly made on site.

Wood-fired pizza looks attractive when done well. It is delicious and cooks fast to let the toppings hold their flavors and nutrients.

Of course, we don’t need to remind you about offering a variety of toppings, do we?

Comfort Food Shooters

Comfort food

While comfort foods sound uninteresting, they are a good choice for outdoor wedding cuisine. All you have to do is add a touch of class to it.

Choose any of your preferred comfort foods and deliver them in attractive settings.

You could try out grilled cheese and tomato soup or go for chicken 

fried steak with waffles and syrup.

Dim Sum

Dim sum

Chinese food has become common around the globe. If you have tried the various meals abroad or at home, you may want to share the delicacies with family and friends.

There is no better way of sharing your love of Chinese food than Dim Sum at your wedding.

The meal consists of various dishes from which guests can sample and pick. The meal promotes interactions and allows the guest to customize their meals. Yes! Everyone can create their meal!

Sushi Station

Sushi station

Do you relish sushi? Then the Japanese delicacy is perfect for your wedding.

A sushi station is ideal if you want your visitors to decide how much they want. The guests will choose the type and number of rolls they want and manage their intake.

Sushi is also served fresh and is a favorite for many people. 

Build-Your-Own-Brunch-Bowl

Brunch bowl

Spice up your special day with these incredible bring-your-own-brunch-bowls. If you are going for breakfast foods, consider an acai bowl with different toppings.

You can choose to get prepared bowls such as açai bowls or do it yourself. You’ll get the freedom to set up the bowl station to your preference and include your favorite meals. 

You can include mix-ins like fresh juices and fruit purees for mimosas and serve pickled veggies, bacon, and shrimp for Bloodys.

Charcuterie in a Cup

Charcuterie in a cup

Everyone, including us at Curated Events, loves charcuterie. As a result, you will find everyone trying to get to the charcuterie table first, causing a crowd. No one wants that on your special day.

You can make things simpler by providing the charcuterie in a cup. The premade varieties are passed around in cups to ensure everyone enjoys the delicacy and no crowding occurs at the charcuterie table.

Cheese Station

Cheese station

Just the sound of it makes your mouth water, right?

Almost everyone loves cheese. Setting up a cheese station at your wedding will have your guests beaming. Provide a range of different types of cheese and include various accompaniments.

Some of the best accompaniments include- fresh and dried fruit, meat, veggies, granola, and olives.

Cut up the cheese into pieces and let the guests serve themselves. That way, they’ll customize the meal to their preferences.

Colorful Salads

Fruit salad

Kill two birds with one stone using colorful salads.

Instead of going for dull-looking salads for your wedding, collaborate with your caterer and come up with salads made from colorful veggies. Your guests will have a tasty appetizer as they wait for the main meal while you add color to the decor.

Fresh Poke

Fresh poke

If you love Hawaiian culture and food and would love to incorporate it into your wedding, Poke is the way to go.

The traditional Hawaiian meal consists of white rice topped with raw fish marinated in sesame oil, green onions, soy sauce, and other spices. The fish dish comes served in a bowl and is a seafood everyone will relish.

You can also let the guests make their own bowls and use the seasoning they prefer. Also, provide an option for your vegetarian guests.

Dessert Remix

Dessert remix

Normal and boring is the one thing you want to avoid on your wedding day. Make your wedding dessert stand out by doing things differently and mixing different foods. It will make guests eager to try out the various mash-ups and take the idea home. As a result, it will be a constant reminder of your wedding.

Some of our favorites include- Wonut or waffle donut(waffle in the shape of a donut with donut frosting), oreo popcorn, and ice cream cakes.

Food & Beer Flights

Gourmet hot dog

A late night bite idea for someone rustic and who loves their beer.

Serve your guests with your favorite beer alongside other varieties after you say, “I do.” It is a simple way to celebrate your day, and it goes hand in hand with food.

Offer various choices, from french fries, hotdogs, and sliders, to any other delicious meal.

Pretzel Bar

Pretzel bar

Who doesn’t love pretzels? 

Pretzels because they offer your guests both salty and sweet tastes.

Set up a pretzel bar and let the guests serve themselves. They’ll be free to choose the quantity they want and top them with their preferred sauces.

Remember to offer various toppings, including- melted chocolate, cheese, Pepperoni, and caramel.

Seasonal Vegetable Dish

Vegetable dish

Do you want to impress all your vegetarian guests? Then, serve your wedding guests a meal full of tasty vegetables. 

The seasonal vegetable dish moves away from the common roasted vegetable stacks that are dull. Instead, you get a colorful, delicious meal that looks amazing with your wedding decorations.

BBQ & Beer

BBQ

Food and Beer Flights are a great outdoor wedding catering idea, but they are not for everyone. If you prefer a less involved meal, you could go for BBQ.

Serve your guests with the usual BBQ meals like burgers, brisket, potato salad, hot wings, pasta salad, and pork. Better still, accompany them with some quality beer and have a BBQ party!

Mexican-style Veggies

Mexican style veggies

Once again, your vegetable menu doesn’t have to look dull. Instead, you can spice up the menu with colored veggies that add color while delivering exquisite tastes.

Mexican dishes are a great way to make your vegetables look attractive. Foods like tostadas and veggie chips look fancy and creative. They also offer very delicious tastes that will make the non-vegetarians think twice.

Local Fare

There are various reasons why you would choose a venue. It could be the setup, environment, or budget issues.

One thing that is usually thought of last or never is the local cuisine.

If your location is known for a specific meal, you could incorporate it into your menu. For example, this could be your hometown’s favorite meal or food you had during your travels.

Local flare is a great way to personalize your nuptials.

Mini Tacos and Margs

Mini tacos

Get the party going with some margarita served with mini tacos.

You can make margaritas with various alcohol capacities to serve the different guests and serve them in easy-to-carry bottles. 

Serve the Margs alongside tacos during cocktail hour, and the dancefloor gets crazy in a few. Get the groove up!

Caprese Kabobs

Caprese kabobs

Caprese skewer kabobs bring a twist to how people enjoy the traditional Caprese salad.

Instead of serving them on plates, take a skewer and arrange the mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil, and balsamic. That way, your guest can have an easier time holding the Caprese salad when engaged in something during cocktail hour.

Caprese kabobs also allow the guest to customize their salads.

Portable French Fries

French fries

If there is one popular snack we couldn’t leave out, it is french fries. The treat is loved by everyone and is a perfect late night snack.

This time around, we put a twist on how they are served. Instead of plates, put the snacks in rolled cones or small cups if you want to accompany them with sauce.

Bao Buns

Bao buns

Another Chinese delicacy you could incorporate into your outdoor luxury wedding menu is the Bao Bun. The healthy treat is deliciously warm and has a fluffy stuffing inside the sweet, white dough.

Thanks to the small size, the event-friendly bites are easy to hold if you are standing or engaged in a conversation. They also look good on camera.

Wedding tabletop

Luxury Outdoor Wedding Menu Ideas

By Blog

After deciding on the overall aesthetic to choose for your wedding, you then have to go through all the different food options for your reception! 

Planning a wedding can be difficult, but made much easier by the vendors you choose to work alongside. Your wedding menu is a fun and important element to thoughtfully consider. 

You want your guests to associate the memory of your wedding with incredible food. Outdoor weddings can come with several unique challenges, requiring you to go the extra mile to ensure everything is in order. 

Sounds difficult? Only if you’re not armed with the correct information.

Here’s everything you need to know about luxury outdoor wedding menus. 

5 Major Preparations For Outdoor Meal Planning

Before we delve into the finer details, we need to cover some more general concerns. So often, when we start planning by establishing the proper framework, we forget less and do more in a shorter period.

So what are the four pillars of outdoor menu planning?

Know Everything About Your Venue

It is best to go to the venue several times well before the event so you can plan with your catering team and assess what resources are available to you. Choosing the venue before you settle on a menu is perfectly alright since menus are more flexible. Make sure to speak with the venue’s agent about the site plan if you cannot see the spot before the event.

Pay close attention to details such as the terrain, the entrance position, and even the availability or location of electricity connection. All these things will dictate what meals you will put on your menu, how people will sit and how safe it will be to bring various cooking equipment.

Wedding dancefloor

Observe the Weather and Have a Back-Up Plan

Outdoor weddings are planned on days where people hope for there to be no rain or any other form of unpleasant weather. However, the weather is unpredictable, so you must always have a backup plan. 

Find an outdoor venue with an adjacent, indoor venue, or have a tent on reserve so you can quickly shift to if you are unsure of the weather forecast. 

If you’re determined to have the wedding on a rainy day, invest in backup electricity and tents. Covering your preparation area is essential to keep the outdoor catering materials safe from the elements. If you don’t create a backup plan, you can be in a stressful situation on the day of the event.

Plan Your Space For Maximum Comfort and Flexibility

Is there enough room for servers to walk around with the food? If you plan a buffet, will the arrangement force guests to walk uncomfortably long distances to get food? Will guests be bothered by the heat and smoke from the barbeque as they struggle to listen to speeches?

Many people do not realize how vital the seating arrangement is when choosing what and how people will eat. When you visit or speak to the site manager, try to figure these issues out. 

Ask how many guests the venue can accommodate if they have barbeque equipment you can use and if it is easy to walk about on the terrain. You also do not want your guests or servers tripping with their plates full of food.

Therefore, we will discuss one more topic before getting down to the best foods to serve at a luxury outdoor wedding: outdoor wedding reception meal styles.

Wedding Reception Meal Styles

Outside wedding

How should we plan the meals then? 

Seating arrangements matter when figuring out what to include in the menu. This is because they determine how people sit for easy movement, where they sit, what facilities they may need, and the comfort of your guests. Based on the points discussed above, these are the meal styles we recommend:

Plated sit-down dinner

All guests are seated and given a formal dinner during a plated sit-down dinner.

Family style dinner

Rather than presenting food on individual plates, a big platter intended for sharing is used.

Buffet Style

Visitors serve themselves from a selection of dishes on a table or sideboard.

Food Stations

It’s similar to a mini-buffet, except for service staff at each meal station.

Cocktail Reception

A cocktail reception does not include a formal dinner; instead, a selection of hors d’oeuvres and several cocktails.

Best Foods to Serve at a Luxury Outdoor Wedding

Now that we know the restrictions we may have at our chosen venue and the different ways we can choose to serve our guests, we can now get down to specific foods.

Although food choices unique to you are important, you must ensure they will do well in outdoor settings. For peace of mind, they also need to have a broad appeal and fit the luxurious and sophisticated aura you are looking to create. These are our picks of the best foods for luxurious outdoor weddings.

Build Your Own Brunch Bowl

Consider offering açai bowls as a creative twist on traditional breakfast fare if you will be having a brunch wedding. These are smoothie bowls with a selection of toppings. Create an engaging experience by setting up a station with various toppings, including fresh fruit, seeds, almonds, and granola.

You can take this in whatever direction you’d like; however, açai bowls are one option. For instance, you may set up a DIY breakfast bowl station with grits, sausages, and other typical breakfast items.

Wedding food

Chicken, Beef, and Fish

You may be tempted to get the most exotic foods for your wedding, but traditional options are often the best for a stress free event.

These foods have universal appeal. Most people will enjoy them and adapt to different cultures. Most caterers know how to handle them expertly, and they maintain heat when served in large quantities and work well with sauces.

Have a variety of these meals because it is not easy to know what a guest will want. Always remember to have a vegetable-based main dish or vegan options for any guest who does not eat meat.

Cheese Station

Everyone at your wedding will be delighted with the cheese station. Give your visitors a delectable selection of cheeses and various foods to go with them. 

Crackers, fresh bread, fruit, vegetables, and nuts are a few suggestions. Next, create a buffet so that each person may assemble their dish.

Wedding cheeseplate

Charcuterie in a Cup

There is no denying that charcuterie tables are trendy. However, if there is a line at the display, it may be challenging for people to serve themselves. 

Here’s a unique menu suggestion for a wedding: charcuterie in a cup. Give your loved ones a pre-made selection of cheeses, meats, crackers, and fruits to munch.

Wedding snacks

Mexican Inspired Vegetables

You don’t have to eat bland vegetables. Instead, get inventive with your presentation as one method to liven up a dinner suitable for vegetarians. Tostadas, vegetarian chips, and filled vegetables are examples of Mexican food that feel innovative, elevated, fun, and taste fantastic.

You can add seasonal vegetables to the menu if you want even more vegetables. You can grill, mildly cook, season, or turn them into a salad because they are fresh.

Giving vegetables a prominent place on your menu will help add a unique twist and simplify your selections for non-meat eaters. There’s nothing as memorable as a refreshing menu at a wedding.

Creative, Personalized Cocktails

You can never go wrong with a cocktail. They are fun yet classy, and everybody loves them.

Cocktails are versatile and easy to modify to suit any theme. You do not have to restrict yourself to wine and champagne. Get your favorite cocktails and serve them with a unique twist, or stick to the classic mojitos, negronis, and daiquiris. 

Fresh Juice and Water

Consider fresh juices and water to accommodate the non-drinkers and underage guests at your wedding. Water is perhaps more important than any drink you add to your menu, especially on a hot day.

Juices from the local retail store may not give off the high-end vibe you are looking for. That is why fresh fruit juice is the best option; if it can be blended on-site, the better.

Wedding smoothie

Dessert Mix

When it comes to dessert, be as creative as possible. Of course, everyone expects a cake, so delight your guests by adding extra variety to your menu. Popular dessert mash-up ideas are cronuts, red velvet cheesecake, apple crisp pizza, cookie dough pop, and ice cream cakes.

If you have any vegan guests joining the party, consider milk-free or milk substitute treats and eggless cakes. These are often as tasty as their traditional counterparts, and in cases such as black forest cakes, almond milk makes it ten times better. 

Wedding desserts

Common Questions About Outdoor Wedding Menus

Although we have covered many topics, here are a few bonus questions couples often have about their wedding menus.

What is the Most Popular Meal at a Wedding?

Many people often like having either beef, chicken, or fish. Although several metrics can break down these opinions, it is always safer to have either all of them or at least one at your wedding.

How Many Menus Do You Need for a Wedding?

It is often best to have one menu per person for convenience. However, if you want to minimize on paper, you can opt for one menu per table. There is no hard rule you must follow.

Wedding menu

What Foods Should I Keep Off My Outdoor Wedding Menu?

These apply to all events: avoid foods that are messy to eat. 

You should avoid burgers, spaghetti, saucy ribs, and stuffed croissants. Any foods with laxative properties should also be avoided, together with those that require specialists to cook them. 

Have a Unique Wedding, While Keeping It Classy and Practical

We all want our wedding to be the best experience of our lives. After all, they represent the sealing of a covenant of love with the most precious person we cherish and adore. But sorting through our ideas and the endless options from planners can get overwhelming fast.

The solution here is to remember that millions of people have had wonderful outdoor weddings. What would stop you from doing the same? We can learn a lot from studying others and getting inspiration from them. 

This post compiles the best of these ideas for your convenience. So forget the troubles of forgetting some crucial logistics or being in the dark about what food works best. Your dream wedding is within reach at Curated Events.