Weddingbee Blog

Mr. FF and I attended our venue’s food tasting over the weekend, and it was a pretty huge event. We were excited to taste all of the dishes that are available from our venue, but sadly… some of the food that we’re planning on having at our reception wasn’t available to taste. Why, you ask? Well, the tasting covered most of the typical “sit-down” or “buffet” type of dishes that receptions typically have, and Mr. FF aren’t exactly going for a “typical” reception.

When discussing what we wanted for the reception, we wanted something laid-back, fun, and with great food. And, well… something with a lot of food. And something with a lot of options (I’m somewhat very picky). So, when I casually mentioned the idea of food stations to Mr. FF over dinner one evening (and by “casually mentioned” I mean highly researched and presented to him complete with hypothetical menu selections), he was totally on board with the idea. He loved it! So, the sit-down dinner we had been planning was nixed, and the food station idea was in.

We’ve decided on a total of four stations: one carving station, one Italian station, one Mexican station, and a Dessert buffet station (hello, have you met us? we love sugar). So, like I said, at the tasting this weekend we got to sample some of the items on our menu. Even though we weren’t able to try every last thing, we still left with an overall sense of the style of service and the quality of food that our venue provides, and both were great.

So, are you ready for the unveiling of the (tentative) French Fry reception menu? It is as follows:

Carving Station:
Carved beef & carved roast turkey, served with horseradish, tarragon mayonnaise, cranberry mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and assorted rolls (Mr. FF is a carnivore, for sure.)
Fresh garden vegetable presentation (we need something healthy, right?)
Wisconsin cheese & sausage display (a must have, given where we live)
Mashed potato martini bar with server, served in martini glasses with scallions, sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, shredded jalapeno jack cheese, bacon bits, sauteed mushrooms, whipped butter and gravy (This is going to be bananas.)

Italian Station:
Garlic bread sticks and crusty Italian bread (garlic + carbs = my friend)
Caesar salad bowl with grated parmesan (i.e., pretty much the only salad I will eat)
Medallions of chicken picatta with angel hair pasta (Mr. FF is an angel hair fanatic)
Cheese ravioli with marinara sauce (one of our faves)
Rigatoni pasta with olive oil pesto sauce (I heart pesto)

Mexican Station:
Seven layer taco dip with chips and homemade salsa (Mr. FF eats salsa roughly 5 times a week. True story.)
Chicken & chorizo quesadillas (I could eat quesadillas every. single. day.)
Cheese enchiladas (The above also goes for enchiladas.)
Build-your-own fajita station with sauteed beef and chicken, sweet peppers and onions, flour tortillas, jalapenos, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, red onion, grated cheeses, and pico de gallo (Mr. FF is pretty pumped about this one.)

Dessert Station:
Whatever we decide on for our wedding cake, front and center (Obviously.)
Assorted petite pastries: dessert bars, eclairs, cream puffs, mousse cups, filled tortes (The mousse cups are awesome.)
Sliced fresh fruit display (for those with not quite so large of a sweet tooth as mine and Mr. FF’s)
Build-your-own strawberry shortcake bar (I’m so excited about this. Who does this? We do.)
Starbucks coffee station with coffee condiments: whipped cream, Andes candies, chocolate shavings, etc. (Mr. FF and I should have an IV drip of coffee. We <3 it.)

ZOMG we are so excited. (As if you couldn’t tell by all of my parenthetical emphasis above.) Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures at the tasting but one thing that I did manage to snag a picture of was the dessert buffet. It was set up pretty close to how our will be set up at our wedding. I hustled over with Mr. FF to take a picture before it was destroyed by the 170+ attendees at our tasting (and maybe also to grab a plate full of goodies). Sorry it’s a bit blurry; I was in a hurry before everyone dug in!

Are you having a traditional sit-down/buffet style reception, or are you mixing it up a bit?