My dream Wedding food

Before you get all excited, this isn’t what you think. It isn’t me!

This year seems to have been a year for engagement rings amongst my friends. The next two years are going to be Wedding crazy and I can’t wait to celebrate over and over with some of my favourite people. Obviously there’s the love and life long commitment side of things, but then there’s the food and that’s what I’m talking about today.

Wedding food seems to go down one of two paths; simple or extravagant. It’s difficult to strike the right balance when there are so many different palates in the room and the menu needs to cater for all in just a few options.The most important thing to remember is that it’s your day so do what you want. I’ve eaten pies, hot pot, curry and fish and chips as the main meal at a wedding before, certainly not traditional but they all worked well with the rest of the day and were enjoyed by the guests.

So how would I do it? It isn’t quite time for me to come up with my dream wedding menu yet, but it would be important to me that the guests ate food that’s personal to us. So although I couldn’t cater my own Wedding, it would be awesome if I could find a chef to cook my own recipes for the meal.

I’d keep things quite casual, staying away from anything too ostentatious. I’d want our guests to feel at ease and have lots of fun.

Images from Onetowed

If we had a Summer wedding, I’d love to have it outdoors with a tapas course for starters. It’s one of our favourite ways to eat. We both love being able to try so many dishes and the casual style of dining that comes with it. It would have to include calamari (Matt’s favourite), some really spicy prawns (my favourite) and of course patatas bravas.

To folllow, I like the idea of guests choosing from some of our most loved dishes. Perhaps something like Pollo alla Cacciatore (we cook a tweaked version of the Jamie Oliver recipe), would be in that.

Dessert is always Matt’s domain (regular readers will know I’m more of a savoury kind of girl). We’d offer a selection of miniatures so that people could mix and match their perfect combination. There’d be a huge selection of French cheeses as well to cater for those who like me, would rather skip the sweet.

Noticed I specified ‘French’? France holds some of my fondest memories and I spent a lot of Summers there growing up. These are the kinds of things I’d like to incorporate in to our day, to make it perfect for us. I’d also like to bring over wine from there too, ideally tasted and chosen by us in the caves that line the Loire. I can dream right?

This is my entry into the Stanley House wedding menu competition. Find out more at: http://www.stanleyhouse.co.uk/news/competition-escape-for-the-night-to-stanley-house-hotel-spa

If you’re planning a wedding or are already married, I’d love to know what’s on your Wedding menu. Leave me a comment below.