Mexican Traditions for Food at a Wedding
Mexican weddings utilize specific cultural traditions that cover everything from the placement of the couple in front of the altar to the food served at the reception. Food is a particularly important part of the reception because it serves to bring all of the guests together and extend hospitality to them. The women connected to the bride, including her mother and grandmother, take control of the food, picking what items to serve and often spending days preparing the dishes. It symbolically brings together the women one last time before the bride becomes a wife.
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Cakes
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The cake is a focal point of the Mexican wedding ceremony, just as it is in other types of wedding celebrations. But instead of a vanilla or chocolate cake topped with frosting, Mexican tradition calls for a fruitcake. The fruitcake itself is stocked with fresh and dried fruits, including coconut and pineapple, as well as nuts like pecans. The cake then sits in rum until it soaks up the flavor of the alcohol. Finally, the cake is frosted and the top is often decorated with religious symbols or figures, such as the Virgin Mary.
Types of Food
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Mexican wedding food generally falls into two categories: finger food and sit-down food. The food is usually served family-style or buffet-style, with the food placed in large bowls and serving dishes along a central table. In family-style service, guests pass the food around the table, but this is more common with smaller weddings. Buffet-style service sets the food in serving dishes, with guests serving themselves from the dishes before moving back to their seat. Finger foods are simply passed around during the reception or placed on the same table, but can be eaten with your hands.
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Sangria
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Sangria is a drink that is commonly served at Mexican weddings. It is typically a wine- and fruit-based drink, though the sangria served at Mexican weddings usually combines water, brandy and wine. Fruit juice adds another layer of flavor and some recipes also call for sugar to sweeten the drink. Depending on the recipe, it may also have pieces of fresh fruit floating in the mixture, including citrus fruits like lemon and lime slices. The drink is kept cold until serving.
Features
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Traditional Mexican wedding food consists of down-home food, similar to the dishes eaten every night and often made by the women in the family. Tortilla-based dishes such as burritos and enchiladas are popular because they are easy to make, easy to serve and easy for guests to eat. Other popular dishes include rice, beans, and chicken- or beef-based dishes.
Favors
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Food also plays a role in relation to the gifts guests take home at the end of the wedding ceremony. Mexican cookies, for example, are often used as a party favor. The light cookies are wrapped inside a piece of tulle or lace, which is then tied with a simple piece of ribbon. Guests are encouraged to take home the cookies as a souvenir of the wedding ceremony.
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References
- Photo Credit wedding celebration image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
