How to Do a Creative Wedding Reception Buffet

Go beyond the expected with a creative wedding reception buffet.

A well planned buffet at a wedding reception offers something for everyone -- from the pickiest eater, to vegetarians, to those whose meals consist of meat and potatoes. Unlike a sit-down dinner with several courses, a buffet stretches to accommodate a few extra guests. However, buffets can be humdrum. Surprise the guests with a wedding buffet that features a twist on the bridal couple's favorite childhood foods.

Instructions

1. Ask the mothers of the bride and groom what their favorite childhood foods were. If you don't know the mothers, start a conversation with the bridal couple to find out the foods. Make a list of those foods. For example, it might be macaroni and cheese, tacos, fish sticks, crispy potato tots and hamburgers.

2. Translate the favorite foods into gourmet treats. The macaroni and cheese becomes pasta shells with Alfredo sauce, dusted with crumbled pancetta bacon. The tacos translate into slivers of chicken breast served in adobo sauce. Crispy potato tots translate into crunchy potato skins stuffed with sour cream and adorned with caviar.

3. Serve the foods in miniature. Instead of a full-sized hamburger make it special as a tiny sirloin slider burger accompanied by caramelized onions on a foccacia bread mini-bun. The tacos shrink in size as well, when served on 3-inch-diameter tacos cut from full-size ones. Think bite-sized chunks of pankco-breaded halibut or grilled salmon squares served with teriyaki dipping sauce and a spicy sauce as well.

4. Create unusual serving presentations. Fold the tacos into a cone, stuff them with chicken and place them in wire cupcake holders. Instead of a big bowl of salad greens, put mesclun lettuce leaves in a clear plastic shot glass, top with a halved cherry tomato, a few crumbles of feta cheese and olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Place the shot glasses on a clear three-tiered cake plate.

5. Design a focal point for the buffet table. Forgo the usual ice sculpture or floral arrangement and keep with the kid theme. Create a hot air balloon that floats above the buffet table using a helium balloon and basket below it. Prop the basket up off the table with a clear plastic stand. Wrap battery-operated twinkle lights around the plastic to camouflage it and add some drama. Other kid-themed centerpieces could include merry-go-round horses decorated with flowers, Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls or favorite toys of the bridal couple's childhood.

6. Arrange a serve-yourself ice cream sundae bar for dessert. Keep bowls of small scoops of ice cream in the freezer until the last minute. Add crushed fruits, caramel, butterscotch and pineapple toppings along with nuts, cherries and whipped cream.

Tips & Warnings

• Add photos of the bride and groom when they were children to the buffet table.

• Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold at a buffet.

References

• Bride's Reception; "Eat, Sip, Love" Tina Rup