WHAT

Whether you're planning to utilize the menu and kitchen of your reception location, hire a caterer to provide the fare at your selected venue, or have a do-it-yourself reception with the food and beverage selections provided by yourselves or your family and/or friends, the final decisions for your menu and libations are your responsibility and a major part of your wedding planning.

Three things are generally happening in this area:
1. Steering away from the norm to individualize your presentation;
2. Taking advantage of seasonal, local produce;
3. A step toward elegance, most times coupled with ethnic tradition.

Couples are trying to steer away from the obvious in menu choices, in other words, the standard fare for a geographic location.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
The first step to adding some flair to your menu is to "personalize" at least one of your choices. Some examples:
VARY ONE COURSE
Choose one course you're bored with and try something exciting. For instance, a Caesar or mixed greens salad instead of the regular tossed salad (iceberg, tomato, cucumber); French Onion soup instead of minestrone or another chicken-based soup; Spatchcock instead of half a chicken; a fresh whipped-cream wedding cake eliminating the for separate dessert.

ADD ETHNIC FLAIR
For one or more of your courses, select items which reflect the ethnic heritage and traditions of one or both of your families. Good examples recently glimpsed have been Greek stuffed grape leaves or Polish-style cabbage rolls replacing both the salad and pasta courses; Escarole as a vegetable side; Rice Pilaf as a starch side; Lamb or Veal Parmesan as the main course; served family style. All of these choices are unusual for wedding fare, but certainly not far out as common fare. The addition of an item like these will lend a unique and personalized flair to your reception and stand out in your guests' memory as a welcome, if different, offering.

LOCAL/SEASONAL ITEMS
The trend toward offering locally produced, seasonal fare is probably the strongest . Even if you're only looking to customize one course, check around for some of the options available in your area: early Spring equals Asparagus; Autumn means apples, There is lamb season and venison is now considered highly elegant.; summer lends itself to seafood and lots of it!
ISN'T THAT ELEGANT!
The latest trend is the inclusion of a "gourmet" component at some point in the dinner. Now don't go skipping to the next paragraph! Adding a touch of real elegance to your menu is easier and more affordable than ever, especially with the help of a caterer or other professional.

Caviar is no longer the unaffordable, mysterious, unobtainable food item it was once considered. For one thing, one must realize that a fish egg is just that, a fish egg! All fish produce "caviar". It has come about that we've finally come to the conclusion that caviar doesn't have to come from a rare, possibly endangered, species to produce tasty and desirable caviar. There are many, many options (many from local fisheries) when deciding to include caviar in your plans. Just look at your local grocer's shelves; we bet you'll be surprised to find a nice, affordable selection of caviars tucked away in the "gourmet" section. Especially to the uninitiated, caviar can be a most welcome surprise and a great, new experience. Some ways to introduce it to your guests would be the standard dip/scoop presentation: toast points and/or crackers, sour cream as a garnish.
The same goes for other delicacies such as prosciutto ham and imported provolone, or smoked fishes, or pates: a little goes a long way and everyone can have a real treat for just a little more than your standard onion dip with raw vegetables platter! Attend an upscale brunch in your area for ideas. Then you can talk to your caterer about making a presentation, downscaling or downsizing if desired or necessary.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Even using a somewhat different approach to menu planning does not preclude pleasing and accommodating those of your guests with either special needs like low sodium, -fat, or -cholesterol content, vegetarians, or those with a limited sense of adventure. Your chef, your caterer or you and your families can still use flair to provide exciting choices for these guests. Include the standard items, just make additions. Let's say you're serving Cajun items. A great, different approach would be jugs of ice cold draft beer on the table! However, make sure the standard, house table wine(s) and plenty of ice water or soft drink are available to those who don't like beer or do not drink alcoholic beverages. Use your imagination and the expertise of those assisting you. The sky's the limit these days. With even a limited budget, any meal can be customized or accessorized to reflect your personal tastes and to give your guests a little bit of the unusual with flair and panache. Buy Premium Cleanskin Wine buy by the dozen at Cleanskins -Free Home Delivery - Add your own label for your wedding!

THE ICING ON THE CAKE
Your Wedding Cake Planning Guide
by Ernest Lee Bacon
A wedding cake is the one centrepiece that no wedding, large or small, should be without. Gone are the days of plain white cake with plain white frosting. Now it's anything goes! Providing, of course, that the top tier is tastefully and appropriately decorated.
Chocolate mud cakes with white frosting have gained much favour in recent years as have fruited layers and even marble cakes. As with every other aspect of planning your wedding, it's a personal choice. Go for what you really want - something that goes with your style, tempered by the number of guests and general style of the wedding (formal, semi-formal or casual). If you're concerned that a large number of people may not enjoy your choice, you can always have the tiers baked in different flavours and give them a choice. As you'll see below, this can also be accomplished easily if the wedding cake has "dummy" tiers and the guests are served from sheet cakes: have smaller sheet cakes baked in different flavours.
For a small wedding, a cake of several layers which can be served as the dessert course is always fun and traditional. But for larger receptions, cutting up and distributing a single cake, no matter how large, can be present a logistical nightmare.
And in the event that you decide on another dessert, you might still want to go with a sheet cake anyway. This would allow you to send slices of cake in gift boxes home with each guest. This was an old tradition which fell out of favour in recent decades but is cropping up more frequently these days. It makes a fine (and relatively inexpensive) favour and there's an old wives' tale that if an unmarried girl or woman sleeps with the cake under her pillow (in the box, of course!) she will dream of the man she's going to marry!

If you would like a full cake and to serve it as dessert, advance planning is needed. At a recent wedding we attended, the bride and groom (with assistance from two wait staff) cut and plated their entire huge wedding cake which was served to the guests by the wedding party (again with some wait staff assistance). This was accomplished in only a few minutes with no mess and no bother! And there were 200 guests at this wedding!
Another inexpensive (and, we might add, easier) approach would be to go with the cake offered by your caterer or the menu planner at your reception location. It eliminates the shopping and indecision. However, that choice also depersonalises the cake. For a truly personal approach, we've known many a bride who baked the cake herself or with help from family and friends. This can become an "event" in itself and a great wedding memory and it will also drastically reduce expenses.
A big part of your decision will be the ornamental topping. Do you want the traditional Bride & Groom figurines ? Many people today are choosing personalized figurines, small statues decorated or even created to represent the actual bride and groom! The other decorations must be considered as well: silk flowers, candy, fresh fruit, ribbons? How about none of the above or even all of the above?!
And so, the bottom line is that the easiest and most traditional way to plan for your cake is to visit local bakers, particularly those who advertise as wedding cake specialists. These are professionals who will be able to answer any questions you have, make suggestions, and guide you to your best option. Most have extensive photographic catalogues of the cakes they've designed and/or baked and many even have a showroom with models. With a baker, you will have open to you the most wide-ranging choices in style, flavours and price, and you are even likely to wind up customizing your own unique cake from ideas lifted from several designs.
In any event, we recommend that you have some kind of wedding cake. If for nothing else, you want to be sure you have at least one piece of the cake for your freezer which you can defrost and share on the occasion of your first anniversary!

Like everything else involved in planning a wedding, the key is to compare prices and quality and make a decision as far in advance as possible. This allows for plenty of time to save and to make any changes which crop up. Your wedding cake is one of the most fun decisions you'll have to make and you'll be glad in the long run if you stick with this delightful tradition.

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