Words we never get tired of hearing at weddings are often "open bar" and "buffet." But thanks to the coronavirus the open part is temporarily closed, and the buffet has gone solo.
"Social distancing and safety guidelines have made everyone rethink the way we [plan] what guests consume," said Amy Shey Jacobs, the owner of Chandelier Events, an event planning company in New York. "It's made us tap into our creativity and develop new tools and tricks to deliver elegant, whimsical and decadent solutions where everything is individually served and packaged."
Rather than taking a back seat, food has become more of a focal point at weddings.
"A wedding without food wasn't an option; it's part of sharing an event together," said David Guggenheim, 40, chief behavioral health officer at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York. He married Michael Bosworth, 42, on Aug. 22 at a friend's home in Avon, Conn.
Each of the couple's 20 guests received a catered picnic basket and monogrammed blanket. "We wanted to serve something where guests could sit far enough away from others and still feel like part of the party," Guggenheim said. The baskets contained biscuits, roast chicken, macaroni and cheese, grilled summer vegetables, German potato salad and a mini bottle of Champagne. Rainbow cake push pops were a substitute for sliced wedding cake.
SIGNATURE COCKTAILS
Those clinging to more traditional settings are swapping bar service with signature cocktails presented by masked servers. And they're saying goodbye to the ubiquitous communal bowl of nuts or crudités and dip. In its place are separately wrapped nibbles, like honey-glazed roasted bacon strips, truffle popcorn and homemade taro chips.
With dancing largely at a standstill and entertainment taking a pause, cuisine is now considered the evening activity. "Most weddings have a cocktail hour and a three-course meal: appetizer, entree and dessert," Jacobs said, noting that this structure had worked for pre-pandemic weddings because it fostered a smart timeline for dancing and toasts. "With covid, everything is backward," he said. "We want guests to stay seated longer, in smaller groups, and we want to avoid crowding at the bar."
Caterers and planners are now suggesting five-course tasting menus with wine pairings.
STRUCTURE AND FLOW
These extended feasts can linger for two to four hours and give the evening structure and flow. Courses can be broken up with toasts and video montages, Jacobs said. She added that "the menus offer more detailed explanations about the food and the wine pairings so there's an educational element as well. It's an immersive experience."
Caterers are also embracing these challenges. "The content is the same so the couple feel we're providing something they originally wanted, but the preparation and visual execution is different," said Jeffrey Selden, a managing partner at Marcia Selden Catering & Events, in Stamford, Conn. "We're creating new design aesthetics and presentations, and finding new places to source products. And everything is customized so people feel special and thought about."
Among the changes: personalized stickers and labels let guests know something has been sealed and not tampered with and boxes of appetizers with names engraved on the outside. The appetizers are "served room temperature so you don't have to worry about it going from hot to cold and being compromised," Selden said, and they "work as both safe presentation and a take-home gift."
Visual staging to highlight safety precautions is also being added. Don't be surprised if you spot servers wearing colored gloves to signify a different food being presented, or if an individual glass dome resting on a beautifully designed tray is removed before you reach for something small and edible. "These have been added to protect hors d'oeuvres from touching one another and guests from touching the food," Selden said. Embroidered masks with the name of a dish and aprons sporting the list of ingredients reduce verbal communication between wait staff and guests.
EMBRACING FOOD FOCUS
Couples are embracing the food focus. "We changed our venue from the Harold Pratt House to the Foundry so the focus could be on the food and an outdoor setting," said Dr. Anastasia Grivoyannis, 35, of Baltimore. She married Brian Pujanauski, 37, a data scientist with Mastercard, on Sept. 20. "We splurged on the catering and multicourse meal because we went from 250 people to 43," she said, "and because a Greek wedding is about no one leaving hungry."
And no one apparently did. The affair, catered by Thomas Preti Events to Savor, featured 17-layer crepes and caviar that were paired with Ketel One vodka shots, hamburger sliders served with shots of pale ale, and fish tacos with shots of tequila. Each was presented during cocktail hour before to the five-course meal.
"This was a big hit," said Grivoyannis, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. "It was empowering to make people feel safe and comfortable."
And yes, the cake is still being cut, but many event planners say they aren't serving it. Instead, self-contained boxed cakes, small pies, decorative cookies are being handed out. Or the desserts are finding you. A recent wedding had four dessert carts rolled around the guest tables with an assortment of tantalizing treats.