Wedding Tips

Wedding Tips:

* Plan the time of your wedding so that it falls in between meals if possible. That way if your wedding is at 2:00 in the afternoon most people will have eaten lunch and will be leaving the wedding before dinner.

* Don't worry if you can only afford to serve cake, punch, coffee, mints and nuts at your wedding. Having been a guest at many weddings, I have never given a second thought to what I was served. There is always that one person who will have something negative to say, but if you had had an expensive sit down dinner that person would have had something negative to say about it, too.

* Delegate, delegate, delegate. I could never have pulled off my wedding or my daughter's wedding if I hadn't had a lot of help from friends and family. Don't be afraid to ask for help. People love weddings and usually enjoy being a part of one. Pick one person to be in charge of the food, especially for the day of the wedding, and ask others to help you to prepare it.

Menus:

I will mostly be giving hints for what I call a "finger food buffet". It is a happy medium between just cake and punch and a sit-down dinner. Be sure to pick things that can be prepared in advance to make it easier.

The things I list are just a few ideas of things that you could use. Some things will be more expensive than others. Use only what will fit into your budget.

Large platters of fruit with or without dips

* Use in-season fruit that can be prepared ahead of time without turning brown. Strawberries, kiwi, oranges and pineapple work well.

Large platters of veggies with or without dip

* Check out a garnish book at the library to learn how to make them special instead of just making the usual carrot sticks. You can also serve olives, pickles, pickled veggies, etcetera with your veggie platter.

Sandwiches

* Sandwiches should be like "tea" sandwiches, with the crusts cut off and cut into shapes like triangles, circles or diamonds.

* Most sandwiches can be made way ahead of time and frozen. Spread each side of the bread with softened butter to prevent it from becoming soggy. This really works great. Wrap well before freezing.

Inexpensive Cold Cut Platters

Cheese and Cracker Platter

* Use a variety of cheeses. Once again, these should be cut into shapes like bells, hearts or cubes.

* Use a variety of crackers, too, not only in various shapes (round, square or rectangle), but also different colors.

Cold Cut Platter

* In place of sandwiches, you can have a platter of cold cuts (attractively arranged by rolling them up) and served with a variety of small rolls or breads.

Use Mints*, nuts or spiced nuts



Additional Tips:

If you want to go one step further than just finger foods, you can add in any number of different types of salads.

Everything you serve should be attractively cut, arranged on platters and garnished. You can buy some very nice silver or crystal like platters at party stores. Don't forget to plan for decorations for the food table.

This all may seem like a lot of work but remember, you can do a good portion ahead of time, you don't have to serve everything listed and enlist help. Also you can cut corners in some areas. For example I will be giving you a recipe for wedding mints to make but if you don't have time for those, just substitute some of those pastel party mints that you can buy. In the same way if you don't want the work of "tea" sandwiches, just have a cold cut platter.

*Molded Mints

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 (3oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. peppermint flavoring
Food coloring
Sugar
Candy mold

Mix first 4 ingredients. Knead several times. When dough is smooth, roll into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 2 hours. Roll into small balls, dip in sugar and press into mold. If mints stick to mold, knead in more powdered sugar. Remove from mold and let dry 1/2 hour. Store in airtight container. Can be frozen or refrigerated. Makes 100 one inch mints.

Use food coloring to match the bride's colors. You can buy molds in the craft section at Wal-Mart, or a cake decorating shop. Use anything you like - hearts, leaves and shells all work well.
From A Reader:

"I wanted to add a tip to your "Molded Mints" recipe. If you don't have molds for your mints, you can roll them into balls and use an initial imprint stamp with the bride and groom's last name. Just push the stamp down in the center of the mint and use even pressure. It makes them look like designer mints. If you powder the mints with more sugar, do so before you stamp the mint. Thanks for letting me put in my two cents."

-Kristina

Source: Living on a Dime