Our predictions for the hottest wedding breakfast trends for 2016.
What is the wedding breakfast? It’s that layover after the ceremony and before the knee’s up reception where the bridal party and the photographer disappear to take all those lovely photos. Whilst you’re off striking a pose, your guests will need to be looked after and food and drink are the traditional ways of keeping them occupied. Here are our predictions for 2016 wedding breakfast trends on the rise:
1. Cocktails for All
From manly rum and whisky based cocktails that go easy on the fruit and florals and provide a strong drink to mum-to-be mocktails that have all the sweetness of a traditional cocktail with none of the booze, all of your wedding breakfast guests can enjoy a mixed drink whilst you swan off for photos.
You could even go one step further and work with your caterer or bartender before the day to develop signature cocktails based around you and your new spouse, the bridal party or even the surnames of your guests. For instance, anyone who’s surname starts with A through L could get served one delicious drink and so on and so forth.
2. A Showstopping Feature
Our 2014 Win Your Wedding winners, Laura and Daniel, left their guests to ooh and ahh over the flashy souped up cars the groom and his best man arrived in for their late June wedding. These cars provided by Transformers Car Hire were the talk of the wedding breakfast, with everyone stopping to pose by them and take a peek inside. We even noticed guests of the hotel and golf club stopped to take have a look, too!
Consider having your own attention-grabbing show stopper to keep your guests entertained. You don’t have to go for fancy cars, you could hire out a bouncy castle or have a lively band cranking out popular songs and melodies to get your guests footloose!
3. DIY Dining
With smaller numbers than your evening do, the wedding breakfast is the ideal place to instill a little bit of DIY dining. We’ve spotted wedding breakfasts with bars and buffets for everything from rustic food trucks offering delicious, home cooking to seasonal ice cream buffets, perfect for a balmy day.
4. Free From Food
Whilst this won’t be the case at every wedding, there has been a rise in free from options and brides and grooms are catering for food allergies more than ever! Plus, catering companies are happily making provisions for more of the more common dietary requirements such as gluten, wheat and dairy intolerances. The best way to work out whether you need to provide any alternative food options is to ask your guests to list any dietary needs on their RSVP.
Next, make a note of each guests’s requirement and mark their seat on your seating chart and pass the information to your waiters, servers and caterer. They will be able to ensure that their food is prepared with their allergy or intolerance in mind and can ensure they don’t suffer from any cross contamination. You’ll be able to relax knowing all of your guests are looked after and your guests with food allergies or intolerances will appreciate the extra attention you’ve given their dietary needs.
5. Entertaining Interludes
When the drinks have been guzzled and the platters of canapes emptied, invite your guests to relax with a bit of entertainment whilst they wait for the evening reception to begin. You don’t have to go full shabang on an expensive entertainment option for the wedding breakfast, especially if you’re planning on putting on a spectacular show for the evening. Caricaturists and magicians will keep everyone entertained from the younger guests to the adults. Alternatively, you can arrange for a creche where the kids can be looked after.
6. Kids at the Table
If you’re not going down the route of hiring a creche and will have children at the table, keep them entertained with our colouring and activity books. Inside, the kids will find enough pages full of colouring sheets, puzzles and games to give them something to do and to keep them in their seats while the adults are busy being boring at the table. View other books and gifts for your flower girl and page boy.
