By Rebecca Wong
Gone were the days where the guests will be sitting in the banquet hall and wait painfully for the dinner reception to start, which usually will be 1 to 2 hours later. In order to avoid starving the guests too much, waiters tend to serve snacks and drinks before the dinner; but most of the time they are just some nuts and chips. Personally, I would prefer feeding my guests will delicious and interesting food rather serving them snacks.
So, what can you serve before the dinner starts?
1. Sliders & Mini Sandwiches
This would definitely be one of the cutest appetizers to serve on a wedding anywhere in the world! Mini sliders, sandwiches and mini beers – can anything get better than this? You can even have 2-3 selections of meat and toppings for your guests, so they can “create” their own burgers or sandwiches.
2. Mini Ceviche
Ceviche is made from fresh seafood mixed with citrus juice and a hint of chili. This is a very refreshing and appetizing starter – which perfect to get your guests ready for the actual wedding dinner. A piece of advice, if you are having a wedding lunch reception instead of dinner, then you might want to reconsider serving this. It’s not a very good idea to leave raw meat exposed under the hot sun.
3. Mini Salads
Salads will be a good option for your vegan guests, and it’s more health conscious too. Prepare a few selections of dipping sauces such as aioli, thousand island, Greek Yogurt, or spice things up local style with some sambal for your family and friends to choose from.
Alternatively, you could serve them in home-made bread instead of using cups. The bread will taste extra delicious after absorbing all the sauces.
Serving leafy salads such as Arugula? Use mini bowls instead, add in cheese crumbles and drizzle some olive oil or balsamic vinegar.
4. Fried Chicken with Waffles
Who wouldn’t like a piece of perfectly fried chicken? The guilty pleasure would definitely be a crowd pleaser. I guess it won’t hurt too much to consume a few of these since it’s so small!
5. Tacos
Mini tacos and margaritas are absolutely perfect! They are cute yet work as a conversation starter at the same time. To make it even more interesting, you can provide varieties of toppings so your guests can mix and match the toppings they want and get creative. It’s a good idea to keep them busy until the actual dinner time
too.
6. Spaghetti & Meatballs
Although you wouldn’t want to stuff your guests before the actual dinner, but it’s always good to have some meat or carb dishes – just in case they got too hungry or looking for some “proper” food.
7. Beverages
Usually, the beverages served in a wedding cocktail are either carbonated drinks or cordial juices. Frankly, I fancy neither of these. Your guests will appreciate more if they have fresh fruit juices served in mini jar – cute, refreshing and healthy at the same time.
If you have the budget, why not consider serving alcohol such as cocktails or beer in mini bottle? It’s cute and at the same time a good way to get your family and friends relax for a bit to mingle around.
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