Wedding menu for a home banquet
The range of dishes for a wedding feast is varied. Both hot and cold snacks are served on the table. In addition, if desired, you can arrange an excellent dessert table. Be sure to prepare dishes from meat, fish, vegetables, mushrooms, sliced cheese, and various types of sausages for a wedding.
A wedding menu for 50 people at home may include the following dishes:
Cold appetizers
This is something that should always be a lot. Snacks and alcoholic beverages are used as snacks and snacks, so there is no need to skimp here. What you should definitely prepare: cold cuts; slicing fresh vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers); assorted salted vegetables; marinated mushrooms; cheese slices (2 types); cutting from different types of sausage (3 types); jellied tongue; liver cake; stuffed vegetables; fish platter; jellied fish; aspic; sandwiches or canapés.
Salads
They are served in small salad bowls. It is advisable to have as many different types as possible than just one in a large salad bowl. Also, some of them can be served in tartlets - small baskets of dough. Traditional salads are: “Olivier”; "Caesar"; "Herring under a Fur Coat". Nowadays, new types of salads are popular: “Mediterranean” (seafood, pineapple); “Ali Baba” (boiled chicken fillet cubes, pineapple, pepper); “Blonde” (raw smoked sausage, tomato, cheese, grated fried potatoes). It is not necessary to prepare everything according to 20-year-old standards; you can prepare any salad, especially if the wedding reception is planned to be at home. But the best option would be a variety of salads, where the main ingredients are mushrooms, meat, sausage, fish or vegetables. Advice! Give the salad a festive look on the plate, for example, arrange it in the shape of a heart and you will see that the table will look festive.
What dishes, in what quantity and how to serve?
Salads can be arranged in tartlets.
The butter is served chilled and cut into 0.5 cm cubes. There is no need to spread the bread with butter in advance.
Appetizers do not need to be served all at once. They need to be divided into several parts and served on the table as they are required. Most of the snacks are consumed at the beginning of the banquet, when hot dishes have not yet been served.
Soups: mixed meat solyanka, meat broth with herbs and crackers, fish soup - 200-250 ml/1 person. Soups, as a rule, are served if at least two hours have passed between registration at the registry office and the start of the banquet, and only after cold appetizers. First courses are usually in demand at winter weddings and should be served hot.
Hot fish dishes: sturgeon baked with vegetables – 150-200 gr.
Hot fish dishes should be ordered for a wedding banquet only when the wedding takes place during the good river fishing season. Then the fish will be really good. A hot fish dish is not mandatory for a banquet, but it can help out if there are people who do not eat meat among the guests.
Hot meat dishes: baked poultry – 200-250 g, roast beef baked with vegetables 100/150 g, fried pig with mushrooms – 200-250 g.
At a wedding feast there are usually two hot meat dishes, one of them is served in the first half of the feast, the other in the second. You can order one meat dish, but it should also be served twice. Let the hot dish be served in small portions, but 2-3 times, rather than once in large portions.
If we talk about choosing between expensive hot dishes and a variety of snacks on the table, then snacks are a priority. Everyone will like the variety of snacks, and the main course can be as ordinary as possible.
Hot dishes
The banquet menu must include main hot dishes. They can be made from meat and fish. These products can be boiled, baked, stewed, or grilled. fish with sauce, with vegetables; fried liver; cabbage rolls; (see - cabbage rolls recipe) stuffed poultry (duck, turkey, goose); pineapple chops; julienne with mushrooms or chicken; eggplant or zucchini with garlic sauce; cutlets; stuffed vegetables; grilled thighs; gefilte fish; pancakes with meat or mushroom filling; fried mushrooms; schnitzel or steak; roast or pilaf. The side dish will be boiled potatoes, rice, and vegetables. In addition, bread is served in an assortment.
What should you consider when creating a banquet menu?
- When calculating the amount of food at a banquet, it is important to ensure that the tables are not empty. It is convenient to serve salads in portions, and hot dishes and vegetables on shared trays.
- Plan a special menu for children's meals and vegetarians. Children eat little, but drink more juices and sparkling water. Vegetarians prefer vegetables and fruits to meat and fish.
- Buy cake and alcohol yourself. This will save your budget. Arrange to pick up remaining food and alcoholic beverages after the party.
- When creating a menu, take into account the season. In summer, guests drink more wine, lemonade and juice. In winter, soups, hot snacks and strong alcohol are popular.
Dessert
Naturally, the most important dessert on the holiday table is the wedding cake. The weight of a piece of cake per person should be approximately 250 grams. Therefore, the total weight of the cake for a wedding menu of 50 people is about twelve and a half kilograms. The main delicacy of a wedding feast can be ordered at a pastry shop, and if you have a talent for preparing such products, you can bake a cake at home. The cake can be multi-tiered. Its important design is silhouettes of newlyweds made of mastic, edible pearls and beads. It is fashionable to decorate the product with berries, fruits, and fresh flowers. The loaf is an absolute attribute on the wedding table. For 50 people, its weight should be at least seven and a half kilograms. In addition, desserts at a wedding feast may include: ice cream; chocolate candies; tartlets with condensed milk; cake; fruit bowl (grapes, apples, peaches, oranges, bananas, kiwi, tangerines); cupcakes; souffle. Advice! As such, they begin to drink tea towards the end of the wedding banquet, so it is better to place all the sweets on a separate table along with the birthday cake, so that it does not interfere with the common table.
Banquet organization
Organizing a banquet is an additional opportunity for a restaurant to increase income. Firstly, banquet menus are usually ordered for a certain number of guests, which means guaranteed seating and projected revenue. Secondly, in Russia it is customary to celebrate holidays in a rich and hospitable manner. Russian traditional generosity allows restaurants to earn more. Thirdly, the banquet menu is usually complex. It includes appetizers, main courses, desserts, drinks. Guests who come for a regular dinner at a restaurant order a smaller set of dishes; in this regard, banquets are always financially effective. And one last thing. At any banquet, a percentage of new guests come who visit the restaurant for the first time. If they like it, they come back.
The seasonality factor plays a huge role in this business, when each restaurant tries to attract the maximum number of customers - in the summer (picnics, outdoor events) and on New Year's holidays. To sell as efficiently as possible throughout the year, it is worth analyzing the needs for this type of service. For example, support for business events is a profitable niche, since they are held all year round. Each company works with clients using its own methods: uses personal connections, organizes events for contractors, uses “cold” calls, and places advertisements on specialized resources. If we talk about experience, our customers are guests of the GOODMAN, Filimonova and Yankel, and Kolbasoff restaurants. An impeccable reputation speaks for itself. Catering companies, unlike similar services at stationary restaurants, feel much more dependent on the seasonality factor. After all, catering, as a rule, has a production basis based on a public catering outlet. Without such a basis, it does not have sufficient financial viability for full-fledged existence and development during periods of pronounced seasonality, which entails a deterioration in the quality of the service provided and competitiveness in the market. Of course, in terms of sales volumes, it is difficult to equate the period of the New Year holidays with any other period. But many companies are postponing New Year celebrations to January. This reduces their costs for venue rental, entertainment program, menu costs, etc. In recent years, the need for catering has been growing. It is in demand not only at corporate, but also at exhibition, presentation, image, and private events, as a result of which seasonality is smoothed out, because they take place throughout the year. And their volume increases every year, as does competition among catering companies. The question of the role of the human factor in making a profit from a banquet must be considered from two positions. The first aspect is the human factor as a synonym for the work of an effective sales manager who knows how to correctly offer services, solve customer problems, and approach projects creatively. The second aspect is the direct work of the service personnel at the event (from the cook to the waiter). If the chef cooks with soul, the waiters are impeccable, then the banquet will be perfect and they will probably contact you again or recommend you to friends. There is a special training center, so each employee is a real expert - in meat, fish, wine. This approach is highly valued in the market. In a banquet menu, as a rule, all sections are universal. These are cold and hot appetizers, salads, main courses, fruits and, of course, dessert. You can supplement the assortment with dishes that will be prepared in front of the guests. It can be either hot or dessert. This approach adds entertainment value to the event. The composition of the dishes depends on the format of the banquet: if we are organizing a gala dinner with a la carte distribution, then something neutral is served as appetizers that everyone likes (for example, you can offer vegetables, but not seafood). If you are serving a buffet, the entire range of dishes (from fish to meat) should be presented on the table so that everyone can choose something to suit their taste. If we talk about the main course, then, as a rule, it is chosen based on the focus of the restaurant. Standard food output: banquet for 5 hours - output not less than 1 kg per person, buffet - not less than 700 g. The appearance of the dish and the way it is served is determined by the brand chef. Many factors influence the design, and first of all it is the type of service. For example, for a buffet table, ease of use and portability should be considered. The location of the event, seasonality, and, of course, the concept of the restaurant have a significant influence. To calculate the cost of a banquet, you must first analyze the cost of raw materials, fixed and variable costs. A banquet is a service in which the cost of each event is calculated individually. Let’s say that the raw material component, with the same assortment of menus at two events, may remain unchanged, and the costs of logistics, rental of restaurant equipment, and payment for service personnel affect the formation of cost. Accordingly, the budget per person is formed from the costs of a banquet, renting a venue, logistics of products and personnel, additional options such as furniture, decor, dishes... The volume of food purchases is calculated based on the range of menus and the number of guests. There are certain standards when selecting personnel (a table with 8-10 people is served by one waiter, respectively, fewer people will be required to serve the buffet table). Of course, the quality of food and service is extremely important. Often in restaurants, as well as during catering, you can see the original presentation of a dish, but you can truly appreciate it only when you try it. In catering, you also cannot save on logistics, technical equipment of the restaurant, and venues for celebrations. After all, if the event takes place in an open area, then it is impossible to remove tents or awning structures from the estimate. Weather conditions are unpredictable, but the mood of the guests at such an evening can be predicted. Each event must be considered individually. Much depends on the customer’s priority criteria. Comfortable or exclusive venue, availability of gourmet products, table setting, textiles, level of service personnel - all this can affect the cost of the service. A banquet service specialist will always tell you on which expense items you can save without compromising the event, taking into account all the priorities and wishes of the customer. In order not to forget anything, there are specially prescribed algorithms. Timing includes forecasting the time required for all logistics, preparation of dishes by the cook, ordering products and delivery from the supplier. Is entertainment always necessary at a banquet? To answer this question, it is important to understand the purpose of the event. If you are preparing a business meeting, then there is no need for entertainment. On the contrary, it will be necessary to make the atmosphere comfortable for negotiations. If you have a solemn goal, then, of course, an additional program is necessary. In conclusion, I can recommend several rules for organizing a banquet: • choose an event agency that has proven itself as a reliable partner; • come up with an interesting and suitable concept for the event; • create an entertainment program taking into account the interests of the guests; • choose the right venue that will best suit the concept and technical capabilities of the event agency and catering; • take care of transfers for guests; • choose a catering company with the necessary production base, having its own professional service staff and experienced management; • pre-taste the menu offered by the catering company; • organize a joint meeting of all participants involved in the event; • if possible, attend one of the events of the event agency and catering; • appear at the celebration in a good mood. |
Beverages
At any event, not only at wedding banquets or buffets, you must take into account that there are people who drink alcoholic beverages, but there are also those who do not drink at all and you need to think about each of them. In principle, it is impossible to calculate how much guests will drink, so in this matter it is better to take more than the guests will be dissatisfied later. Non-alcoholic drinks include: fruit juice; sparkling water (sweet and mineral); fruit compote; tea; coffee. Non-alcoholic drinks for 50 guests must be at least 100 liters. Range of alcoholic drinks: champagne (1 bottle for 3 people); vodka (1 bottle for three people); wine (1 bottle for two); cognac. There may be various wine and vodka products (alcoholic cocktails, martinis, gin). But beer is not on the holiday feast menu. To hold a celebration for such a number of guests, a room is usually rented.
What to consider when creating a menu for a wedding feast When creating a menu, you should consider what foods guests eat. Are there children, elderly people, vegetarians, or people suffering from any diseases among the guests? Such a menu should also be explained by the choice of complex dietary and baby food dishes. It is necessary that all guests can choose healthy and tasty dishes from the variety of food.
To create a menu, you need to take into account the number of guests. Considering the average weight of food per person, it is easy to calculate the total weight of treats for a certain number of guests. Wedding menu for 40 people Just like for 50 guests, a wedding menu for 40 people is quite expensive. All dishes are served on small snack plates. Regarding appetizers, sausage, cheese, vegetable slices, assorted meats and fish, and pickles are served on the table. You can prepare inexpensive salads: both mixed and puff. Among hot dishes, preference is given to stuffed poultry, cutlets or schnitzels, appetizer pancakes, baked fish, and julienne. The cake is prepared weighing about eight kilograms. To save money on the holiday table, instead of a cake there can be korowai, sweets, cookies, cakes, and fruits. To create a wedding menu for 30 people, you need to calculate the average weight of each dish. To save money, it is better not to reduce portions, but to choose cheaper ingredients. Therefore, among the hot dishes, chicken fillet chops, roasts, baked mackerel, meat fingers, pancakes with mushroom filling, and grilled poultry are suitable. For cold appetizers, choose inexpensive salads, sliced raw smoked sausages, hard cheeses, sliced fresh vegetables, pickled mushrooms, and assorted pickles. The total amount of compotes, juices and sparkling waters should be at least 60 liters (2 liters per person). Champagne and vodka - 10 bottles, wine - 15. Peculiarities of holding a banquet in the summer To create a wedding menu in the summer, you need to take into account the increased temperature of this time of year. Some foods can spoil quickly in the heat. In addition, in the summer, banquets are most often held outdoors. If the wedding feast is organized outdoors, then there are other difficulties - food delivery, lack of refrigerators. Also, annoying insects somewhat spoil the holiday. To prevent certain troubles and avoid food poisoning, it is important to correctly create a list of treats. Some rules that will help make a summer wedding unforgettable: 1. If the festive feast will take place in the fresh air, portable refrigerators will be a good option. 2. When chilled drinks heat up quickly in hot weather, this problem can be solved with pieces of ice. 3. In the summer heat, preference is given to fruits and ice cream rather than creamy desserts. 4. You should remember about the bad combination of alcoholic beverages and heat. Therefore, alcohol such as vodka and cognac can be replaced with less strong ones, for example, cocktails and wine. 5. To prepare snacks and salads, you must choose ingredients that are not too fatty: chicken, lean fish, fresh vegetables, pickles, herbs. 6. A great idea would be to have tartlets and sandwiches made from herbs, olives, and fresh vegetables on the table. 7. Summer is a great time for barbecue, meat or fish on the grill. They can be easily included in the list of hot snacks for a wedding. Moreover, barbecues go very well if you decide to have a beach wedding. 8. Light desserts - soufflé, mousse and others - are also perfect for the sweet table. 9. Also in the summer, watermelon and melon are served as dessert. 10. It is important to remember to have more soft drinks.
Banquet table for other holidays In addition to weddings, banquets are held for anniversaries. Such a dinner party is ordered in cafes or restaurants on March 8, New Year, and professional holidays. The banquet can be full or partial service. Menu for a banquet for 20 people Usually, a banquet for 20 people is called mini. Below is an approximate menu for the number of people.
Banquet food options
At the beginning of the festive feast, cold appetizers and salads appear on the table. Try to order several types of treats in small portions so that each guest can choose a dish to their taste.
Order of serving dishes:
- Traditional salads such as Olivier, Caesar, Greek, herring under a fur coat. Light vegetable salads with Chinese cabbage, pineapples, and kiwi are very popular.
- In addition to traditional meat and fish cuts, the festive table will be decorated with canapés, vegetable and meat rolls, stuffed vegetables, and tartlets with all kinds of fillings.
- The most popular hot dishes on the banquet table are baked poultry, chops, steaks, schnitzels, julienne, cabbage rolls, shashlik, baked or fried fish. Side dish – mashed potatoes, vegetables, rice.
- An indispensable dessert at a wedding is a cake or loaf. At other banquets, guests are offered muffins, cupcakes with tea or coffee, ice cream, chocolates, and fruits on the sweet table.
- When choosing alcoholic drinks, take into account the preferences of the guests; champagne, red and white wine, whiskey, liqueurs, vodka, and cognac may be on the table. Traditional and signature cocktails will add zest to your holiday.
Soft drinks – sweet and regular carbonated water, juices, fruit drinks, compotes.
Hosting a banquet is not an easy task. Our company will provide assistance in organizing a celebration at the site of your choice - indoors or outdoors. We will help you create a menu correctly so that there is enough food and drinks for all guests, but there is no surplus. Our chefs will prepare delicious holiday treats, and waiters will serve your guests politely and attentively. You don't have to worry about delivering furniture, textiles, products, or decorating the room. You will be able to enjoy the holiday with the rest of the guests.
Cold appetizers
sliced from various types of cheese (1 kg); cold cuts: sausage, ham, boiled pork, tongue (700 gr.); assorted fresh vegetables (1 kg); pickled herring (600 gr.); pickles: pickled mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage (800 gr.); olives, black olives (400 gr.); salads from vegetables, meat, mushrooms, sausage (800 g each). Hot dishes baked potatoes with mushrooms (1 kg); fish or meat steaks (800 gr.); cutlets (800 gr.); pancakes with meat and mushroom filling (700 gr.). It is important to remember to serve bread products in an assortment. Dessert table You can prepare a birthday cake, or limit yourself to fruits, sweets and mini-cakes.
Drinks mineral water; sweet sparkling water; fruit and berry compote; fruit drink; fruit juices. For 20 people, all drinks must be up to 30 liters. Tea and coffee are served at the sweet table. Menu for a banquet for 30 people For a festive feast for such a number of people, it is worth renting a banquet room. You can prepare dishes for the banquet yourself, or order a catering kitchen. But in the second case, then use two waiters who will keep order on your table. If, however, your decision fell on your own preparation and service, then the following menu will help you a lot. Cold appetizers, fresh and pickled vegetables (assorted); meat, cheese, sausage cuts; assorted fish: trout, salmon; canapes with caviar or red fish; liver cake; salad tartlets; jellied tongue; gefilte fish; aspic; olives and black olives; several types of salads (vegetable, meat, seafood). Hot dishes pork in French; cabbage rolls; roast with mushrooms; cutlets; chicken chops; Fried fish; pancakes with mushrooms. Desserts include assorted fruits, ice cream, cakes, and sweets. The range of strong and non-alcoholic drinks is varied. The menu for a banquet should be compiled taking into account the average weight of dishes per person. Cold and hot dishes are served at the rate of 350 g. Non-alcoholic drinks - approximately 1.5 liters per person. Champagne and vodka - 0.5 liters each, wine - 1 bottle per guest.
Calculation and preparation of a wedding banquet menu
When calculating food for a wedding banquet, keep in mind that the main feast is usually preceded by a small buffet. For the welcome zone you will need champagne, several snacks and fruits.
For a banquet that lasts 4–5 hours, you need 1400–1500 g of food per guest (including cake). The following ratio of main courses and snacks on the banquet table is considered optimal.
- Cold appetizers (cheeses, vegetables, cold cuts) - 350–400 g.
- Salads (vegetables, meat, seafood) - 200 g.
- Hot snacks - 100 g.
- Hot (steaks, chops, roast) - 250 g.
- Side dishes - 150 g.
- Fruits - 200 g.
- Cake - 150–200 g.
If 10–15 guests are invited to the wedding, it is better to order a cake based on a portion of 200 g. If the celebration is large-scale, 150 g per guest is quite enough.
Banquet space is one of the main criteria for any celebration.
A small number of guests - up to 20 people can be accommodated at home. To organize a festive feast for more than 20 guests, the best option would be to rent a room for a banquet. Halls for banquet tables can be rented in almost any restaurant or cafe. To select such a room, it is necessary to take into account the following requirements: 1. Convenience of the celebration hall (air conditioning, spacious room). 2. Capacity (the hall must accommodate the required number of guests). 3. Location (it should be taken into account that it should be convenient for guests to get to the establishment). 4. Interior of the room (taking into account wishes and preferences). 5. Availability of a dance floor and recreation areas. 6. High-quality service. 7. Menu selection. 8. Reasonable prices. 9. For outdoor events - the presence of awnings and umbrellas. 10. Availability of space for an aperitif.
The choice of a hall to celebrate any event is important, as is the range of food. After all, a wonderful atmosphere, attractive prices, original design, colorfully decorated hall will create a great mood for all guests and heroes of the occasion and will be remembered for a long time. The banquet manager will help you choose a room, taking into account all the requirements and wishes of the clients. A specialist in organizing such celebrations will give the necessary advice and provide a list of premises to rent for a feast, from which you can choose the best option.
Cook
It is not necessary to use all types of cutting; you can choose 2-3 optimal options for your banquet. Yamanov Eduard
The aperitif is followed by salads and cold appetizers. The latter are placed in common dishes or cups on each table, but it is advisable to make salads in portions. They take them out one at a time so as not to crowd up the free space. It is desirable that the salads differ from each other: one can be made vegetable, another meat, the third fish.
This stage is followed by a series of cold and hot meat snacks, which are served without a side dish. Cold ones are most often jelly or aspic, and hot rolls or portioned pieces of meat, chicken or poultry are served. In addition, you can serve baked or stuffed champignons. The difference between hot appetizers and the main course is that the portion size is smaller, and they are prepared immediately before serving, so they arrive on the table, as they say, piping hot.
After this, it’s time for the main course - the most high-calorie, tasty and voluminous. It is used as meat, poultry or fish; sometimes cabbage rolls or pancakes with meat are prepared. The main course may not be portioned, but whole, for example, baked pig, duck or carp. First, a large piece must be cut according to the number of guests, without disturbing the original shape, so that everyone can take a portion if desired. In addition to this, a side dish is prepared, most often potatoes, rice or vegetable stew.
After the main course there will be no more high-calorie food. The next step is to serve desserts:
- candies;
- cookie;
- fruits;
- soufflé or mousse;
- marshmallows or marshmallows;
- cupcakes;
- sweet pancakes or pancakes;
- marmalade;
- cream or ice cream.
For desserts, you can organize a separate sweet table (candy bar) in advance. In this case, anyone can approach the delicacies at any time and choose the appropriate option for themselves, without trying something they don’t like. It is imperative to hang a sign above such a table.
The banquet ends with a wedding cake. It can be single-tiered or multi-tiered, bare or richly decorated, classically formal or with an original design, but in any case it should be tasty, and everyone should have at least a piece.
Interesting! Be sure to learn how to choose the right wedding cake. There are secrets that pastry chefs won’t tell you...
If the main menu is high in calories, then the main dessert is made light and airy, for example, from soufflé and whipped cream.
Furniture for banquets
It is important that the chairs match the number of guests invited. Banquet chairs are covered with special satin covers or decorated with beautiful festive bows and ribbons. The color must fully correspond to the theme of the celebration and the decoration of the hall. Tables can be combined into one common table or placed separately (accommodate 4-6 people). Banquet tables are covered with well-ironed tablecloths. To hold a celebration at home, you can rent the same furniture or simply collect it from your neighbors at home. Of course, all this is quite important at any banquet, but the most important thing, for example at a wedding, is the happy and loving newlyweds, and at other events the joyful faces of the guests.
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