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Let Them Eat Cake?

Wedding food trends reveal increasingly daring brides and grooms

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CHEF AND CATERER ANDREW SPURGIN FONDLY REMEMBERS the local couple who, instead of cutting a traditional wedding cake, surprised their guests with “bumbleberry” pies, a summertime treat the family always enjoyed at their ranch in Montana. Spurgin convinced them to serve the wild-berry pies after he heard relatives raving about them at a menu-planning meeting.

“I said, ‘Why don’t we do bumbleberry pies for the wedding?’ ” he recalls. “The reaction was, ‘We can’t do that—we have to have a wedding cake!’ I said, ‘Well, why?’ And nobody had a good reason.”

So Waters Fine Catering, where Spurgin is executive director and chef, served up the pies sliced with a scoop of vanilla-bean gelato. They were a huge hit—and a perfect fit—at the August garden wedding in Mission Hills. Guests were thrilled to see, smell and taste the beloved confections, which immediately brought back memories of the ranch. And nobody missed having a cake.

“That is what good entertaining is about,” Spurgin says. “It’s finding your bumbleberry pie. And everybody has one.”

As brides and grooms “find their bumbleberry pie,” they have become increasingly creative about the food and drinks they serve their guests, as well as how food is served—eschewing traditional buffets or sit-down dinners for family-style service, lounge-style tray passing or steward-staffed tasting bars.

“Across the board, the rules are changing,” says San Diego wedding consultant Regina Bagdasarian, co-owner of the Bridal Bar, a complimentary concierge service for brides in San Diego and Los Angeles. “For years, people thought wedding food was never that great; it wasn’t an important part of the day. Yes, you needed to feed everyone, but it was more about celebration and music and Champagne.” Now brides and grooms tend to have more sophisticated tastes—and they want the food to reflect that, she says.

Getting Back to Our Roots

Today’s brides and grooms are far more food-savvy, thanks to TV shows, magazines and other media outlets that have made rock stars out of chefs and introduced the masses to sashimi, artisanal cheeses and extra virgin olive oil. “There’s never been a time where I have seen more culinary knowledge from our clients,” Spurgin says. As a result, many more couples are requesting customized menus reflecting the couple’s unique background, tastes and styles.

Such menus often include ethnic-fusion cuisine that honors the distinct cultures of the couple, like the Filipino-inspired dishes that San Diego event producer Paul Bott created as a tribute for a Filipino-American wedding: salad lumpia and broiled halibut with lemongrass. Bott also catered a wedding for a Moroccan bride and American groom. This menu, which included a chicken and lamb tagine (a slow-cooked Moroccan stew), was infused with aromatic Moroccan spices such as cumin, curry and saffron.

Another couple wanted food that came from a different sort of family roots. In this case, Spurgin used fresh Meyer lemons from the family’s orchard (also where the couple said their vows) to whip up the lavender lemonade for the event—which only made the menu even more memorable and special.

When customizing a menu, Spurgin says it’s important for couples to consider the “demographics” of their guests. “Knowing my audience is hugely, hugely important,” he says. “Let’s say the bride’s family is well-heeled, educated, from Manhattan, well-traveled, [and she is] marrying into a family that is more ‘feet-on-the-ground.’ They don’t have some of the adventurous culinary taste as the other family. And then you add to the mix a Bosnian contingent [of guests, of whom] none have actually been to the States before. So you have a really mixed group of people.” When coming up with a menu, it’s important, he says, to analyze all three “demographics” and come up with a common thread—so everyone will be comfortable and satisfied with the food.

Standing Up the Sit-Down

Not only has the inspiration for the menu shifted, how that food is served has also—which also affects what items end up on the menu. No longer are couples content with a stuffy sit-down dinner or a trough-like buffet. Nowadays, they’re exploring some innovative service styles—from small bites that waiters offer mingling guests to large platters designed to create a cozy family experience at each table. “People aren’t just looking for a plated, four-course meal,” says Heather Guthrie, director of catering and conference services for The Lodge at Torrey Pines. “Everybody wants to do something that more fits their style.”

One fun option is the “tray pass,” which creates a loungey, cocktail- style ambiance. Waiters serve small plates, or “club plates,” as Spurgin calls them, to guests, wherever they happen to be. The plates feature small portions of food that are easy to eat while standing or mingling, so guests are free to move around or sit down at smaller lounge-style tables. Tray-pass plates range from sliders, kabob-style foods or “soup shooters” (gazpacho or ginger-carrot purée, for instance, served in a shot glass) to sushi, Spanish-style tapas and “lollipop lamb chops,” a two-bite, single-boned chop.

Scott Wagner, executive chef and CEO of ChileCo Catering, says his most popular hors d’oeuvres for autumn tray passing are osso buco eggrolls with fig and caramelized fennel; autumn rolls with smoked pheasant, candied cherry tomato, Thai basil, arugula and aged balsamic reduction; and Kona coffee-cacao-crusted lollipop lamb chops with Marconi almond rub.

The tray pass is also ideal for wine pairings because guests can try mini-bites of food with samples of wines chosen specifically to complement those tastes. For example, one couple kicked off their reception with chilled Alaskan king crab cocktails in champagne flutes and perfectly paired Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, says executive chef Barry Layne of Coast Catering.

Perhaps the best part of the mobility of tray passing is that it allows flexibility with the venues, Wagner says. “We’re doing weddings in the middle of forests with an enchanted theme or on the beach where they stay on the beach the whole time. We’ve also been able to cater weddings] in mansions and vineyards. You couldn’t do those as easily with a sit-down [meal].”

The tray pass isn’t for all couples or guests, however. “You have to be the right bride and groom to do that,” Guthrie says. “If you have that type of event, you don’t have seating for everyone. You’re almost creating heavy hors d’oeuvres and cocktails for a four-hour period.”

Banning the Buffet

Another popular wedding option of the past was the wedding buffet. The problem with buffets, however, is that guests must usually fend for themselves, and the food quality frequently suffers. “The buffet is dying in the world of weddings,” Wagner says. “Quality food just can’t live in a chafing dish.”

Enter “tasting bars” or stations, which are staffed with attendants who serve the food and answer any questions about dishes and ingredients, such as whether there are nuts in the food. They are also there to say, “ ‘Yes, of course, I’d be happy to make you a plate with extra chicken,’ ” Spurgin says. “It works so well.”

Tasting bars are limited only by a couple’s (and their caterer’s) imagination. Wagner’s “walk stations” feature a variety of options— including curry, noodles, rice, crêpes, panini and grilled items—but the possibilities are endless. Some couples are doing upscale taco bars, with fillings that include seared tuna and lobster. Other weddings feature build-your-own-caviar bars that include items such as different types of caviar; toast points, or mini pieces of toast cut into triangles; and condiments such as crème fraîche and caperberries, Layne says.

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