Tempted to dish up something a bit different as your wedding feast? Top caterers tell Patricia-Ann Young how they brought their clients’ wildest foodie desires to life
Shakespeare famously said that music is the food of love – but, to me, food is the food of love. We all remember romantic dates at our favourite restaurants, or shivering in the Scottish cold next to an amazing food truck because the churros really are just that good. Some of our best times with our significant other are spent over food, and here at TTKS we love to hear about couples who honour those good times in the amazing meals they serve up to their wedding guests.
Working with a caterer can be a creative (and delicious) way to personalise your wedding. We caught up with four amazing companies to chat about the coolest weddings they’ve catered for over the last year. If you want ideas of how to put your own spin on your feast, look no further. Bon appetit!
Pop: a deerly beloved feast (above)
The best chefs put a lot of time and effort into finding high-quality ingredients, so you can imagine the excitement of the Pop team when they discovered the most amazing new suppliers – the bride and groom! “Incredibly, Theodora is a hunter – she stalked and prepared the venison for us. Giles, meanwhile, made some delicious sourdough to be served during the wedding feast!” explains Steve Brown, Pop’s chef director. It was a perfect meeting of minds between caterer and client, as both were committed to creating food that was both delicious and ethically sourced.
“The emphasis for this couple was always on sustainability, which is also at the heart of everything that we do here at Pop. We discussed the idea of sharing boards full of yummy things and came up with a menu that included hot- and cold-smoked fish from Belhaven Smokehouse, charcuterie from Great Glen Charcuterie and loads of seasonal veggies and salads. The main course was a real highlight: a delicious stew of local venison warmed with chilli and enriched with dark chocolate – such a winning combination! Herby roast potatoes, carrots with caraway and fennel, and big leafy salads made sure that everybody was getting their five-a-day. Giles and Theodora’s wedding was undoubtedly one of the best of the year for us all, and definitely one that will be remembered for a long time!”
Good to know: A lot of food is wasted in the catering industry, but you’ll be glad to hear there are plenty of companies out there like Pop who are committed to taking an eco-friendly and sustainable approach. Ask your caterer what its environmental commitments are and how it keeps to them.
Hickory Food: sharing is caring
Lauren and Sandy wanted to chuck out the rule book at their wedding, and Hickory Food’s creative team were more than happy to oblige. “They didn’t want any of the normal formalities – no bridesmaids, no speeches and definitely no sit-down three-course meal,” recalls Claire White at Hickory . “Everything on the day was to be very visual, with bright colours enhancing their wedding theme and incorporated throughout the menu.”
Instead of the traditional wedding breakfast, a stunning sharing feast was put together by Hickory, which delighted the guests. “To kick things off, there were giant sharing starter boards, which featured Scottish beef, game chorizo, beef pastrami, cheeses, sourdough, and much more, placed on each table to tuck into,” says Claire.
“For the main course, guests visited a styled carvery banquet station with cooked cuts of meats including roast venison with honey and juniper berries and striploin of mustard-glazed Scottish beef, and a seafood station with a whole poached salmon, garlic-and-lemon roasted king prawns and Hickory-smoked salmon.
“An elegantly styled dessert table finished off the feast, with a pick-and-mix of desserts adding pops of colour and bursting with seasonal flavours. The couple’s choices included individual passionfruit-and-vanilla cheesecakes, swirled miniature meringues (to which the kitchen added burgundy food colouring to match their theme), lemon and candied zest tarts, and tiramisu jars with amaretto.” Wow.
Wild Highlands Drinks Co.: scarily good drinks!
For a couple who wanted bespoke cocktails for their wedding, Wild Highland Drinks Co. concocted two delicious drinks that paid homage to the stunning Scottish backdrop of the big day. “It was held on the banks of Loch Ness, so I called the drinks the Nessie Dipper and the Morag mocktail after the Loch Ness Monster and the Morag Monster from Loch Morar,” says Wild Highland’s Rebekah Brett-Pitt. “Legend has it that there are tunnels or channels between the lochs…
“Getting the right balance of flavours took some time,” she continues. “For the Nessie Dipper cocktail, we used Midori and Cointreau – two flavours you may not usually think to put together. The sweetness of the Midori’s melon notes complemented the orange citrus and warmth of the Cointreau. We topped it off with some fresh orange and, of course, a ‘Nessie’ sweetie!
“For the Morag mocktail, I wanted there to be something for the designated drivers and for any young guests. It was a combination of Summer House’s raspberry lemonade, orange juice, a dash of lime juice, some sugar syrup and a fizzy ‘Morag’ Monster to sign it off.”
The guests, you won’t be surprised to hear, thought the drinks were scarily delicious!
Pantry Events: around the world in 80 desserts
Chelsea and Rob were a couple with a sweet tooth who had travelled the world together, and when they tied the knot in Edinburgh, they wanted to bring a little bit of that sweetness home with them. They tasked the team at Pantry Events to create an eclectic dessert table full of puddings and treats that they’d sampled during their extensive trips abroad.
“They wanted their guests to be able to sample a variety of desserts from around the world, including Belgian cookie craquelins, Mexican churros, British pavlovas, Greek white-chocolate cheesecakes, and a deconstructed version of their favourite biscuit – the Jammy Dodger,” smiles Sophie MacAulay of Pantry Events. “We absolutely loved putting together such a unique and special dessert menu – it was so creative and fun!”