Top Wedding Catering Trends for 2016

Westminster Weddings are famous for their amazing menus and foodie-favorite dishes, from our Strip House filet mignon, strip steaks and seafood to our crowd-pleasing cocktail party stations (including our signature pigs in a blanket!) We’re happy to see so many of the menu items that we’re known for included in the 2016 wedding menu trends lists:

1.Stylish Suppers. 2016 wedding menus will return to classic dinner entrees, including perfectly-prepared filet mignon and chicken dishes, fish and seafood – which guests love expertly-prepared by chefs in ways they might not regularly make for themselves at home.

2.Multicultural Menus. Wedding couples wish to honor their heritages, and wow their guests, with a thoughtful chef-created blending of their cultures’ traditional dishes. So we will see more Mediterranean, authentic Italian, Persian, and other cultural dishes included in the cocktail party station offerings and in the sit-down dinner menus themselves.

3.Lighter, Fresher Fare. While some fried hors d’oeuvres will still remain on wedding cocktail party menus, a greater percentage of cocktail party menu items will be lighter, fresher, healthier bites that please guests who prefer to enjoy a great variety of garden-fresh foods and salads.

4. A Larger Variety of Cocktail Party Menu Items. Wedding couples want their guests to have many, many choices among the cocktail party offerings, so menu picks get more plentiful. After all, you’ll spot many delicious-sounding dishes on our menu, and you’ll also want to make sure that your wedding guests on specialty diets (like gluten-free and vegan) have plenty of menu options to enjoy. Creamy goat cheese and hummus with gourmet toppings are served in crunchy cones, as a unique twist.

5. Food and drink pairings. We’ve long offered our pigs in a blanket with mini mugs of high-quality beer, and a top wedding menu trend for 2016 will expand this trend to pair cocktail eats with cocktails, especially gin and bourbon pairings, with tequila rounding out the top three foodie-liquor pairings.

6. Comfort sides. Black Truffle Creamed Spinach is one of our most popular side dishes, an example of the kind of creamy comfort food sides – like risotto, garlic mashed potatoes, and Truffle Mac & Cheese – that guests enjoy as  dinner side dishes.

7. Elegant food presentations. From seafood served on tiers, to elegantly-plated menu items, more attention will be paid to the presentation of cocktail party menu items as well as plated dinners. The days of rustic food presentation are ending, with more formal serving styles trending up in 2016.

8. Bacon, bacon, bacon. Wedding trends of 2016 are dialing down cheeses and dialing up bacon-accented dishes of all kinds, like bacon-topped potato sides, bacon-wrapped vegetables, even strips of crispy bacon as a drink garnish, and bacon-flavored ice cream or gelato.

9. Late-night snacks. Guests have come to expect a new round of food offerings later in the reception hours, and 2016 wedding menu trends include donuts, mini waffles, sliders, a warm cookie with a shot of milk or espresso, or simply French fries with gourmet dipping sauces.

10. Food-based favors. Giving wedding guests something tasty to take home, macarons, iced cookies, brownies, bottled sauces, spices and other foodie-centric item are 2016’s top wedding favor trend.