Many couples spend as much time planning their reception as they do their wedding ceremony.  Personalized wedding napkins and theme decorations are a nice touch, but couples should be spending more time planning their menu than their décor scheme. Wedding receptions should offer guests a place to not just mingle with one another, but to also try some fantastic foods.  If you’re planning a wedding reception, try out a few of these food trends.

Brunch Instead of Dinner

Brunch is like a mix of your favorite elements of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a lot of couples are considering hiring caterers to handle brunch instead of doing dinner.  Doing brunch at your wedding reception instead of the traditional dinner/cocktail hour set up will be a nice change for your guests.  If you plan to have your wedding to coincide with normal brunch times you have the added benefit of saving some money on costs.  Daytime weddings are considerably cheaper than afternoon or evening weddings, and you and your partner will be able to have a little down time for relaxation after your early ceremony and reception.

Going Local

The local food movement has been sweeping across the nation, and some localvores have been able to incorporate their reception menu with local foods.  Locally grown ingredients will be fresher than others, and if you use it you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping local farmers and businessmen.

Food Trucks

When people used to think of food trucks they would think about traditional ice cream trucks, but food trucks have obtained a lot more food variety in the fast couple of years.  Now you can find food trucks that make a variety of dishes, and you can easily find one to cater at your wedding reception.  Some couples like to find favorite food trucks that they’ve eaten at for dates so that they can share their favorite foods with their guests.  Others like to find ice cream and other desert trucks to handle the desert portion of their menu.

Seasoning and Ingredient Stations

Salad bars and make your own sundaes can be fun, but if you really want to give your guests some variety with their foods give them some different options for their seasoning.  Some couples like to choose a single ingredient like salt and provide their guests with as many different varieties of salt as possible to season their food with.  Others like to choose a food that’s typically eaten with other foods, like bacon or mushrooms, and offer their guests a variety of dishes made from the food.