If there’s one wedding trend we have seen in 2024, it is a unique flair! Couples and guests have been craving an experiential wedding with unexpected elements, from the décor to the entertainment to the food and beverage. This trend has aligned perfectly with our team’s values here at John Michael Events. We fully support and often encourage our clients to customize their menu, no matter if they choose a buffet, plated meal, or wedding food stations.
Everyone has different tastes, and your personal style should be showcased on your big day, especially when it comes to wedding catering. It can be tricky though to navigate your own personal preferences combined with the preferences and dietary restrictions of all your guests. We of course want to cater to you as the VIP of your wedding day, but we also want to ensure that your loved ones have a safe and delicious experience too!
That’s why one of our favorite food service styles includes wedding food stations. Having a good variety of station options allows everyone to pick and choose what they want – and can – eat. Plus, they encourage a fun and unique atmosphere for your wedding dinner.
Let’s break down the different wedding food stations we offer and show you how to mix and match them to create the perfect Orlando wedding menu!
Wedding Food Stations 101:
We’ll start with the basics! What exactly are wedding food stations?
Wedding food stations consist of a variety of individual food “bars.” Oftentimes, each food station will represent one type of food, whether that’s a specific cuisine (think Mexican food station, an Italian food station etc.) or a specific dish (think an appetizer station, a few entrée stations etc.). They’re like mini buffets for a single type of food!
Wedding food stations are typically placed all around the event space, encouraging guests to explore the room, mingle with others, and put together a plate with all their favorite foods. Some couples like to utilize food stations during their cocktail hour while guests are already mixing and mingling. Others like to use food stations as their main wedding reception dinner.
Either way, wedding food stations are an excellent way to create an interactive and customizable guest experience at your wedding!
Hors D’ouevres Wedding Food Stations:
Now that we know what wedding food stations are, let’s dig into our specific offerings! Starting at the beginning of the meal, we offer an assortment of different hors d’ouevres stations to allow everyone to sample a little bit of everything. Perfect for your cocktail hour!
Examples of these kinds of food stations include:
- Meze Platter – A gourmet presentation of different meats, cheeses, vegetables, spreads, dips and crisps. This type of display can also be known as a grazing table: Another 2024 wedding trend!
- Bruschettas & Tapenade – Roasted tomato, sweet pear bacon, and pesto tomato herb bruschettas served with olive tapenade, herb infused olive oils, assorted crisps, and sliced baguette bread
- Mashed Potato Bar – Creamy garlic mashed potatoes and sweet mashed potatoes served with a variety of toppings, including chives, sour cream, cheese, bacon, honey butter and more.
- Mac & Cheese Bar – White and yellow cheddar spiral macaroni and cheese served with a variety of toppings, from bacon bits and crispy onions to ground chorizo and salsa
Any or all of these wedding food stations would be a great addition to your cocktail hour! You could also select a couple of these to be part of your main dinner stations.
Action Stations:
Action stations are special kinds of wedding food stations, where a professional Chef attendant is present to cook live in front of the guests and/or serve their food. This type of station is especially fun because guests get both dinner and a show! It also allows for more customization since the Chef is present and can take requests, such as selecting which toppings or sauces guests want included in their dish.
Including an action station or two is perfect for your wedding if you want to create a high energy, unique and memorable dinner experience. Having a Chef demonstrate their skills in front of your guests makes for impeccable presentation and true “wow” photo opportunities!
Some of our most popular action stations include:
- Chef Carved Hanger Steak – Perfectly seasoned hanger steak grilled medium rare with an assortment of sauces including horseradish cream, chimichurri and pomerey mustard
- Chef Carved Beef Brisket – A very flavorful cut of meat seasoned with spices and smoked, slow baked and served with caramelized onions. Served with an assortment of sauces including pomerey mustard, spicy barbecue, and sweet barbecue
- Pasta Saute – A Chef will saute onsite your choice of pasta with options including spiral, bowtie, penne, or cheese tortellini pasta. Sauces incudes roasted marinara, pesto, spinach alfredo, and sun-dried tomato herb cream. Fixings include meatballs, chicken, and fresh vegetables.
- Street Tacos – A Chef will assemble to order fresh street tacos with options including Barbacoa, Carnitas and Chorizo.
These wedding food stations are designed to elevate your wedding reception, providing an opportunity to engage your guests and transform an ordinary dinner into a special, one-of-a-kind experience!
Crowd Favorite Food Stations:
One of the best parts about wedding food stations is the opportunity to serve a diverse mix of entrées! Typically, with a buffet or plated meal, you get to select two different entrée options, but with food stations, you can select as many as you wish. This allows you to truly cater to every taste and dietary restriction.
In addition to action stations, here are some of our most loved, crowd favorite food stations:
- Gourmet Mini Pizzas – Baked onsite, these mini pizzas can be topped with fixings like pesto, mozzarella, pine nuts, parmesan, sausage, pepperoni, bacon, peppers and more!
- Slider Bar – An array of different slider types, including an angus beef patty with cheddar cheese and caramelized onions; shredded pork with pomerey mustard, Swiss cheese and relish; and a fried chicken patty with cheddar cheese and dill pickles.
- Sushi Station – Your choice of 5 different rolls either displayed or rolled onsite, served with wasabi, ginger, soy sauce and chopsticks
Fresh, fun, and flavorful, these are all certified crowd-pleasers that appeal to guests no matter their age or flavor profile preferences. There is something for everyone with these stations and when you put them all together, you get the ultimate wedding dinner!
Dessert Wedding Food Stations:
What’s a meal without dessert? Whether you select a buffet, plated meal or wedding food stations for the main meal, serving dessert food stations will conclude the night with a bang! Having food stations for dessert will excite guests and set the tone for the party part of the evening. These sweet treats can even double as late night snacks to keep everyone fueled as they are dancing the night away on the dance floor!
Many couples still love to have a traditional wedding cake when serving dessert wedding food stations. These simply give guests more options, especially for those who don’t particularly like cake. If you’re looking to go all out and wine and dine your guests from start to finish, you can’t go wrong with any of these options:
- Chef Flambeed Flaming Donuts – A Chef will saute donut holes in melted brown sugar and butter then flambe them with 151 rum for guests to roll in their choice of toppings, including chocolate sauce, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, crushed peanuts, crushed graham crackers, sprinkles and more!
- Ice Cream Bar – An attendant will serve your choice of 3 ice cream flavors and 7 toppings, including vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate, butter pecan and cookies n cream ice cream, and caramel sauce, hot fudge, crushed oreos, sprinkles, shredded coconut and more!
- Mini Gourmet Cookies – Your choice of up to 6 flavors of our signature cookies served warm and with shooter cups of white and chocolate milk. Flavors include chocolate chip, lemon cooler, peanut butter, triple chocolate, red velvet, white chocolate cranberry, caramel pecan and more!
- Cake Shooters – Served in shooter cups with a mini spoon in the following flavors: chocolate, banana and carrot (seasonal flavors available)
Nothing brings people together like dessert and with unique options like these, your guests will be raving about the food at your wedding for years! The options above are just a sample of our dessert offerings. You can also customize your dessert menu with other unique options like a candy bar, pie bar, milkshake bar, or a full desserts display consisting of bite-sized pastries from tarts to cookies to chocolate covered strawberries!
Need we say more?
Ready to Book Your Wedding Food Stations?
John Michael Events is an experienced Orlando wedding and event caterer, specializing in serving all types of events, from weddings to social events to corporate events. We offer all-inclusive wedding packages that not only include event catering, but also the additional vendors you’ll need to throw the wedding of your dreams! Twice a quarter, we are proud to host “A Taste of John Michael,” a one-of-a-kind group tasting experience, where clients are invited to sample a variety of our delicacies.
Ready to book one of our Orlando catering packages? Contact our team by hitting the button below. We would love to chat with you!
