Reception Menu Ideas
The menu at your wedding reception is one of the major highlights of the event. Therefore, it is very important to know your options and understand how you can customize them to reflect the style and feel of your wedding.
Do not get overwhelmed by choosing a menu for your special day, but rather be informed about all the great choices you have in order to make your wedding reception menu unforgettable.
When it comes to the way your chosen reception menu will be presented to your guests, you have a number of great options available to you from Merri-Makers Caterers. A sit-down dinner, a buffet-style dinner, or an outdoor dinner are three popular choices available to you. As a wedding reception caterer for over 30 years, Merri-Makers knows the essential elements of a wedding reception dinner and how to make your wedding cuisine deliciously unforgettable as well as artfully presented to your guests.
Cocktail Hour
After a couple exchanges their vows and completes their marriage ceremony, having a Cocktail Hour is a common way to start the wedding reception celebration. Cocktail Hour is a perfect time for the newlyweds to mingle with guests while partaking of cocktails and pre-dinner cuisine. Although Cocktail Hour is a common element to most wedding receptions, one must not think for one second that it has to be average or ordinary in nature.
In fact, there are many different ways to add a personal touch or unique style to the start of your reception that will ultimately create the mood or theme for the entire wedding reception.
Passed Butler Style Hors d’oeuvres are a great way to keep guests intrigued and on the edge of their seats to see what what will happen and what they will be able to try next. In addition, you might be interested in having a custom created ice sculpture, such as a monogram design or dolphin (to keep with the theme of a beach wedding), surrounded by your favorite raw bar items.
Even more so, one should not forget about the preliminary cuisine options available to have during this hour as well: you can choose to have one or multiple carving stations (turkey, lamb, roast beef), pasta station selections (Penne Vodka, Traditional style) vegetable and cheese crudites, and Merri-Makers favorites like the Shrimptini and Diver Scallops stations.
No matter what options you choose for your Cocktail Hour reception menu, just remember it’s always great to have exciting elements present during this time in order to wow your guests from the start!
Sit-Down Wedding Reception Menu
When it comes to establishing a sit-down dinner reception, traditionally couples will choose a Three Course Menu consisting of an appetizer, salad and a main entree element. In addition to the Three Course Menu, a dessert component at the end of the reception is present. But when it comes to your wedding, the truth is it is really up to you and what you feel would be best to keep the flow of your reception moving with elegance and excitement. Be sure to ask a Merri-Makers wedding consultant how you can customize your reception menu to fit your style and the theme of your wedding.
For your convenience, Merri-Makers Caterers presents pre-designed, sit-down dinner reception menus for each one of their New Jersey wedding reception venues. While some are 2-Course dinner menus and others are 3-Course dinner menus, you should realize that each dinner menu designed by Merri-Makers will exemplify a sense of culinary elegance and provide you with unique menu options sure to intrigue anyone.
In choosing a 3-Course or 2-Course reception menu, Merri-Makers Caterers offers a nice variety of different options for each course. For instance, some of the appetizer choices that Merri-Makers provides include, but are not limited to, Seasonal Fanned Melon with Berries, Soup du Jour, Shrimp Scampi Risotto, Spinach Ravioli and Fresh Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Basil with Balsamic Vinaigrette. For the second course, or preview as it is sometimes called on the Merri-Makers reception menus, Merri-Makers provides a number of different salad options including, but not limited to, a Pear and Gorgonzola Salad, a Sun Kissed Salad, a Classic Caesar Salad, and House Garden Salad.
Lastly, for the main entree, or main event of your reception menu, Merri-Makers provides classic wedding dishes that are delectable in nature and exquisitely presented. Some of those dishes include classics like Filet Mignon, Chicken Francaise, Herb-Encrusted Tilapia Filet and exquisite Merri-Makers creations like Chicken Fresco, Penne Arrabbiata and The Grand Assiette (Châteaubriand Steak coupled with stuffed Colossal Gulf Shrimp).
No matter what type of menu you choose, a sit-down dinner reception is always characterized by traditional elegance!
Buffet-Style Wedding Reception Menu
Another option available to you for your wedding reception dinner is a buffet-style menu. This a great trade-off to the traditional sit-down style dinner spoken about above. In choosing a buffet dinner menu, you are able to have a greater variety of main course and dinner sides selections available to your guests. In reality this option is a great way to get everyone up and socializing mid-event, in a sense creating a more 
lively tone at your celebration.
Merri-Makers Caterers provides a buffet-style reception menu available for choosing at most of their New Jersey wedding reception venues. With Merri-Makers buffet-style menus, the first course, which is usually salad or soup, is butler-served and pre-selected based on the clients request.
For the main course buffet, there are a number of palatable choices for your dinner reception menu. For instance, some standout items may include the Merri-Makers expert carving stations for such items as pork loin or skirt steak, Grilled Vegetable dishes, various types of Pasta dishes, along with sides such as Roasted New Potatoes and a Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil dish. Let it be known that the buffet-style menus that Merri-Makers offers to its clients may vary depending upon the wedding reception chosen.
Buffet-style dinners are great for the couple who wishes to give their guests a number of delicious appetizer, salad, and main entree choices that will be sure to satisfy everyone.
Outdoor Wedding Reception Menu
Depending upon the location, you might be intrigued by the idea of having an outdoor dinner reception. For instance those who want to have a waterfront wedding or a country club wedding, where the ceremony is able to take place outdoors, might feel inclined to compliment the outdoor ceremony with an outdoor wedding reception.
Merri-Makers Caterers has a number of locations in their portfolio of venues where one can satisfy this inclination (Water’s Edge, Neshanic Valley Golf Course, Mallard Island Yacht Club). Most of the Merri-Makers outdoor wedding receptions take place under an elegantly grand tent on the property premises. This ensures an outdoor space characterized by comfort and grandeur.
In addition, for the most part, outdoor dinner reception menus provided by Merri-Makers Caterers are generally buffet-style, similarly executed as the indoor reception menu. However, when it comes to an outdoor, buffet-style dinner reception the cuisine stations are incorporated into the design of the tent structure itself. As is the case with the execution, the food choices for an outdoor, buffet-style menu are similar.
Having an outdoor wedding reception dinner is perfect to compliment any outdoor ceremony. The whole idea of dining outside, in the open-air, can add some extra excitement to your special day and make any wedding theme, for instance a beach theme, more coherent with the natural background beside you!
Merri-Makers Catering Menu Options 2008-2009
Take a look at some of the reception menus created by Merri-Makers Caterers for the various wedding reception venues they cater at (links below). This will help you get some reception menu ideas for your wedding and give you a little more information about what a Merri-Makers wedding consultant will be able to offer you. Remember to ask how you are able to customize one of reception menus in order to make it reflect your style!
Bonnet Island Estate in Long Beach Island, New Jersey
(see “Catering Menus” mid-page)
Water’s Edge in Sea Bright, New Jersey
(see middle right side of the page)
Reception Center at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey
(see middle right side of the page)
The Chapel at Sandy Hook, New Jersey
(see middle right side of the page)
Other Merri-Makers Reception Menu Ideas:
Grande Wedding Reception Menu
Classic Wedding Reception Menu