Like many partygoers, you probably evaluate the food selection offered by the hosts. With a mixture of delectable favorites, food boards provide a little something for everyone. They’ve always been popular, but wedding receptions in 2020 may take them to the next level. If you want a beautiful spread that’s equally eye-catching and palate-pleasing, keep reading for useful information and helpful tips.
Food Boards’ History and Basics
Wedding Wire’s Samantha Iacia mentions food boards among potential 2020 wedding trends. Brides writer Hillary Hoffower documented the trend in 2019, and couples may expand it in 2020 as they seek more ways to personalize their events. Several factors make them attractive choices: their visual appeal, interactive nature, appetizing lead-ins to the main meal, and opportunities for creative food mixing and matching.
Meat and cheese boards are often grazing table mainstays. You may have heard them called charcuterie boards, which combine these key food types with bread or crackers and accents such as fresh fruit or fruit spreads. As The Spruce’s Danilo Alfaro explains, the term “charcuterie” refers to the art of curing smoked and preserved meat. It also reflects the art’s medieval French origins. As part of a larger concept called “garde manger,” charcuterie existed alongside other food preservation techniques like pickling and cheese making. The primary goal was preventing spoilage by limiting food and oxygen supplies.
Perfect for Your Cocktail Hour
Wedding Guide notes that grazing boards often serve as alternatives to canapés. As you may know, canapés are small decorative hors d’oeuvres consisting of a bread base and savory toppings. Think caprese appetizers with mozzarella, tomato, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil on top of crusty bruschetta slices and you’ve got the idea. Food boards offer the same visual potential but with a different presentation style. They also give your guests the freedom to choose and combine their bases, sauces, and toppings as opposed to preassembled hors d’oeuvres.
Besides visual appeal and flexible choices, food boards help promote a relaxing atmosphere that encourages mingling and conversation. Between the grazing table and the bar, your guests can grab the delicacies they like, enjoy a drink, and chat with a few others before the main festivities start. Since they aren’t rooted in one spot, they experience a chill vibe that’s perfect for semi-formal or casual weddings.
Tips for a Great Grazing Table
Food boards pair meats and cheeses with fruits and veggies, but those aren’t your only culinary options. In her Brides piece, Hoffower points out sweet treats like chocolate-covered pretzels and candies. Sugary nosh-worthy nibbles can include other small-bite desserts like petit fours, macarons, mini tarts, cake balls, and mini cupcakes. Bottom line: When you put a variety of foods together, you create a grazing table with an astounding range of culinary delights.
With that said, you still need a deliberate and organized strategy to fashioning your spread. Since you don’t have to go matchy-matchy with your food boards, you have the liberty of mixing avant-garde offerings with familiar favorites. Wedding Guide recommends paying attention to food allergies when you’re designing a spread. Common allergies include peanuts, tree nuts, and fish, but don’t forget about lactose, nitrate, nitrite, and gluten intolerances. Cross-contamination is a serious issue, so consider multiple separate tables for an allergy-friendly approach. Seasonal and locally sourced foods are also winners on your grazing tables because they’re often less expensive and easier to obtain. Also, make sure that your caterer regularly refreshes your food displays to keep them fresh and presentable.
A Multisensory Feast
Weddings celebrate love, but they’re also multisensory experiences. Grazing tables offer visual, olfactory, and gustatory delights by combining a wide variety of foods. With a cohesive plan and the right caterer, you’ll craft a food board spread your guests will love.
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