Wedding menu for 40 people in nature. Menu for an outdoor wedding - what to treat guests outdoors

Recently, many young couples prefer to celebrate their wedding somewhere outdoors instead of a restaurant. This gives more space for choosing a particular wedding style, and also provides many ideas for creating a unique family holiday. Spending a holiday in nature means adding more adventures and positive emotions to the lives of people and yourself. But no matter what style the wedding supports, it also requires a lot of attention and care during the preparation for this event. Here it is also important to think about how to properly accommodate guests, how to get to the ordered place, and decorate it with any accessories and decorations. And of course, the most important issue remains setting the tables with various foods. This is an important point because guests should be well fed at the wedding. Moreover, celebrating a wedding in the open air can further renew people’s appetite and therefore the tables must be set. This article will cover the main topic of how to prepare a menu for an outdoor wedding. Here we will look at what it is advisable to purchase and put on the table for guests, how to do it all correctly, and also provide some tips on how to organize everything.

The long-awaited outdoor wedding day will help make the desires and dreams of any young couple come true. After all, a large amount of space will be provided here to implement your ideas. But the most important thing remains the same, it is to organize the wedding process so that it is remembered for a long time.

To do this, it is important to plan a complete banquet menu and decorate the chosen place for the celebration. When preparing for a wedding in nature, you need to think through several points:
Outdoor weddings are practically an economical option, but before preparing for it, it is important to plan your budget, which you plan to spend on the wedding;
The next step is to naturally choose a location. The choice will depend, of course, on the preferences of the young couple, but it is worth consulting with the parents. This is an unusual place, which will require you to dress differently than usual. When choosing a location, you should pay attention to picturesque natural places. This could be a river or lake, near which you can place a large tent with tables;
The next thing is the choice of clothing. All guests must be warned that the wedding will be held outdoors. They must come prepared. Wear comfortable and comfortable clothes;
Organizing a wedding outdoors can be done easily and simply. To do this you need to add a little imagination. Place balloons, lanterns, flowers and figurines that will add romance to this day.

Proper menu planning

The menu must be initially planned. The tables should be filled with variety. Since a wedding in nature can only be held in the summer, it is possible to supply a large amount of products. The most important thing is to have plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and of course drinks. Drinks should be limited to two liters of water per person. In hot weather, it is not recommended to use perishable products, as this will cause unnecessary worries. Before the start of the feast, all products must be closed and put in a cool place. This is also necessary to prevent flies and midges from getting in, which is unpleasant.

Cold and hot snacks

In nature, the wedding feast will last approximately nine hours. To do this, guests must be full. It is important that there are about three hot dishes, two of which will be placed on common plates on the tables. For example, it could be lula, shish kebab or roasted pig. Each person should have one hot dish containing approximately three hundred grams. There must be a side dish and some kind of baked meat. Cold appetizers include various types of salads, pita rolls and canapés. There should also be cheese, fish, vegetable and meat plates. They are placed as shared dishes for the convenience of guests taking what they want.

Calculation of main dishes

The signature dishes on the tables should be the main dishes, which the waiters will serve personally to each person. Differences in the main courses can only be provided that among the guests there are vegetarians who do not eat meat. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare a separate dish for them. For all other guests, the main dishes are baked fish, French meat, and charcoal-grilled meat steak. All this should be served to each person and always with a side dish. It is also important that there are also salads for the main courses, designed for each person. This can be a light and spring salad.
It is necessary to think through the wedding banquet in advance so that during the onset of this wonderful holiday no shortcomings occur. It is important to know the number of guests in advance and calculate specifically by people.

The menu for each season has its own characteristics. In summer and early autumn it should be as rich as possible with “summer” dishes and drinks. It’s no secret that in warmer months, tastes change a little; you want to eat less heavy, fatty foods, and vice versa, you are attracted to light cold snacks, fresh fruits and vegetables. Based on this, you need to create the perfect summer wedding menu.

The first part of the menu is appetizers. In summer, it is quite appropriate to limit yourself to only cold dishes, without supplementing them with hot ones. Avoid large containers with salads, as after a while the vegetables give off juice and the salad begins to look unpresentable. It is much better to give preference to portioned salads, such as Caesar or Greek. Please ensure that salads are served cold! And avoid mayonnaise dressing, which is not at all suitable for a summer banquet.

You can also prepare rolls, kebabs, and vegetable slices. Be sure to serve seafood dishes - for example, salad, canapés with caviar, sliced salted and smoked fish.

A good hot option would be fish, as well as kebabs, especially if the wedding is celebrated on an open veranda, in nature. In general, meat cooked over a fire is the best first course for a summer wedding. For the second course, consider hot vegetable appetizers - this could be baked potatoes, vegetable stew or grilled vegetables.

Please note that guests will get drunk faster in the heat, so focusing on strong alcohol is not recommended. Light wine will be the best option, and cocktails associated with summer can be an ideal solution for the second part of a banquet with dancing. Mojito, daiquiri, pina colada will cheer up your guests and make your wedding truly summer. You can also serve cold champagne with berries - for example, raspberries or strawberries. Sangria wine will fit very harmoniously into the menu.

Non-alcoholic drinks for your summer menu can be very creative and colorful. Sodas and juices are too standard and boring, in addition, due to the abundance of sugar, they do not quench thirst well. Why not treat your guests with homemade lemonade or fruit cocktails? Non-alcoholic citrus-based lemonade, served in a large glass jug, will not only decorate the table, but will really quench your thirst. Cooled fruit tea, mint drink, and hibiscus tea are also excellent options.

The wedding cake should also suit the season and weather. No buttercream or whipped cream! Something light, airy, curd, and fruity will fit much better into the overall style of your wedding. A cake without berries and fruits has no right to exist in the summer! Cakes with floral decorations look great. But forget about chocolate right away - this product, which is prone to melting, clearly will not decorate your party!

The menu for an outdoor wedding is somewhat different from the restaurant menu. First of all, the amount of food. It's no secret that in the fresh air you have a voracious appetite, and if you add active competitions and fiery dances to the fresh air, it becomes obvious that you can't get by with the usual amount of food. Don’t forget that a wedding banquet rarely lasts less than 6 hours, and an outdoor wedding celebration can generally last until the morning. Therefore, you need to prepare thoroughly.

The food on the tables largely depends on the format of the event. It could be a wedding picnic, or a buffet, or a more familiar feast. During the hot season, the emphasis should be on light snacks and drinks. There should be plenty of both. A wedding outdoors involves more active games and competitions than in the limited space of a banquet hall, so there should be plenty of everything. Hot dishes from an outdoor wedding menu often include several types of barbecue - poultry, vegetables, pork and beef.

Snacks

The summer season is abundant with fresh vegetables and fruits, and their prices are lower than in the winter and spring seasons, so it is logical that the wedding menu includes an assortment of light snacks and vegetable cuts. Wedding organizers competently assure that all dishes that can be served in portions will certainly be served in this form.

Firstly, it saves space on the table.

Secondly, it will be much more convenient for guests to take several tartlets and canapés than to wield a spoon in a salad bowl.

Thirdly, insects cannot be avoided in the summer, and even with repellents and ignited coils around the perimeter, these ubiquitous creatures will penetrate into dishes whose recipes do not imply such exoticism. Therefore - canapés, rolls, profiteroles with various fillings and other compact and portioned types of snacks.

According to restaurant chefs, the number of snacks per guest is about 400 grams. Based on these numbers and the number of guests, you need to determine the total number of snacks and distribute this number evenly among the types of treats. That is, if you are expecting at least thirty people for your celebration, then the total number of cold appetizers and salads should be at least twelve kilograms. Six varieties of snacks, two kilograms of each - that’s all the simple arithmetic.

If you are afraid that this will not be enough, do more, but focus on vegetable snacks; the worst thing that will happen to them in the heat is that they will wilt, but will not turn sour.

An example of a menu with an emphasis on light portioned snacks.

Profiteroles with savory fillings and tartlets with salads are also a great way to pleasantly surprise guests and save money at the same time. After all, a hearty basket of unleavened shortcrust pastry combined with a delicate salad filling perfectly satisfies hunger, but the consumption of salad is significantly lower than if it were in a common salad bowl. Profiteroles are also a hearty and economical dish.

So, six types of snacks:

There are two types of profiteroles – with pate filling and cheese filling.
Canapés on skewers in several versions (with vegetables and sliced meats)
Lavash rolls with vegetable filling and cheese spread
Mini sandwiches with different fillings
Tartlets with 3-4 types of salads.
Canapes without skewers with salted fish

When choosing salads for a wedding meal, it is better to stick to proven flavor combinations. For example, the combination of chicken, mushrooms and peas is loved by everyone, and deservedly so. Also remind the cooks who will be preparing the treat that mayonnaise is a dressing, not the main ingredient of the salad, and there is no need to drown the dish in it. Salads with too much mayonnaise are not always successful. Plus, mayonnaise can go bad in the heat faster than you might expect. It is better to use light versions of this dressing, and in some dishes even replace it with a light sauce.

Hot

The format of the celebration requires freshly cooked meat over an open fire or coals. Barbecue and shish kebab are great options for an outdoor wedding. Poultry, fish, baked vegetables, ribs - these are approximate options for hot food in nature. You should also take care of the proper accompaniment of freshly prepared meat. Several types of sauce must be present on the table. There should be an equal amount of hot and non-hot sauces - not all guests will be fans of adjika and chili.

You can refuse the usual side dish for hot dishes in the form of mashed potatoes and rice, replacing them with fresh vegetables and various pita breads and flatbreads. The meat can be marinated in the evening, or you can use quick marinades containing kiwi and sparkling mineral water - then the meat will be ready for frying in a couple of hours.

Beverages

For an outdoor wedding, this menu item becomes the central point. What you need to take into account. If you count on 30 guests, then soft drinks such as lemonade, fruit juice and compote will need about 60 liters, and purchased juices should make up no more than a third of the assortment of drinks.

Compared to holding a wedding indoors, the quantity. soft drinks should be doubled at least.
Juices and soda do not quench thirst well, so it is better to replace them with natural lemonade and compotes.
Low-alcohol cocktails are the best alternative to alcoholic drinks for ladies.
Ice is an indispensable and indispensable companion to all drinks in nature.

As for alcoholic drinks, their quantity depends on the guests themselves - how “drinking” the company is selected. Alcohol hits your head harder in hot weather than in cool weather, and your blood pressure rises, which can lead to a sharp deterioration in your health. To avoid unpleasant moments of various origins, it is better to purchase and consume alcohol in moderation. Eight liters of vodka and cognac, and fifteen liters of wine and champagne for a company of thirty people in hot weather is more than enough.

Dessert and fruit

Fruit canapes instead of the usual sliced fruits are an interesting and colorful dish. Seasonal berries and fruits can be diversified with exotic fruits of mango, pineapple and kiwi.

Summer weddings are the brightest, most positive and bright, so the lucky ones who manage to plan a celebration in warm weather should try to make it perfect. The summer wedding menu has some special features.

The bride and groom must take these features into account so that there is not a large amount of surplus on the tables after the end of the holiday, and the family budget does not suffer too much.

Peculiarities

On average, a wedding banquet lasts 6-8 hours, and during this time each person may get hungry several times. And if we take into account that the holiday will also include active competitions that take away energy, the need for hearty dishes increases. Therefore, wedding The menu for the summer should be selected in such a way that there is a total of 1-1.2 kg of food per guest. Learn more about how to plan a wedding banquet.

Additionally, it is advisable to make a reserve of 200-300 g per person, since some may become more hungry. In addition, men's portions can be slightly increased compared to women's, and children's portions can be made smaller, diversifying the menu for kids with a large number of desserts.

Typically, the following order of serving dishes and serving size per person are observed:

light snacks and cold cuts in shared plates – 400 g per person;
portioned salads - 100 g per serving, in total 2-3 different salads are made;
hot or cold snacks, mainly meat and fish, less often vegetables or mushrooms - 200 g per person;
main course – 200 g;
side dish for the main dish – 100-150 g;
– 200 g;
cake – 150-200 g.

The difference between wedding dishes and menus for other holidays is that the table setting and decoration must be perfect. If the celebration is organized in accordance with a specific theme, then the decor should correspond to it in everything. Ready dishes are decorated with elements characteristic of the style, and decorations and flowers in vases are placed between the plates.

Meal options

Each season has its own wedding menu nuances that need to be taken into account during the preparation process. As for summer, in hot weather satiety comes faster, so the menu for a summer wedding outdoors does not include too heavy and high-calorie dishes.

It is advisable to choose a light menu for a wedding in the summer - mainly soft drinks and desserts, as well as low-calorie main courses.

It is better to make 3 salads - one with vegetables or mushrooms, the second with meat or chicken, and the third with fish or seafood. This way the menu as a whole will be varied and thoughtful. For a summer wedding, you shouldn’t make salads too heavy, with a lot of ingredients. It is better to give preference to simple and unobtrusive solutions.

As a kind of aperitif, canapés with low-fat fish, tartlets or sandwiches with red caviar, snacks with tomatoes, cheese and boiled eggs are made. Among the cuts, it is better to give preference to vegetable, Greek (olives, olives and lemon) and sausage. In addition to this, a fruit plate is organized; you can even depict some kind of figure from fresh fruits.

As for appetizers following salads, jellied meat or aspic is ideal in hot weather. You can also serve a shared plate with chicken or meatloaf, battered fish or baked champignons.

Pork, beef, duck or lean fish are most often chosen as the main dish. This can be used to make steaks, chops, goulash or cutlets. Meat, poultry or fish can be baked whole or grilled if the establishment where the banquet is taking place has such an opportunity. Potatoes, rice or vegetable stew are suitable as a side dish.

The main dessert of a wedding is a cake, but sometimes you need to please your guests with other sweets. For example, at a summer celebration, single-serve ice cream or chilled pudding would be appropriate. Also, after the main course, you can serve mousse, soufflé or jelly in a separate bowl for each guest.

Particular attention is paid to drinks. It is better to avoid store-bought juices and sodas, replacing them with freshly squeezed products or homemade lemonade with lemon and mint. You can purchase sparkling and still mineral water. From alcohol, it is better to choose mainly light drinks, but in no case beer. You can give preference to champagne, wine or liqueur, or even better, offer guests cool cocktails.

Universal options

The final list of dishes is selected depending on the preferences of the newlyweds, but we should not forget about the tastes of the guests.

For example, a universal version of the summer menu looks like this:

fruit canapés of kiwi, peach, apple and orange;
sandwiches or croutons with crab sticks, cheese, cucumber and mayonnaise;
tartlets with red caviar;
Greek salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, olives and Feta cheese;
salad with boiled chicken, eggs, pineapple and mayonnaise;
salad with Chinese cabbage, crab sticks, corn, hard cheese, croutons and mayonnaise;
aspic with fish, lemon and olives;
Lula kebab and mashed potatoes;
ice cream;
punch, green tea or freshly squeezed juice.

An example of a more expensive summer menu looks like this:

Wedding planner

Don't chase fashion and exoticism - simple but tasty dishes will appeal to friends and family much more.

Elena Sokolova

Chef

If desired, you can organize a separate sweet table with desserts and drinks, and especially enterprising couples can even order a bar in the establishment, where a professional will prepare exotic cocktails at the request of the guests.

Gulyaev Anton

Choice of food depending on the place of celebration -

A summer wedding can be held not only in a cafe or restaurant. If the weather favors the future newlyweds, then a banquet is possible. In this case, you can hire a catering agency, whose employees will deliver all the products to the celebration site and beautifully arrange all the dishes on the tables. The bride and groom can do this themselves - it will take more time, but it will be more economical.

Outdoors, the appetite will be higher than in an establishment, so it is worth preparing a larger number of snacks, but they should still be light, mainly vegetable and mushroom. The main course can be safely replaced with shish kebab, freshly cooked fish soup or pilaf cooked in a cauldron over a fire.

Another option for celebrating a summer wedding is at the dacha. In this case, you can combine an outdoor and indoor banquet, and cook all the dishes yourself. The peculiarity is that the menu for a wedding at the dacha in the summer can include appetizers and salads with vegetables picked from the garden, and serve grilled meat as the main course. If the bride and groom have a smokehouse, then with its help they can make delicious fish or meat snacks.

When preparing the menu, you should take into account special groups of guests - vegetarians, allergy sufferers, diabetics, etc. Separate dishes are selected for them, but in the summer this is not difficult - seasonal gifts of nature are at the service of future newlyweds. It is advisable to place special guests in one place so that the waiters do not make mistakes when serving dishes.

After preparing food yourself, you need to take care of its safety, since heat can ruin not only the appearance, but also the taste. When celebrating in a cafe or restaurant, such problems will not arise, but if the banquet is planned outdoors or in the country, it is worth stocking up on mobile refrigerators.

Summary

Summer is the most popular time for celebrations, and the more difficult it is to make the celebration original and memorable. A properly selected menu for a summer wedding table allows you to make the holiday individual.

Summer is the time for bright, noisy, unforgettable weddings. To ensure that the celebration goes off without a hitch, all the details are thought out and planned in advance. A summer wedding menu should be light, hearty and festive at the same time. Therefore, you need to choose your own option for appetizers, main courses and drinks.

The most popular drinks at summer weddings

The basic rule for creating drinks for a wedding in the hottest time of the year is the presence of ice cubes or crushed ice in the glasses. It is these cocktails that can quench your thirst both at the buffet table during a photo shoot and throughout the banquet. Lemon or lime, mint leaves, rum, sparkling water, and frozen berries are chosen as ingredients for alcoholic cocktails. The most popular of them are “Mojito” and “Daiquiri”. From self-sufficient drinks, choose ice-cold champagne, white or red dry or semi-dry wine.

For those who do not drink alcohol, they put on the table homemade lemonades with ice, crushes - berries mixed in a blender with crushed ice, frozen berry and fruit juices.

For a wedding for a small number of guests, for example 30 people, you can stock up on a large number of ice cubes, which are convenient to add to strong alcoholic drinks to reduce the temperature, and to light, alcohol-free cocktails based on freshly squeezed juices. The supply must be at least ten bottles of champagne, fifteen bottles of red and white wine, ten bottles of vodka and ten bottles of cognac. This does not include the liquids needed to create cocktails.

Summer buffet table

The translation of the word "buffet" from French is fork. That is, at such a table, guests eat small portioned snacks while standing, choosing what they liked. Each appetizer is placed on a skewer or small fork. This table is ideal for a summer wedding even for 100 people. The main thing is to find out the main taste preferences of the guests in advance.

What is served at the buffet? Various fruits skewered, small canapés with fish, pates, red caviar, small tartlets with vegetables, olives, capers in olive oil, small pieces of deli meat on chips, various types of cheeses grated with lime juice and placed on crackers. Especially when there are a large number of unfamiliar or unfamiliar people, a buffet will help relieve tension and start casual conversations.

Salads and cold appetizers

The approximate number of salads ranges from five to ten vegetable, fish and meat ones. It is recommended not to use sour cream and mayonnaise as a dressing for the summer salad menu. A good combination would be olive oil with wine vinegar or lemon juice, seasoned with fresh grated herbs - basil, sage, mint or rosemary. Such salads fit well into the summer mood of both guests and newlyweds, without loading them with too much fat.

Main dishes

If the wedding is held outdoors, then a barbecue or shashlik would be an excellent option. Using fish as the main dish first, at the end of the celebration you can serve poultry or game baked on coals.

For 60 guests, it will be enough to prepare two dishes per person: 250 grams of fish and a side dish, and 350 grams of meat or poultry and a side dish. Baked vegetables, couscous seasoned with aromatic herbs, and a mixture of wild and white rice are served as a side dish.

If the holiday takes place within the walls of a restaurant or cafe, then the classic option would be poultry baked in the oven and grilled fish or meat steaks.

Summer desserts

Cake remains the main dessert dish. However, it is worth considering that summer is the time for light, fruit and berry desserts. A great option would be a curd wedding cake decorated with fresh berries and fruits.

Desserts are calculated as follows: ice cream - one hundred grams, fruits - one hundred and fifty grams, cake - two hundred and fifty grams. That is, a cake for 40 people should weigh at least ten kilograms. Multi-tiered cakes would be a good option. Or small cupcakes with fruits placed in a multi-tiered vase. Also, instead of fatty ice cream, you can offer fruit sorbet, pieces of watermelon, and berries on skewers. Remember to have enough ice to keep drinks and desserts cold.

Taking into account warm and even hot summer days, it would be useful to take care of maintaining the freshness of all dishes. Especially if the celebration is held outdoors. A good move would be to have a buffet table for both cold appetizers and desserts.