And the bride ate chips: How the wedding feast became a fashion statement
"I've been to two weddings already this year and can't actually recall what I ate at either of them"; says bride-to-be Melissa Williams..... I do recommend you read the Irish Independent article that this link takes you to, it gives food for thought (no pun intended) and made me smile, just another perspective and it can't do any harm right?

People come to us that are looking to mark their special day by doing something different and often involves expressing their own creativity and imagination. We have catered weddings in barns, stables, a boat house and a cow-shed – not while occupied I might add, and all nicely polished up for the day and this is often where their creativity comes in.
These couples are taking ownership of their day and putting a lot of themselves into it. Of course we probably cater more weddings that are held in marquees, we have a completely mobile set-up, we are very flexible and are happy to work with whatever scenario is put in front of us.

Often the couples are looking for less formality, and doing things on their own terms in a way that perhaps avoids a bill that cover the cost of a small new car.

What we find is popular in this kind of wedding is to have a champagne reception; that way you know the guests have the opportunity to chat and mingle while the photos are being taken. Our canapés go hand in hand with the champagne reception, our staff will circulate with trays of tasty morsels and savoury bites that are made fresh for your event.

Main Course
a lot of people come to us looking for spit roasted pig, our web address is all about that so no surprise there, but we also offer extensive barbeque menus

8 oz Strip loin steaks
Marinated chicken
Sticky ribs
Barbeque sausages
Fish options
Veggie options
Quarter pounder (which is 4oz) 100% Irish beef burgers,
or we can do a 6 oz for the really hungry burger lovers.

The time line for the hog-roast is something that we want people to understand; we arrive on-site several hours before the required serving time and cook from fresh, the pig will take about 6 hours to cook, then we let the meat stand for about half an hour before starting to carve and serve. While the spit oven has been running and cooking the pig we will prepare and cook potatoes and prepare the salads. Most popular are baby potatoes in butter and parsley, but some people asked for jacket potatoes or baby potatoes roasted with thyme. The salads we usually serve are mixed salad (tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and mixed leaves), fresh coleslaw, and tomato and cucumber salad with a mint dressing.
We will provide an alternative main course for an agreed small number of people; I always recommend salmon because that gives an option for non-meat eaters, if you have vegetarians let us know and we will plan something for them.
We offer apple sauce and wholegrain mustard with the pork and salad dressings are supplied.

With our buffet style service we will serve at least 120 guests in less than an hour from one serving station.

We offer a selection of desserts, simplest is to offer a choice from two or we can extend that and offer a wider selection

~ Seasonal fruits & cream
~ Chocolate Gateaux
~ Cheese cake selection
~ Profiteroles & warm chocolate sauce
~ Fruit crumble & custard

Freshly brewed tea and coffee can be provided

We supply the staff for buffet style service, plates and cutlery (not disposables), serving tables and table cloths for the service tables. We clean around the service area, collect up our crockery and cutlery and take our rubbish with us.

Afters
We can make arrangements for the afters; sometimes people just ask us to cook a slightly larger pig so that they can use the meat we have left for sandwiches later. We have also been asked to cook a pig off-site and arrive with it at 10:30 to surprise the guests and then serve it in a nice fresh crunchy demi-baguette. Fish & chips and even beef burgers have been requested.

Oven Baked Pulled Pork Flautas

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We supply the staff for buffet style service, plates and cutlery (not disposables), serving tables and table cloths for the service tables. We clean around the service area, collect up our crockery and cutlery and take our rubbish with us.

Menus from weddings catered in 2010….

Grainne & Mark’s wedding menu (Co. Wicklow)
Irish free range Chickens cooked on our rotisserie
Haloumi skewers as the vegetarian option with baked poatoes,
Coleslaw, Spinach and Apple salad, Carrot and Grape salad and Greek island salad.
Dessert was Banoffi for all.
Freshly brewed coffee and Tea

Mary Therese and Joe's wedding Rathfarnham
Tea and Coffee on arrival
Starter- Roquefort & pear salad
Main- roast lamb (with Joe’s family supplying their own lamb) potatoes and a selection of salads; spinach & apple, Waldorf salad, mixed salad, cous-cous citrus kick. Veggie option was haloumi skewer served on a bed of ratatouille
Dessert- Apple crumble / Strawberries and cream
Tea and coffee & sandwiches for later

Henrik and Christina's feast (Co. Kildare)
Canapés
Mini toast with Smoked Salmon and cream cheese
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with garlic and herb infused Goat’s cheese
Bruschetta with Swiss cheese and Brie
Mini Prawn in Marie-rose dressing bites

Starter (served at table)
Pear and Roquefort Cheese Salad

Main Course
Fresh spit roasted Pork with apple sauce and whole-grain mustard
Mushroom strudle as the vegetarian option
Roast baby potatoes with rosemary and salt with mixed salad, hot and spicy cous cous,
Waldorf salad, Fresh baked breads

Dessert
Seasonal fruits & cream and Profiteroles & warm chocolate sauce

Tea and Coffee

Midnight munchies
Swedish hot dogs

Real life menus from weddings catered in 2009….

Stephanie & Ciaran’s wedding menu (Co. Kildare)
Informal finger food/canapés
Blinis with Smoked Salmon and cream cheese
Savoury bites (3 varieties, Savoury Beef, Spicy Chicken and Prawn Marie rose)
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with garlic and herb infused Goat’s cheese
Bruschetta

Main course:
Spit roasted pig with apple sauce and wholegrain mustard as garnishes.
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion) Coleslaw
Darns of Organic Salmon as the veggie option

Dessert:
Stephanie’s mum’s own fruit crumble with cream

Noreen & Stephen’s wedding menu (Co. Tipperary)

Starter:
Salmon and dill terrine with rocket salad

Main course:
Fresh Irish Spit roasted pork with apple sauce and wholegrain mustard as garnishes or Marinated spit roasted lamb.
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Coleslaw,
Tomato & mozzarella salad.
Halloumi skewers served on a bed of ratatouille as the vegetarian option

Dessert:
Bailey’s cheesecake or fresh fruit salad with whipped cream

Tea & coffee

Natasha & Feargal’s wedding menu (Co. Sligo)

Starter:
Home made savoury scones with a selection of relishes and chutneys.

Main course:
Fresh Spit roasted pig with apple sauce and wholegrain mustard as garnishes or Fresh Irish chicken straight off the rotisserie.
Salted roast baby new potatoes with rosemary.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Coleslaw,
Cucumber & tomato salad in a mint dressing

Dessert:
A pyramid of home made fairy cakes

Meriel & Bill’s wedding menu (Co. Donegal)

Informal finger food/canapés
Smoked Salmon and cream cheese on brown bread
Savoury bites (3 varieties, Beef, Chicken and Prawn)
Bruschetta with Swiss cheese and Brie
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with Goat’s cheese

Main course:
Spit roasted pork with apple sauce and wholegrain mustard as garnishes.
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Coleslaw
Tomato & mozzarella salad
Halloumi skewers served on a bed of ratatouille as the veggie option

Dessert:
Strawberries and whipped cream

Tea & coffee

Laura & David’s wedding menu (Co. Kildare)
Ceoliac friendly finger food/canapés
Carrot and Guacamole
Smoked Salmon and cream cheese on brown bread
Savoury bites (3 varieties, Beef, Chicken and Prawn)
Bruschetta with Swiss cheese and Brie
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with Goat’s cheese

Main course:
Fresh Irish 8 oz Strip loin steaks, roast Irish Free Range Chicken from our rotisserie, 6 oz beef burgers, marinated in lime, ginger and chili.
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Spinach and Apple salad with loads of crunch and vinagrette dressing
Coleslaw
Red onion relish and sweet tomato relish
Halloumi skewers served on a bed of ratatouille as the veggie option

Tea & coffee

Afters Midnight feast (well 11:00 or so really)
Whole Roast pig carved and served in crunchy fresh demi-baguettes with Apple sauce, barbeque sauce, whole grain mustard.

Brendan & Aoife’s wedding menu (Co. Mayo)

Main course:
Fresh spit roasted Irish Lamb and Pork
Freshly baked Goats cheese with tomato tartlets as the vegetarian option
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Hot and spicy cous cous
Coleslaw
With Grilled Halloumi cheese served in peppers and accompanied by ratatouille

Hannah & David’s wedding menu (Co. Wicklow)

Informal finger food/canapés served during champagne reception
Brussels pate and salmon mousse on mini toast
Smoked Salmon and cream cheese on brown bread
Savoury bites (3 varieties, Beef, Chicken and Prawn)
Bruschetta with Swiss cheese and Brie
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with Goat’s cheese

Starter:
Salmon and John Dory terrine served on rustic sour dough bread with rocket and piccolo tomatoes with Mushroom pate substituted instead of the terrine as the vegetarian option.

Main course:
Fresh spit roasted Irish Lamb and Pork
Freshly baked Goats cheese with tomato tartlets as the vegetarian option
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Coleslaw

Dessert Buffet:
Freshly baked chocolate sponge with raspberries, cream and ice cream.

Cheese board:
Reflecting the nationalities of the couple a mix of complementary Irish and French cheeses were offered

Tea & coffee

Afters:
Selection of sandwiches

Sara & Michael's wedding menu (Co. Dublin)

Main course:
Fresh spit roasted Irish Pork
Haloumi cheese skewers on a bed of ratatouille as the vegetarian option
Baby new potatoes in parsley and butter.
Mixed salad (mixed lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)
Spinach and Crunchy apple salad
Coleslaw

Barbeque for afters at midnight:
Burgers; 100% Irish beef 6 oz burgers or Chicken skewers marinated in Lime, chilli and Ginger.

Wines...

For the "Champagne Reception", we offer 3 different options.

The 1st one is the value option... Prosecco is a popular sparkling wine.
The one we carry in a really fine wine, really enjoyable!

The 2nd one is a bit more "trendy". It's a Sparkling Rose. Really popular for Valentines' and the summer, Serve it with a Strawberry in the glass... It looks really posh and sexy! I think it's
the best option for weddings as it gives a little twist to the reception

Finally, the Champagne option, with Alfred Gratien, a high quality Champagne (House Champagne in the Ritz!). Only when somebody is going all out and weddings...

Download Wine Menu here (pdf)