The Best Wedding Catering Trends for A Responsible Covid-19 Safe Celebration

#loveisnotcancelled Couples don’t have to cancel their wedding planning due to the second wave of Coronavirus. Check out the best wedding planning tips from Captain Joe, the No.1 wedding caterers in Delhi NCR to ensure that your wedding ceremonies are conducted with utmost safety precautions.

Planning a wedding post the lockdown? Find out the best < ahref="https://www.captainjoe.in/catering-service/wedding-reception-caterers.php"> wedding catering trends to adopt.

Indian Weddings in the New Normal

The Indian wedding industry has adapted remarkably to the pandemic. Everyone from couples to families, Indian wedding caterers to wedding planners, have realised the importance of prioritising hygiene in every step of the wedding process. Safety precautions ensure the wellness of the hosts, guests and the staff at the venue.

With that said, food will still continue to be the focus at an Indian wedding, irrespective of the pandemic. With the guest list getting smaller, couples are now experimenting with different flavours, cuisines and presentations to increase the allure of wedding food.

If you’re planning a wedding in the new normal, scroll down for the best tips from the top wedding caterers in India.

Buffet or Sit Down meals?

Even before the pandemic, guests started showing a preference for sit-down meals. Long-waits at buffet lines, the scrambling to find a place to sit, cold meals – the drawbacks of buffets are plenty. With the pandemic and the need for social distancing, sit-down meals have come back to the spotlight.

Sit-down meals create a more relaxed and fun atmosphere. They are a great bonding time and help guests enjoy the wedding ceremony, with their friends and family, while enjoying delicious plates of food. Guests can enjoy their meals while enjoying conversations with their tablemates. They don’t have to move around trying to locate their favourite dish. Instead, everything is brought to the table.

To ensure that sit down meals are safe, make sure to seat members of a family at the same table. Here are a few suggestions to include at plated meals:

Provide guests with a combination of different regional cuisines. Instead, of sticking to a single thali meal, you can include a variety of dishes in the same thali. North-Indian chaat items, Punjabi bread & curries, rice delicacies from Kerala, dosa varieties from Tamil Nadu, biryani from Hyderabad and finish it off with Bengali sweets.

Snack Stations Spread Across the Venue

Another popular < ahref="https://www.captainjoe.in/catering-service/wedding-reception-caterers.php"> wedding catering services in 2021 are individual snack stations. Instead, of having a single counter where guests congregate for snacks, set up different food counters spread throughout the wedding hall. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

Avoid serving snacks like pani poori, gol gappas, that need to be eaten with hands. Instead, opt for individual serving snacks like tikkis, channa masala, cutlets, vadas, etc. that can be served from separate plates.
Soups also make for great snacks. Include immunity boosting soups like mulligatawny, tomato pepper soup, tulsi soup, drumstick leaves soups, etc.
For non-vegetarians, baked shrimps, fish fingers, chicken tikka, mutton kebabs are great snack ideas.
Include a momos counter – vegetarian, chicken, egg, etc.
Snacks don’t have to be just savoury. Include a variety of sweet desserts like churros, cupcakes, cakesicles, the classic gulab jamun with ice cream, crispy jalebis, malpuas, etc.

A Quick Tip: Ask your wedding reception caterer to include fully-cooked Indian meals. Today, guests prefer to have hot cooked Indian meals compared to raw or cold cuisines like salads, Japanese and Asian food. This is because Indian meals are cooked at high temperatures, thereby reducing the chances of infection.

Replace Liquors with Immunity-Boosting Juices

Since, liquor consumption is prohibited at wedding venues in several states, you can opt for other refreshing juices. Here are a few innovative options:

Include immunity boosting drinks like turmeric shots, turmeric milk, pepper and turmeric milk, spiced chai, tulsi mojito, cinnamon mojito, aloevera juice, etc.
Other refreshing beverage choices perfect for the summer include Nannari sherbet, aam panna, jaljira, Chaas, etc.
Serve drinks in small glass bottles (individual-serving sizes with lids). Make sure to place paper straws and tissues near the bottles to limit contact points.

Minimal Touch Points between Guests and Staff

Another major concern post the pandemic is touch-points between staff and guests. Here are a few ways to reduce the touch-points:

Serve meals in individually packed-boxes/plates to reduce contact between serving staff and guests.
Instead of keeping cutlery in a common tray, place spoons and forks along with each plate or box.
Additionally, make sure to keep sanitizers and gloves at each food station for the convenience of each guest.
Make sure that your wedding caterers in Gurgaon follow all standard safety procedures like wearing masks and gloves, frequent temperature checks, sanitizing equipment, food preparation stations, etc.
Set up sanitisation stations at entry points to reduce the chances of infection.

Wrapping Up

The Indian wedding catering industry has undergone a huge metamorphosis in the last year. Today, weddings are not just a celebration, but also a huge responsibility to ensure the safety of the hosts, guests and staff. Use the mouthwatering trends mentioned here along with safety measures to host a fun and safe wedding in this normal.

For the best wedding catering food ideas and safety standards, reach out to Captain Joe. We offer the best wedding catering in Delhi and Gurgaon. Reach out to our friendly team to know more about our menu options and our safety procedures.