Post # 1
Member
15 posts
Newbee
Hi folks,
So I’m looking for some helpful suggestions with planning my wedding. My fiance is Italian and I am East-Indian. The one preference we both have is for extremely good food. My parents have decided that our Indian guests will ONLY appreciate Indian food and this is making things incredibly difficult as the Italians do not actually eat Indian food and also want their guests to appreciate good cuisine. The other problem is taht Indian food is usually priced at a more reasonable level whereas high end North American food will likely run us around 150-200 per person. Does anyone know or has anyone been to any Indian fusion weddings whereby they might be able to offer suggestions to solve this dilemma? I’ve considered Indian-fusion or Indian-inspired but my parents have firmly told me that will not fly. I’ve also considered 2 caterers but that limits us to picking a venue which allows outside catering (also difficult). At the end of the day I’m at my wits end with figuring this out. I was thinking maybe I could find a creative chef who could somehow develop a plated Indian meal…cause we can’t have some people do buffet or family style and some not… I dunno, any help would be appreciated…
Thanks!
Post # 3
Member
10849 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
Hmmmmmmmmm okay a few ideas off the top of my head. What if the courses alternated between italian/North American food and Indian food? Like a salad course (safe on all sides), a course of small samosas, then your chicken or veg option (which could be something like chicken parmesean or vegetable curry), and then a safe dessert like cake or you could go italian and do tiramisu.
OR what if for the main, your caterer figured out a way to do a base of chicken for instance, and then you put sauces on the table, one an herb tomato sauce, and one like a butter chicken or marsala type sauce? That way each guest could choose or try a little of both.
Post # 4
Member
15 posts
Newbee
@bakerella: Thanks for the speedy response! First, I should’ve mentioned we’ll likely only serve Indian vegetarian food (although ironically on the Italian side they would like a beef entree)…Samosas would be considered akin to “snack” food so for an entree that likely won’t fly. I do like your thinking and its similar to what i thought i.e. 1st course – salad (safe), 2nd course pasta (safe), 3rd course – beef option or Indian-Vegetarian option and 4th- dessert (safe).
I’ve done a lot of reading about this and apparently it is considered more appropriate to have the “heavier” Indian dishes served such as cream-based sauces (i.e. Shai Paneer, Malai Kofta) with naan.
I like the chicken idea as well, of course I failed to mention the vegetarian Indian component so that one will be tricky.
Post # 5
Member
10849 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
@sheera: Personally, if I got an invite that gave me an option between a typical chicken/beef entree or a vegetarian Indian style entree, I’d go for the veg! That sounds awesome!
Post # 6
Member
2154 posts
Buzzing bee
What about a buffet? Then people can pick and choose what they like.
Post # 7
Member
303 posts
Helper bee
But with a buffet is sounds like she would still need two caterers, unless one caterer can make both
Post # 8
Member
241 posts
Helper bee
what about stations? Like an Indian station and an Italian station?
Post # 9
Member
133 posts
Blushing bee
We mixed Ethiopian food and Italian food which is sort of similar. We ended up having our reception at a hotel, and the hotel was responsible for the Italian side, as well as actually manning the buffet. We hired an Ethiopian restaurant to bring in the Ethiopian food.
It worked very well for us, and the hotel was very helpful with figuring out what to do for the menu.
Post # 10
Member
138 posts
Blushing bee
What if you did Italian-inspired Indian? I recently had butter-chicken pasta and strangely, over dinner we were talking about how amazing it would be to have some kind of paneer-lasagna combo.
If that doesn’t fly with the parents, the alternating thing also sounds amazing!
For us (although we are both Indian, my Fi hates Indian food) we are doing one day traditional Indian, one day Mediterranean, one day African-Indian.
Just a thought 🙂
Post # 11
Member
15 posts
Newbee
Wow, thank you all for your very-helpful and speedy responses.
It seems great minds think alike as I’ve considered a few of these options and ultimately we may have to just go with one…
Food Stations/Buffets – One set of the parents has voiced they are not a fan because the waiting in line breaks up the flow of the speeches etc. So we unfortunately can’t do that one…
My best thought right now is to somehow have a caterer who can “plate” an Indian entree. I cannot think of how this might happen/work though…or what type of Indian entree it could be. That way all the entrees could come out together.
The other thought I had is to bring out Indian food family style at the same time we serve the beef and to do with those tables where mostly Indian people are sitting. My only issue there is what if someone at a non-Indian table picks the Veg-Indian option…somehow we’d have to still plate the food for them…
Bah, it just makes me want to give up on trying to do the reception together. 🙁
Problem is my parents insist that their Indian people will not be happy unless they’re eating Indian food…
Post # 12
Member
200 posts
Helper bee
OK here’s another crazy thought. I don’t know how big/formal your wedding is, but what about family style serving, where things are on platters on the table, and guests can help themselves, to whichever tehy prefer, or both?
Post # 13
Member
134 posts
Blushing bee
You know I went through that same situation a couple of months ago. My fiancee is American and I am Indian. Fiancee & my parents LOVE indian food, and ofcourse my parents said our guests would prefer Indian food. The more we stressed about it, they worse it got. Finally, it turned out the guests on his side said everyone would love to try Indian food, as most are very sheltered and would be too nervous to go to a Indian Restaurant and try it. We orginally got catering through our facility, and were going the indian fusion route. Instead now we are doing like south indian food (Masala Dosas/Chaat) for the pithi/sangeet night and Traditional (Butter Chicken, Seekh Kabob, etc) for our Reception night. I think since your guests are aware that it is a “mix”wedding, they would be understanding of different cultural food, also vice versa. You can do Italian food one night, and Indian food another. So you make both sides happy. Most people love to come to an Indian wedding, so naturally Indian food is a given. Goodluck!! =)
Post # 14
Member
5091 posts
Bee Keeper
I say go all Indian! Indian food is the most delicious option out there! BF and I have talked about doing Indian at our wedding, despite the fact that neither of us have any Indian cultural ties, just because it’s tasty.
That being said, something that almost every Indian restaurant I went to in Japan did was a meal option. They would bring out a tray that had two small cups of different curries, a little bit of soup, a samosa, a bunch of rice, and a bit of naan. Depending on the restaurant, they sometimes had another item or two. It’s the best solution to “plating” Indian food that I’ve seen.
For the Italians, have you considered chicken tikka masala? It’s the food I recommend every time I’m with someone who’s never eaten Indian before. I tell them that it’s Italian food done Indian-style. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like it.
Post # 15
Member
15 posts
Newbee
@octgirl:
We’ll definitely have Indian food at the sangeet, but the reception is our only catered event to which all the guests will be attending.
I definitely feel your paina bout stressing. I think I’m starting to realize its my wedding and if 100 guests are unhappy then it was perhaps their fault for not realizing that its a mixed-marriage.
His side is from a small small town allllll the way up North. Its a very meat-and-potatoes type place. I will have to explore some family style and fusion combos.
I don’t get it but venues have told me family style is “WAY MORE EXPENSIVE”. How can it be more than plating?!?!
Post # 16
Member
134 posts
Blushing bee
I think family style can get expensive because servers have to keep coming around refilling, picking up empty bowls, etc, etc. Since not all items can go on the table at once? Indian food…buffet would be the perfect way..let them pick and choose what they want and what they don’t. I am doing a detailed menu card on their table so they have plenty of time to think about what they want to eat!
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