Latest features DIY wedding buffet

Date Published:

07/05/2009

Credit crunch affecting your nuptials? If you don’t want to have to get married in this season’s Primark, why not cut the catering costs and do a DIY buffet. (That way you can really splash out on a huge meringue!)

The average cost of a wedding crashed through the £20,000 barrier last year and shows no signs of slowing down. Reception catering plays a large role in these calculations; the average venue will set you back £2500 with nosh and drinkie-poos adding on another £4600. Ouch.

So, if you don’t fancy starting your married life saddled with debt, we’ve come up with a DIY bank balance-friendly buffet with plenty of pizzazz and lots of seasonal, local ingredients. Whether you get your mother-in-law to don a pinny and hand out the nibbles is entirely up to you...

Smoked salmon and blinis
If you want canapés with a conscience, it’s easy to find UK organic farmed salmon or Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified salmon. Cost-wise, trimmings might not look as posh as salmon slices but are a fantastically cheaper and can easily be disguised with some cunningly arranged cress/dill/grass clippings.

Goat's cheese and tomato canapés
Some goat’s cheeses can taste, well, a bit goaty. For a delicate non-whiffy canapé you’ll need a fresh British un-aged goat’s cheese, and these are best bought in the spring and summer. There’s a good reason for this; UK goats don’t tend to make milk over winter so cheesemakers can’t make any new cheeses until the early spring. Betcha didn’t know that.

Lamb, spinach and sesame canapés
Lamb is an excellent choice for a spring/summer wedding buffet. British lamb is at its most tender during May and June (lucky them) although late summer lamb will cope brilliantly with the spicier eastern flavours in these canapés. Spinach is also an ideal ingredient for the warmer months as its UK growing season stretches from April to September.

Tomato and crème fraiche tart
The British tomato season runs from June to October, so there’s every chance you’ll be able to buy the freshest, sweetest varieties for this tart such as baby plum. An extra bonus is that British tomatoes are said to have significantly higher levels of lycopene (a valuable antioxidant) than long-life imported tomatoes.

Chicken breasts with lemon and tarragon sauce
The beauty of this dish is that it works just as well cold as it does hot and goes well with a seasonal salad. Dauphinoise potatoes go very well with it too, as would a simple serving of steamed green vegetables or basmati rice.

Pineapple and haloumi sticks
You have to have something on a stick at a buffet but let it not be a rubbery piece of cheddar and a limp pickle. Neither haloumi nor pineapple are natives of Old Blighty but don’t let that stop you enjoying this fiery twist on an eighties buffet classic – anyone for Agadoo?

Potato and radish salad
Another spring/summer staple, radishes are the perfect peppery addition to a potato salad. You need waxy new or salad potatoes for this recipe - Maris Peer and Charlotte varieties are fine but see if you can get hold of heritage varieties like Pink Fir Apples, Ratte or Sharpe’s Express.

Pea shoot and sprout salad
This little salad has bags of bite and makes a great accompaniment to the rest of the buffet. Both pea shoots and mixed sprouts are eaten at just a few weeks old, so this salad is bursting with fresh, seasonal goodness. You never know, it might just put back a few of the vitamins destroyed by all that Champagne you’ll guzzle...

Mixed berry tart
There's nothing more summery than a heap of glistening berries and this pudding doesn’t disappoint. It’s also ridiculously easy. Garnish with mint plucked fresh from the herb garden (yours or a neighbour's in the middle of the night) and nothing could be nicer.

Chocolate orange cupcakes
Chocolate has to feature somewhere in a wedding menu or you face inducing a riot. These little beauties can be eaten hold or cold, or even stacked as an indulgent alternative to a wedding cake. Decorate with a dusting of cocoa powder and/or thin slivers of candied orange peel – whichever suits.

Sparkling summer fruit jellies
Little jellies are ever so easy but look ever so posh. You don’t have to use Champagne – prosecco or any other dry fizz is perfect and much less pricey. Serve them in individual portions, whether it’s funky shot glasses, vintage tumblers, china teacups or egg cups. The kookier the better.

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