What food you choose to serve to your guests is one of the most important aspects of your wedding day. You want to ensure that everyone is able to eat food that they enjoy but it also can be a factor that sets your wedding apart from others. Delicious food is a must for every great wedding.

How you serve food to your guests can help make a statement and weave your wedding theme further into the day. One current trend is to use wedding food stations which allows you to add personality to the celebration. These can be easily customized based on your preferences, the time of year, number of people and more.

What exactly are food stations? They are static areas where food is either available for grazing. You can use stations at your wedding for just snacks, desserts or the entire meal! You will need to discuss with your venue as they do require space to set up, rather than the food being plated in a back kitchen and placed in front of your guests. If you’re having a DIY wedding you can set them up yourself, especially if you have access to the venue the day before, or if you have a trusted friend that you know will nail the vibe you’re after.

If you’re thinking about using food stations for your wedding menu, here are some of my favorite ideas to embrace this way of serving food.

Wedding Food Station Ideas

Grazing Tables

Even if you’re having a table wedding, grazing platter food stations available during cocktail hour is a wonderful idea for your big day. Rather than serving individual canapes that need to be passed around, guests can access gorgeous piles of antipasto when they feel hungry. Keep it healthy by loading it up with protein (deli meat, cheese) and lots of veggies (carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, bell peppers). You will need some carbohydrates like bread and crackers in there as well, but being a grazing platter allows your guests to eat the foods that work best for them. This works so well for bridal showers as well!

Food Trucks

Take the food station ideas to the next level and get food trucks for your outdoor event! This makes it so easy to serve your guests with delicious hot food as they are ready for it. It works best if you have a long period of time where they can eat, as it will take time for the small kitchen to dispatch meals to everyone. Depending on the number of guests you can hire a few different trucks to ensure there is something for everyone.

Dessert Tables

Wedding desserts can be a funny thing. It makes sense to finish off a meal with a dessert, but you may want your guests up and dancing by that stage so serving it to them at their tables may seem odd. Or if you have a great wedding cake, your guests may not want a dessert as well. That’s where dessert tables work so well. You can lay out beautiful single-serving desserts, cheese boards or cakes that guests can help themselves to as and when they want them as they mingle and celebrate. If you are serving things like ice cream, you will need some extra logistics planned or some wait staff to ensure it’s kept cold and only a few portions are brought out at a time. Your wedding guests will love having a sweet treat they can choose on their own.

Raw Bar

If you’re having a seaside wedding, you may want to consider having a raw bar to serve delicious shellfish. Ensure that your caterers are experienced in serving raw seafood as you don’t want to make any of your guests sick. But also, you want the fish to taste good and be served perfectly! This can also be a sushi station, or an oyster bar, depending on what you love the most, and what your wedding guests love the most. Sushi stations are also very beautiful to look at, and you can include tons of different sushi options.

Bagel Bar

If you’re having a brunch wedding, what could be better than fresh bagels! You can serve them as a wedding buffet with a choice of toppings available. Bagels are comfort food for many people, so they will definitely enjoy this. Make sure you include gluten-free options if necessary for your guests. I would recommend getting your caterers to manage the toasting of them if possible as this can cause congestion around the station. Alternatively, you can have them already toasted, topped and ready to go and people can collect a bagel and get back to enjoying your wedding. If you choose to serve with a choice of toppings, some great toppings to include would be: cream cheese (of course), smoked salmon, avocado, guacamole, sour cream, capers, chives, cheese, pepperoni, ham, chicken, tomato sauce (someone can make a pizza bagel if they want, with cheese, pepperoni, and tomato sauce), fried eggs (if you can have a chef fry eggs on the spot), peanut butter, bananas, etc.

Hot Chocolate/Coffee Bar

If you’re getting married in winter, there’s nothing nicer than a cup of warm hot chocolate or coffee at the end of the evening. Setting up hot drink stations means that your guests can continue to enjoy the evening and come and get a cup when suits them. Some will want to keep dancing and others may want to get into deep conversations with a cup of cocoa. You can include different types of special flavors and toppings - peppermint hot cocoa, cinnamon hot cocoa, coffee with syrups, whipped cream, etc.

Popcorn

If you’re having a rustic wedding, definitely set yourself up a popcorn food station. It gives your guests something to graze on without it being heavy or needing a lot of staff to carry hors d'oeuvres around. There are a few different ways to layout a station like this. You can do large bowls of various flavors - cinnamon, sugar, salted, white cheddar. Or you can create small bags for each guest to collect. This option will require a bit more time to prepare and bag the popcorn for your guests so be ready for that!

Drink Stations

A drink station can be a great idea to help your guests get up and mingle. Many weddings will serve wine on the table, but creating a station can allow you to serve something a little more exciting. If you love a gin and tonic or want to serve cocktails, creating a drink station will make this really easy. It can work for both indoor and outdoor weddings, depending on the space you have available. If you’re having a seated dinner make sure that it’s easy for your guests to navigate to the station. If you’re embracing the station theme for food as well, it’ll flow nicely. Don’t forget to serve some delicious non-alcoholic options as well.

Fast Food Stations

If you’re having a very informal wedding, and you’re a known lover of fast food, you can include a fast-food station - either a general one, or a specific fast-food chain you love the most (Mcdonald's bar, Wendy’s bar, etc.). Or, you can do a specific type of fast food item you love the most (burgers, pizza, hot dog, etc.).

This option is definitely not for a traditional, formal wedding, but if it’s an informal wedding, your guests know you for loving fast food, it would definitely be something everyone would talk about!

It’s a unique and fun idea for those who are known to love it, and your wedding guests will definitely love the idea (kids especially!).

Cheese Station

If you love cheese, you can have a cheese station, with all types of cheeses you can think of! It’s great as an appetizer, just like a grazing board, and if your wedding guests are cheese lovers, they will definitely love the idea. You can include both the typical cheeses and the more rare ones that aren’t found in every store, to make it more interesting. You can also include a cheese fondue. Some great cheeses to include in your cheese station are: gouda, cheddar, gorgonzola, brie, camembert, goat cheese, feta cheese, parmesan, asiago, raclette, stilton, cream cheese, queso blanco, grana padano, mozzarella, gruyere, mascarpone, swiss cheese, and so on.

Another bonus of cheese stations is that they can really be beautifully presented. You can of course add other ingredients that pair well with cheese, for decoration and variety - in that option, it would be similar to a grazing table, but this would be cheese-focused.