photo by Corbin Gurkin
Even though it hard to think about heavier or more savory items right now when temps are soaring, many of you in the planning process now are most likely having a fall wedding and planning the details now… Do you know what you are serving yet? Here are some of our favorite fall flavors from recent events and some serving ideas for you. Above, our wedding at the Roaring Fork Club in Basalt, CO worked with us to plan a menu totally based on seasonal items especially local items. Spice rubbed pork belly over savory slaw served on tasting spoons made a pretty presentation for cocktail hour.
photos by Liz Banfield
Heavier items blended with lighter fare work well after summer. For this Palmetto Bluff wedding, pimento cheese biscuits, fried shrimp with a smoked tomato sauce, and she crab soup (that may not look the best on it’s own) is dressed up in mini containers and served up on custom paper lined tray.
photos by Liz Banfield and Squire Fox (bottom right)
Switching out standard flavors for ones typically associated with fall are something to think about… To change Southern Ham Biscuits, sweet potato biscuits are used instead. Lighter items like seared scallops and a vichyssoise are served on rustic wood platters… Definitely discuss how things will be presented or ask to see the caterer’s selection during your meal planning process.
photo by Corbin Gurkin
Another consideration instead of traditional displays or passing are mobile displays. We have a wheeled cart that we offer up to our clients often- whether for desserts, cocktails, or whatnot. Here, it’s used as a traditional cheese cart with accoutrements. This offers so much flexibility on items, and you don’t need to go overboard as you would on a display.
photos by Liz Banfield
Don’t get us wrong, we still like an abundant display.. We built these custom acrylic tables that we can top with surfaces like wooden butcher block or marble slabs depending on the design. This antipasta display by Peter Ambrose was full of different containers, flavors, and seasonal herbs… 
photos by Corbin Gurkin
We do still see requests for multi course dinners, and there are ways to do this after a cocktail hour without leaving guests so stuffed they are uncomfortable. Guests at this Charleston wedding enjoyed an artfully presented spinach salad, local fish with a rustic sauce, and then roasted tenderloin and asparagus with au poivre is about as traditional fall as you can get, but in delicate portions leaves guests with just enough.
photo by Adrienne Page
If you are planning for stations versus a seated dinner, smaller already plated dishes are how we like to suggest our caterers handle this. It makes it easy for guests to walk right up maybe with a drink already in hand and grab something easily… And of course to customize a standard wedding dish at this point- shrimp and grits, we replaced the shrimp with quail.
photo by Corbin Gurkin
Of course, you can’t forget the dessert… If you have always wanted a chocolate cake now is the time to serve it up… Love this design by Jim Smeal for one of our fall Charleston events.
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The men went with a modern take on the traditional suit opting for bowties instead of the long ties typically worn with suits (from Joseph A Banks). 
One of the biggest parts of my job when designing a wedding environment is thinking about the areas not to see in addition to creating what you do see. We wanted to hide an unsightly area on the side of the tent, and since we weren’t using any fabric draping our fabric walls would have looked out of place. So along with Snyder (our rental company) we built a wooden barn style wall. 
After a lovely sparkler send off, the couple departed in a nostalgic VW Beetle van for a perfect finishing touch! Thank you again to Charleston Weddings Mag for the constant support.
