Is the Food Truck Wedding Craze just a trend?

Every spring some things happen.

The snow melts, the ground thaws and the cycle of the life begins yet again.
How does that translate to the wedding world? Substitute "life" with "trends" and you
have the newest hot topic in the wedding industry.
Granted, we are in the middle of a phase where going old school is retro and hipster.
From old wood frames, burlap and chalkboard menus to  rustic barn venues with food trucks.
How long do the trends last? Who really knows.

What really stands the test of time are the "trends" that are deeper and much more purposeful.
There will always be people that are drawn to outdoor weddings where the bridesmaids wear
sun dresses. Those people seem to love the beauty and feel of sunshine on their backs and the rustic feel an outdoor venue brings to the equation. To others, a barn venue is totally hipster with paper flowers and all the guests wearing black Ray Ban Glasses and skinny jeans.

Lots of people send us emails about having a food truck cater their wedding.
Most are familiar with the cupcake trucks and the street food trucks.
They have either eaten at one in the city or saw one serving cupcakes at the end of a wedding service.
Some have even been to a late party after the wedding where the menus seem to gravitate
towards burgers, pizza and fries loaded with all manners of deliciousness.
We hear about the food truck trend that is really starting to surface in their areas.
The younger crowd wants a food truck or two at the wedding to show social status and be in the
loop for the trends that season.

For a food trucker in the great northeast that specializes in wedding catering, all these points are good. On the other hand, I do not wear skinny jeans and have big black glasses because I have a fat head. We also wonder if the food truck trend is far from being a trend.
Lots of hardcore foodies want to learn more about the important stuff regarding a food truck -
The Food.

The Hudson Valley, Westchester, Vermont and the capital region of New York is filled with foodies.
These people want to know where their food was grown, how the food was harvested and whether we offer vegetarian, vegan and gluten free choices.
That makes my heart smile.

When these foodies find out that we source most of the ingredients locally and make our food from scratch, they smile back.
Then comes the X Factor - We bring our kitchen to your wedding venue.
Translation - The food is cooked that day at your wedding.
When you see a catering van pull up with huge warmers, you can know that the food has been
cooked for quite some time. The word day fresh is for old bagels, not wedding food.

This trend is changing how the wedding industry will look at the food that is served.
Farm to table is a very catchy phrase, that is for sure.
On the wedding front, how does truck to table sound?
If you want the freshest food, prepared the right way, look into having a food trucker at your wedding. You may never see me in skinny jeans, but you will see me smiling when the trend has passed and people are shocked when a food truck is not serving the food at the wedding they attend.

If you have any questions or just feel like adding something to the conversation,
please feel free to email me -
info@wanderingdago.com or just leave a comment here on the blog.

Thanks -

Brandon - Chef/Owner
Wandering Dago Catering Co & Food Truck







 

Food Truck Weddings Q & A Session 2 - Who brings the beer?

Easily the most popular question our catering team gets asked these days involves
one very important phase of the wedding - Who brings the beer?

Forget the love and cherish, til death do you part - We need to get the beer selection ironed out.
And what about Aunt Claire? She only drinks Zinfandel and Syrah, but we need to have a couple white wines since the wedding is in July.

How can we break bread with all of our friends and relatives with no vino?

You will hear me talk often about the new era of food truckers - This Q & A Session is no different.
There was a time when food trucks at weddings involved a cupcake truck.
Having a truck come for late night eats like pizza or sliders was the next generation.
Both of those circumstances still exist and most likely always will at weddings.
There is always a place for cupcakes and pizza.

On the other hand, you can hire the right food trucker to handle the appetizers, the main entrees
and the sides, the desserts, the late night bites and the liquid courage.

Planning your wedding is hard work, there are tons of items to cross off the list.
Finding the right food trucker can actually make your job easier.
All the pieces in the puzzle apply to that statement - From the 1st consultation to the tasting, make
sure that you are working with the right crew for the job. Ironing out the menu can take a few
revisions, this is one of the biggest days of your life to date. Part of that menu is the beer and wine selections.
Whether you like a wine from a local vineyard or a great wheat beer from Colorado, just be sure to tell your food trucker what styles of beer/ wine that you like.
I tell all of our brides and grooms to bring their favorites to the tasting. There is no better way to
iron out the drink selection than seeing what goes best with the food on the menu.
Look around and see who has deals on catering and drink packages - Booking one crew to
handle everything can give you peace of mind.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment box or shoot me an email through our website - www.wanderindago.com

Keep the questions coming, no matter what the topic. I will be doing Q & A Sessions once or twice monthly. I think our next topic will be wedding planners - We are getting lots of questions on how food trucks work together with wedding planners.
Let us know your thoughts on planners.

Have a great day -

Brandon
Chef/ Owner - Wandering Dago Catering Company & Food Truck

What is Traditional Wedding Fare?

After meeting some brides and grooms to be, I think I may have a different outlook
on this topic than I had even one year ago.

Imagine if you got a piece of paper that had one single question written on it.
The question said, "Write down what you consider traditional wedding fare."

This is a question that I ask almost every couple we meet with - So far the answers are almost all different. Endless amounts of bad pasta is a popular answer, as is carved prime rib.
Most of these people have to stop and truly think about the question before answering.
That pause led me to wonder if there is such a thing as classic wedding fare.
Ironically, many of the brides and grooms seem to be extremely open to menu options.
Most have one or two "Musts" that need to make the menu in some capacity.
One major influence is parents and grandparents - I am told often that they need to have some traditional "______________." - Insert the family favorite or ethnic staple.
For that reason alone, I am in love with wedding consultations and tastings.
Getting to know a couple is one of the best parts of this whole process.

Many of the crews we meet have such an amazing appreciation for fusion style cuisine, for which I am eternally thankful. A great example - meeting a young couple that loves all styles of food and wants their favorites combined into a theme for the wedding menu actually makes my job much more fun.
Creating these menus from dishes they have tasted or even imagined often involves some classic cooking techniques paired with one or two genres of food. From these wedding consultations we are seeing all kinds of menu item ideas surface - take Prime Rib on a Build Your Own Taco Bar or even a smoked pork belly corndog appetizer.
We have booked weddings with pig roasts and weddings with prime rib carving stations.

 

I am starting to wonder if traditional wedding fare is starting be nothing more than a starting point for the imagination.

To many, starting a food truck already puts us in the "Rogue" Category, among other labels....
Our grand plan to make wedding catering more fun for the people involved is starting to take place.

Make sure that you keep some tradition, no matter what that means to you, just remember to make the wedding menu all yours.
If our catering team can ever help with ideas in any way, please let me know.
You can always ask us questions here - catering@wanderingdago.com

If you just feel like cruising the wedding menu, check it out here - www.wanderindago.com 


Brandon
Chef/Owner - Wandering Dago Food Truck & Catering