It’s no secret that catering is one of the best parts of a wedding (for the guests, anyway). In 2019, food will become one of the most important elements in the wedding experience. As the year winds down, we’re beginning to see the emergence of new trends that will carry on to the next year and end up dominating wedding catering in 2019.

If you want to impress, entertain, and throw one hell of a wedding, you’d best be looking forward to wedding catering trends. Wedding blogs, foodies, and event planners are already dishing the dirt on the hottest wedding catering trends forecasted for 2019, and we’ve got them all here for you.

1. Less formal service, more interactive

One of the biggest trends amongst couples getting married is the desire for more interaction, conversation, and engagement between the guests at their wedding. The concept of wedding catering is changing from a formal service style, with waiters serving individual dishes, to a more casual and interactive setting.

One of the biggest wedding catering trends we forecast in 2019  is tavern-style seating that brings guests together for conversation and memory-making. With that, there’ll be less formal service from waiters and more communal dining.

Interactive live food stations that are styled to suit your wedding theme allow guests to enjoy a visual display while mixing and mingling in conversation. Watching food being prepared, presented, and served is as much a source of entertainment as chatting to other guests and becoming more and more valued in weddings.

From hot and cold food stalls, pop-up bar & cocktail stations, and dessert spreads, couples are opting for wedding catering that’s fun, relaxed, and adds to the casual atmosphere.

2. Fusion cuisine

Fusion food is gaining huge traction in the restaurant world, and this will start to take over wedding catering trends in 2019 as well. As multiculturalism blossoms all over the world, we’re seeing a lot more mixed race marriages where the bride and groom both want to showcase flavours and dishes from their home country. Fusion food is the perfect way to marry two cuisines into one unique, exciting meal.

With delicious flavours from around the world paired to create a new culinary twist, fusion dishes offer excitement and bring a unique, flavoursome experience for all guests. People are seeing more cuisines come together to create innovative new dishes, and serving fusion food at your wedding gives guests a foodie experience and chance to taste something different.

3. Bite-sized food

Food is delicious, and people want to sample as many different yummy flavours and tastes as they can. Cue bite-sized food, a growing trend that will be one of 2019s biggest wedding catering trends without a doubt. Bite-sized food is the perfect finger food and canape option, easy to consume while mingling with a cocktail in your hand.

The perfect bite-sized food will be an explosion of flavour, with every mouthful showcasing a range of tastes and ingredients. Elegant and stylish, bite-sized food will look just as great as it tastes, and offers guests the chance to sample lots of different flavours rather than going for larger meals.

Bite-sized food can be styled as part of a food station, passed around by waiters, or served as part of a buffet table. Don’t forget dessert, either! For true indulgence, a bite-sized dessert table is a perfect alternative for a wedding cake. Sprawling with tiny eclairs, cake pops, macarons, mini dessert cups, and more, dessert buffet tables are all about lots of options and exquisite presentation.

4. Brunch weddings

Another big wedding catering forecast for 2019 is the emergence of breakfast and brunch weddings. Daytime weddings are often a lot cheaper than afternoon or evening parties and are gaining traction amongst budget-conscious couples looking to spend more on the honeymoon and less on the party.

Some popular brunch wedding trends we’re seeing include long grazing tables beautifully decorated with fresh, seasonal produce and canapes, lots of flowing mimosas and bloody mary’s, shakshuka or crepe stations, and plenty of sunshine! Guests can help themselves to as little or as much food as they like, and the idea is to mingle and move around the venue.

A typical brunch wedding could begin with a long grazing table full of fresh, seasonal, bite-sized finger food served tapas style. Guests can help themselves to as little or as much food as they like! As the day progresses, guests can indulge in paella or Mexican tacos from pop-up food stations, all served in a fun and engaging way in the sunshine while cocktails and champagne flow.

5. Fresh & sustainable

Not so much a trend but more shift in lifestyle, more and more couples are seeking out wedding catering that’s fresh and locally sourced. The concept of farm-to-table is going nowhere, and 2019 will see couples looking for wedding caterers that use fresh, natural ingredients and make their food with love.

That said, this trend will encompass more than just organic and fresh wedding catering, but also ethically sourced cuisine and a higher focus on sustainability. Couples are specifically seeking out delicious wedding catering that has a focus on local, seasonal produce that’s handled with care and made with love. Wedding catering in 2019 is all about finding fresh and healthy produce delivered from quality caterers, without compromising on taste or flavour.

6. Carnival & festival style weddings

Keeping with the same theme of having less formal service and bringing a new experience of food, you’ll see lots of carnival/festival themed weddings in 2019. Rather than having waiters serving one menu (or alternate meals), weddings will be offering multiple options with different food stalls like a festival or carnival.

Food stations are set to be the next big thing. Each themed with a particular cuisine or dish, you might expect to see a chef live-cooking a huge paella, blow-torching creme brulee, or smashing up some fresh guacamole, or even a DIY table filled with condiments, fillings, and ingredients to create your own mouth-watering meal.

Wedding catering in 2019 will be all about the experience, with guests mixing and mingling and interacting with each other and caterers. It’s about making food part of the entertainment and watching it happen before your eyes just as you would in a carnival or festival.

7. Fun late-night party food

One of the biggest wedding catering trends you’ll see in 2019 is the appearance of late-night party food. After dinner and dessert (and lots of drinking), you’ll see a huge growth in couples wanting to send out fun late-night snacks for their remaining guests. Typically this will be fun party food like quesadillas, sliders, ice creams, and more, specifically for the younger partygoers who’ll be keen for a snack after all that dancing!