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The biggest wedding food trends of 2020 include snacks from your childhood
- If you're already planning your 2020 wedding, you might want to put grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese "doodles," and ramen on the menu.
- According to leading wedding planning website The Knot, the most popular wedding food items will be nostalgic, crowd-pleasing favorites.
- At the company's annual gala, we sampled some of the biggest wedding food trends of 2020 and spoke with industry experts about what everyone will be serving.
- "Serve the food you love and that you want to eat," Jove Meyer, the designer and planner behind The Knot Gala 2019, told Insider.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
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If you're planning a wedding for next year, you might feel overwhelmed by all the new decisions you have to make.
Thankfully, when it comes to food, the biggest trend for 2020 is something you'll recognize: nostalgic, crowd-pleasing foods that you probably ate in your childhood, like grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese "doodles."
Insider recently attended the annual gala thrown by leading wedding planning website The Knot to learn about the biggest trends for the coming year. While there, we got the chance to sample some dishes — catered by Pinch Food Design — that you should expect to see on wedding menus through 2020.
Here are the biggest wedding food trends of 2020.
Instead of focusing on high-end, over-the-top, or fancy hors d'oeuvres and bites for wedding receptions and cocktail hours, next year's trends will instead lean towards comfort foods that appeal to a large number of people and palates.
"Serve the food you love and that you want to eat," Meyer, the owner and creative director of Jove Meyer Events, told Insider. "Just because it is your wedding does not mean it has to be 'high end' or 'fancy' — it should be delicious, approachable, and served beautifully."
One hors d'oeuvre at The Knot Gala that reflected nostalgia and comfort was a cheese "doodle" made of gluten-free puffed penne topped with taleggio cheese and pepper. The crunchy snack immediately transported us back to our childhood, but the presentation of the appetizer was nevertheless sophisticated enough for a black-tie wedding reception.
Guests had the choice of either a three-cheese blend version or one with bacon and sweet onions.
Grilled cheese stations have become extremely popular in recent years, with some couples choosing to also include tomato soup with the dish. The Knot chose to include it on the gala menu because they knew it would be a crowd pleaser.
"This year was all about planning a party that people want to go to and a big part of that is food," Jove Meyer told Insider. "We wanted to serve the kinds of goodies people want to eat when they're a few drinks in and busting moves on the dance floor!"
Chicken sandwiches were all anyone could talk about in the second half of 2019, and the hype around fried chicken doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. This delicious and filling appetizer makes for a great bite during cocktail hour and gives guests fuel to dance the night away.
The chicken parmesan sliders served at the gala perfectly reflected the trend of elevated versions of "casual" foods by adding Fior Di Latte mozzarella and semi-spicy arrabbiata sauce to an otherwise simple dish.
Everybody loves street food. One huge wedding food trend for next year is taking the street food dishes we love and elevating them to a new level that's black-tie worthy.
"Being in New York City, I wanted to match the spirit of the city, which has delicious high-end food as well as amazing street food," Jove Meyer said. "Mixing high and low is such a fun way to surprise guests and I think we will see more and more of it."
Millennials love their avocado toast, and it's even showing up on wedding menus. You could serve it piled on top of perfectly crusty toast or focaccia bread or on a plate with potato chips, balsamic, chive oil, and spicy chili aioli.
When it comes to cocktail hour appetizers, offering plant-based or vegetarian options is becoming increasingly important. These handheld ramen lettuce cups can be made with either roast pork, noodles, and rice-nori crumble, or as a vegetarian option with mushroom, noodles, and a poached egg.
"Couples should be mindful of guests allergies and aversions, but they should lead with their favorites and include regional items as well," Meyer told Insider.
Pizza makes for a surprisingly great cocktail hour snack since it's easy to hold and pass around.
For example, pizza is easy to customize with different toppings, giving guests more options without the hassle of you needing to provide a separate dish.
Elevating it with ingredients like prosciutto, triple creme blue cheese, fig, and rosemary gives this fan-favorite food an air of sophistication. Or, choose toppings that you and your partner genuinely love like pepperoni and cheese — but choose high-end versions of those toppings.
According to Meyer, "2020 will see more 'floating receptions' than ever. It's all about surprise and delight – keeping guests guessing about where the food will come from next and how it will be presented."
Passed-around appetizers and hors d'oeuvres are wonderful, but having food options for guests to easily grab throughout the venue is convenient and fun. From macarons to rock candy and cookies, these quick-grab snacks are perfect for receptions large and small. Couples can customize the items with their wedding colors.
These Baked by Melissa cupcakes were a New York-inspired party favor, but sending guests home with a regional snack is a great way to incorporate a wedding's location into the night's food offerings.
Having a wedding in downtown New Orleans? Offering guests powdered beignets on their way out is an unforgettable touch.
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