Selecting a wedding menu should be one of the most enjoyable and straightforward parts of your planning, right? Just choose a caterer, pick a few options from their menu – maybe have a leisurely afternoon tasting the very best they have to offer - and book them.

In reality, crafting a delicious and memorable menu that you and your partner adore, that accommodates every guest's dietary needs, fits the style and theme of your venue, and doesn’t blow your budget can feel like an impossible task. 

I’m lucky enough to have 20+ years of experience photographing some of the UK's most breathtaking weddings, and have spent time chatting to many incredible caterers. I’ve pulled together what I’ve learned to create this checklist to help make wedding menu planning a little easier for you. Follow these tips to rediscover the joy of menu selection, so you and your guests can look forward to memorable dishes that delight every palate.

Involve your caterers in your vision: they’re the pros, it’s not their first gig – involve them, ask them for their advice and suggestions. Find out what other couples have chosen at your venue, ask them for sample menus, and if you have your heart set on something, tell them. Likewise if there’s something you can’t bear, let them know. Make sure they’re kept informed of guest numbers, too. 

Keep it seasonal and local: if your wedding menu is guided by the seasons and uses locally-sourced food, you won’t go far wrong. Comfort food is a welcome antidote to a chilly winter’s day – think warmly spiced dishes, hearty roasts and root veg – while summer is the perfect backdrop for lighter dishes with an abundance of veg, salad leaves and fresh herbs in season. Your caterer can let you know what’s likely to be in season and will talk you through their suppliers. 

Be adventurous, and don’t be influenced by anyone else: if your Mum says the wedding breakfast must have a fish starter, then a chicken main, then a chocolate pudding – you don’t have to listen.

How does it fit with the rest of your day? Maybe you’ve got Bollywood dancing or a Ceilidh planned, and you don’t want your guests sitting down to multiple courses for hours, so grazing tables from earlier in the day would work better. Or how about lighter self-serve options, and a candlelit sit-down dinner later in the evening? 

Choose festival-style food vans for quirkiness: queuing for sugar-crusted hot doughnuts or mozzarella-laden pizza slices at a wedding is a world apart from festival fare – it’s fun, hassle-free and a great way for guests to get to know each other. And it doesn’t have to be unhealthy: create-your-own salad vans, smoothie bars and frozen yogurt trucks with add-your-own-topping-selections are great options. 

Consider something striking as a sharing centrepiece: a centrepiece on each table which requires guests to dig in, to help themselves or serve each other can be a fantastic, interactive experience and complements an informal, relaxed wedding. Try an antipasto starter, or  a fragrant paella served in a cast-iron paella pan for jaw-dropping drama.  

Make it personal: the menu should reflect you both as a couple. Maybe one of you cooked an incredible dish in your early days of dating; maybe there’s a dish you both loved on a favourite holiday today, or perhaps you both have family favourites from your childhood that are meaningful to you. Tell your caterers, and ask if they can recreate them.  

Know your guests: make it easy for guests to let you know their dietary preferences well in advance and give them a deadline for the information, to help the caterers. Add a section on your RSVP, or on your wedding website, and highlight allergens on any printed menus. Discuss any allergies with your caterers and inform event staff. It’s also worth asking staff their process in the event of an emergency – not to sound dramatic, just to be sure that everyone can relax and enjoy themselves on the day

The past few years have seen weddings shift towards eco-friendly, sustainable practices and materials. With the average carbon footprint of a wedding estimated at 60 metric tons of CO2 emissions - compared with the average person’s carbon footprint estimated at around 16 metric tons a year - it’s easy to see why sustainability is a top priority for couples in 2025.

Here are six ways to reduce your wedding’s carbon footprint and to make sure your event doesn’t cost the earth: 

Travel

Don’t be afraid to tell guests you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint, and make it easy for them to make sustainable choices. Encourage lift shares and provide information on public transport links on your wedding website or in your invitations. 

If your venue isn’t near public transport links, hiring a vintage bus for your guests to take from nearby railway stations is a great way to ramp up the excitement while reducing the need for guests to travel to your venue individually. 

Energy use and recycling practices at your venue

Speak to your venue about ways they can help you reduce energy use; they’re likely to have their own Net Zero goals and they’ll be able to make suggestions around timing and use of rooms – if the room with the DJ and dancefloor is separate to where your wedding breakfast will be held, they can manage timings for you so the DJ and any lights and effects only begin once guests filter out from the meal.  Ask your venue what recycling facilities they have in place and think about whether you need to provide options for your guests to recycle – paper towels in bathrooms, for example. 

Catering

Choosing local suppliers and locally-sourced food and drink supports the local community as well as helping to reduce to carbon emissions generated by food and drink transportation costs. Selecting a seasonal menu also helps.  Your caterers will advise you on the most sustainable ways for your food and drink to be served. Choose glass water bottles only on tables; you can buy and reuse gorgeous retro cordial bottles from The Range and Homesense, while Belu is a UK-based company that focuses on sustainability and offers mineral water in glass bottles, as well as donating 100% of their net profits to WaterAid. 

Wedding favours

There are so many options you can get creative and provide sustainable wedding favours that will delight your guests. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

Plantable Seed Paper: Give your guests plantable seed paper hearts or cards that will sprout wildflowers when planted. It's a beautiful way to remember your special day

• Reusable Tote Bags: Provide guests with reusable tote bags made from natural cotton. These can be personalised with your wedding date and a special message

• Bee-Friendly Seed Packets: Packets of wildflower seeds that attract bees and butterflies are a lovely, eco-friendly favour. 

• Soy Wax Candles: Opt for candles made from soy wax, which is a natural and renewable resource. You can choose scents that match your wedding theme and personalise the labels

• Bamboo Straws: Engraved bamboo straws are a practical and eco-friendly gift that helps reduce single-use plastic waste

• Succulents: Small potted succulents make for charming and sustainable favours. 

• Organic Soaps: Handmade organic soaps in various scents are a luxurious and eco-friendly favour. Look for soaps made with natural ingredients and minimal packaging

• Locally-made sweets, honey, jams and pickles make fantastic favours

• Reusable Water Bottles: Provide guests with BPA-free, stainless steel water bottles that they can use long after the wedding. They’ll help them stay hydrated throughout the day too! 

Décor and materials

Visit local markets, antiques stores and charity shops while you’re planning your event, to see what’s out there: you can try salvage yards for reclaimed materials and vintage signs that add character and a sense of fun, and check local and national online marketplaces for features like champagne glass display holders, flower walls and garden games like giant Jenga.  If you’re heading off for honeymoon, ask your family to pop back to the venue and bring home flowers and decorations, or encourage staff to take them home after the event. 

Bridal party outfits

Thrift shop buys, vintage gowns and suits and natural fabrics are the more sustainable options, but if these are not for you, why not think about renting a gown? There are some fantastic suit hire and wedding-gown rental companies, or to up the glamour stakes you could rent a designer evening gown. You can explore rental options for your bridal party too, removing the ‘Will they wear it again?’ dilemma altogether. Alternatively, choosing colour palettes and encouraging your bridal party to select their own outfits might require a leap of faith on your part, but they’ll be more likely to feel a million dollars in a dress they wear regularly, rather than it languishing in the back of their wardrobe.

What options are you choosing to make your wedding sustainable? 

2025 weddings will be built around the creation of authentic experiences and meaningful
storytelling, with a touch of nostalgia adding whimsy and delight. The guest experience will be
unique, memorable, joyful and – while there will be many opportunities to snap insta-ready creative
details - this year’s couples will focus on keeping things real, natural, sustainable and deeply
personal.

Wedding planners’ Pinterest mood boards will be eclectic collections of the old and the new, of sun-
bleached pastels and stunning floral displays complemented by very 2025 touches: think signature
cocktails, build-your-own graze cones, textural features to add interest and Ibiza- style breakout
areas designed for lounging, with soft lighting and Balearic beats in the background – perfect for
resting party feet.

Here are the key wedding trends to know about in 2025:

Experiential entertainment
Couples’ dreams for the guest experience now involve interactive, memorable experiences; artists
drawing caricatures are popular, while portraits drawn in real-time provide fun
favours. Performers, comedians, silent discos and themed photos booths also top the list of
entertainment booked for 2025 weddings.

Vintage chic
Vintage-inspired everything continues to be a key theme for 2025 weddings. Taking the ‘something
old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’ to their hearts, we’re seeing personal
touches reflecting a couple’s own journey and those close to them: snippets of family wedding
gowns worked into modern designs, family and friends’ couple goals photos displayed at venues,
grandparents’ jewellery and accessories, from veils to white gloves, clever recreations of vintage
cake designs and beautiful vintage tableware – mismatched? Even better. Vintage chic also extends
to bridal fashion, where we’ll see structured bodices for a flattering silhouette; statement sleeves
providing drama; and Hollywood waves, chignons and bouffants in a nod to movie-star
sophistication.

The picture-perfect venue backdrop for social posts
Ask most couples why they chose a particular venue and chances are, there’ll be a distinctive feature
or characteristic that they loved more than any other venue: a bridge flanking a sparkling stream; a
majestic conifer in the grounds, its branches spread; a botanical glasshouse providing timeless chic.
These features are incredibly important to couples, guests and photographers alike and will be even
more so in 2025, as photographers offer packages which combine their unique and creative ability to
capture couples against venues’ unique features to create a photo album to last a lifetime, with the couple’s desire to update their social posts in near real-time. Inevitably, one or two photos shot against the distinctive venue’s features are the most engaged-with social posts.

Natural everything – bringing the outside in.
Regardless of time of year, couples are working in elements of the natural world to their event
planning: from the calming nature of deep winter greenery and pops of deep muscari-blue, to
springtime primrose-yellow and pure white clouds of Lily of the Valley, to the heady fragrance and
power-pink blush of summer blooms and fragrant herbs, and the sun-drenched grasses and berry-
rich autumn leaves. Planners are dressing tables with rustic linen runners, tying sashes on chair
covers in corn-coloured raffia and adding luxe touches with soft muslin drapes.

The jaw-dropping design feature
Couples on a budget are choosing elegant, simplistic décor with a signature, standout feature –
metallic luxe walls, a floor-to-ceiling panel of faux peonies, floral chandeliers, living walls with
forest-green foliage. They all provide a jaw-dropping backdrop for photos and add something special
to the ambience of a venue, blending opulence with simplicity and providing smart use of budget.

Sustainability
Less of a trend, more of a lifestyle, eco-conscious couples are carefully planning their events with the
lowest-possible carbon footprint. From selecting venues close to public transport, to favours made
from reclaimed materials, to reusing fabrics after the event, couples are prioritising sustainable
practices and materials (looking for ways to make your wedding day more sustainable? Take a look
at my next blog post coming soon for inspo!).

The photo album
I’m seeing more and more couples choosing to receive a complete photo album as part of their
wedding package, rather than just digital downloads. It’s a personal choice, and some couples
prefer to receive digital photos and put together their own photobooks or albums, while others
realise it’s something they’ll never quite get around to doing, and they leave the album to the
photographer. It’s often the last thing to be received after the day is over, so it’s something to look
forward to, and there’s definitely a sense of occasion around having a tangible, superior quality
album; pour a glass of something chilled, sit down together and relive your day. There’s something
very special about the timelessness of those memories captured between the pages – all the guests
gathered to celebrate you both. And in the future, as you begin the next part of your journey
together, you can leaf through those pages on every anniversary.

What’s on your mood board for your #2025Weddinginspo?