The culinary experience at events, whether it’s a milestone birthday, a wedding, a corporate or non-profit event, is often a major component and you can easily use the food you are serving to reflect your event’s style. Serving food with stations is one of my favorite ways of customizing your event, especially when you are trying to please many palates or have guests with eclectic tastes. Each station can have a specific focus or theme, while offering a variety of tastes. For example, here are some ideas from previous Corporate Events to inspired you as you plan your events, as well as other social events with full menus and photos:
- For a camping themed office opening for a corporate client, we had 3 ‘make-your-own’ interactive stations: Mac and Cheese station, Hot Dog station, and Popcorn station. For dessert, a S’mores station.
- For a winter holiday party for a corporate client in Washington, DC, we designed a stations menu that warmed our guests. For example, the “Warm Up Station” featured a warm salad, cauliflower soup, and butternut squash risotto. For the “Winter Harvest Station”, we served short ribs, brussels sprouts, and quinoa with sweet potatoes and lentils. To end the evening, in addition to desserts, we had a Hot Beverage Station with a choice of coffee, Hot Chocolate, and Warm Spiced Apple Cider.
Event #1 – For a wedding, to honor the bride and groom’s respective heritage, the culinary team at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC helped us put together a menu featuring a Chesapeake Station (included fried chicken and biscuits, crab cakes, hush puppies, and spiced grilled shrimp) for the groom and a Middle Eastern station (stuffed grape leaves, tabbouleh salad, baba ghanoush, lamb & chicken kabobs) for the bride. (The entire wedding recap is here)
Photos by Documentary Associates
Event #2 – Another of our clients wanted a cocktail style reception which means you should be able to eat all the food with just a fork but didn’t want to sacrifice beautiful presentation. Our clients included eclectic eaters, enjoying a variety of cuisines so we reflected that in their menu. Wolfgang Puck Catering at the Newseum helped us design one of the most sophisticated menu to date. (Revisit the whole event here)
The Pan Asian Station featured 6 items including Thai Spicy Beef and Grapefruit Salad, Carved Whole Roasted Duckling with Bao Buns, Braised Short Ribs with Panang Curry, and a variety of Dumplings.
A small plates station allows you to showcase the presentation of the food more often associated with larger plates, but still keeping the food bite-sized. Our Modern Small Plates Station had something for everyone: Kuri Squash Crostada for vegetarians, Hamachi Sushi Sphere, and Harissa Glazed Lamb Chop.
Photos by Amber Wilkie
Event #3 – Inspired by their morning strolls through Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, our clients offered a “Pike Place Station” featuring fresh seafood and vegetables reminiscent of the fall season in the Pacific Northwest. Photo by Amber Wilkie (More on this event here)
Event #4. For a 50th birthday party, the catering team at Wolfgang Puck Catering at the Newseum designed a menu that was reflective of our client’s life: a “Taste of Cape Cod” station reminiscent of their summer vacations, a “Pan Asian” station because he loves Asian food, and a “Beer and Brats” cart. Each station had a beer pairing. Photo: Stephen Gosling (More from this party here)
While this pillow of orange carnations carried the couple’s wedding vows, you can certainly use it for the wedding rings too. Photo by 
