Wedding Food Planner

Food is an important part of the work of a wedding planner.  It must be appropriate to the space, served simultaneously to a hundred or more guests, accommodate all tastes and dietary demands and remain on budget.

Uncommon ingredients may need to be purchased from other countries and coaxed through watchful customs agents.

The planner must be a good diplomat and be energetic, personable, tactful, able to work well under pressure, and with all kinds of people who may behave badly, while remaining confident, optimistic, flexible and creative.

A flair for the dramatic is helpful, and a sense of humor is essential.

It is necessary to keep track of the many details while keeping everyone one on speaking terms.

Many establish their fees as a percentage of the production costs.

Note: The cost of a wedding ceremony itself is surprisingly modest, considering its importance. Loving couples can expect to pay between $10 and $100 for a 15-minute ceremony. Unloving couples can count on paying hundreds of dollars an hour for the services of a fancy divorce lawyer. It takes many more hours to dissolve a marriage than to consummate one.

Robert Frost, one of the most=admired American poets, was himself a hard worker. He considered that a life well lived is one devoted to perfecting one’s own craft. He said, “The world is full of willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.” He also wryly observed, “the reason worry kills more people than work, is that more people worry than work.”

This will be a big BIG weekend at the CIA where the Bocuse d’Or USA Competition will be staged. Everything is in readiness. The students are giddy with excitement. As are we all. There are so many luminary judges, no additional stars will be required to shine.

All this reminds me of a dinner in Lyon. My American friends were the hosts. They had spent many summers in the South of France dining in the grandest of the grand restaurants. They left exceedingly generous tips.

They decided to invite six of the most illustrious chefs to dinner at their rented villa. The chefs accepted and showed up at the appointed hour. My friends had cooked a leg of lamb and invited Paul Bocuse to carve it. Chef Bocuse rose from his chair, bowed and grasped the carving knife. He rested the fork on the roasted meat for a fraction of a minute.

“C’est terrible!’ He declared with a deep frown and promptly sat down.

He explained, When the little lambs are in the field, the flies come. Standing on one leg, the lamb brushes away the flies with his other leg. Thus one leg is more muscular and less tender than the other.

“Madame, You have served the wrong leg!”

With a roar of laughter, he proceeded to cut the meat.