Kosher Wedding Menu

A “Kasheir” Kosher Wedding Menu: the caterers face lights up, they immediately do a quick calculation and quadruple the price! Or you receive a blank look when you explain that dairy and meat may not be served together at one meal sitting, or that pork and shrimp/crustacean may not be served. Then there’s the question of being able to find a reputable cater who will present a kosher wedding menu that does not look like a luke warm salmonella hazard waiting to happen. Prior to choosing your wedding celebration venue, never has it been more important to do your research.

If you are an interfaith couple, or on a very strict budget, there may be a margin of flexibility. That is to say, would you be offending anybody if you had a non-kosher caterer who served vegetarian and fish dishes? For those you know adhere strictly to a kosher diet could special dishes be brought in?

Timing Of Your Wedding Feast:

Your kosher wedding menu and cost may be affected by the timing of your wedding:

- in the UK Jewish weddings usually occur on a Sunday
- in the USA the most popular time is one hour after Sundown on Saturday
- Havdalah (a ceremony that formerly ends the Sabbath) may be included in a Saturday wedding
- if held on a weekday, Tuesday being regarded as an auspicious day, traditionally chicken should not to be eaten, but a weekday does not carry weekend tariffs
- then you need to decide whether or not to serve food to your guests during Yichud

Sample Kosher Wedding Menu:

- Challah Bread and Bread Service
- Hors d’Oeuvres hot and cold served with Bellinis
- Hot or Cold display e.g. Ice Sculpture with kosher oysters
- Buffet from various Food Stations, Or
- Formal sit-down meal with silver-service

Other Considerations:

- the food stations fare could be based upon the couples native cuisine
- butlers may serve hors d’oeuvres “dig-dag”, (literally translated – tickling tempter for the plate), or you may decide upon tasting plates from a buffet
- young children may prefer cheeseless pizzas to adult fare
- you may wish to find a supplier of kosher wine
- kosher wine will definitely be required during your wedding ceremony

Traditional Hors d’ Oeuvres:

- spelling and recipe will depend upon whether of Yiddish or Ladino origin
- “felafel”, chickpea dip
- “humous v’tehina”, chick pea and sesame dip
- “hirring forschmak”, herring appetizer
- “medyahs”, stuffed tomatoes
- “ikre”, kosher caviar
- “tahina”, sesame dip
- “halzel”, stuffed fowl neck

Some non-traditional Hors d’ Oeuvres prepared in the kosher way may include:

- sushi and/or smoked salmon dressed in various ways
- crudités & dips
- filo pastries filled with various things, e.g. spinage, mushrooms
- canapés with various toppings, e.g. tuna, salmon, kosher fish roe, kosher lobster
- various pates, e.g. kosher crab cakes, cod cakes
- spring rolls
- various pita and other breads

Other Kosher Wedding Menu Tips:

There are many more kosher alternatives on the market today. For example, “pareve” (non-dairy) ice cream. Alternatively you may decide on sorbet. I guarantee most of your non-Jewish guests will not realize that they are eating kosher food. The only difference I noticed was that the cuts of meat were better and certainly more flavorsome!

As diary and meat may not be served together that means you will not be eating your wedding cake on the day unless you find a kosher baker who will make a non-dairy one for you. If you are not living in a major city and this is proving a problem have a non-kosher wedding cake that is put into cake boxes by the caterers for your guests to take home with them to eat at another time. You can still pose and have pictures of you cutting the cake!

When looking for wedding favors check the initials “OU”. This is a certification of kosher from the Orthodox Union. Many Hershey products are kosher.




Kosher Wedding Menu