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Today we provided the catering for Hannah and George who were tying the knot. The wedding reception was held at George’s parent’s farm in Flaunden… A pretty little hamlet situated just outside of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
The wedding reception was held in the barn that normally houses the combine harvester. It was transformed with coloured drapes, bunting and decorations to give a Moroccan feel to the day and looked amazing.
We were asked to come up with an exciting menu and decided on spit roast lamb, served with Moroccan style roasted vegetables, spicy couc cous and roasted new potatoes with rosemary and garlic.
We arrived mid morning to set up our catering kitchen outside the barn. It was the eve of the biggest storm to hit England for a few years, and the day was extremely windy as the beckoning storm that was due grew slowly over the day. We had three large pop up gazebo’s tied and anchored to various points around us and arranged the kitchen with our trestle tables for preparation, a large cooker, fridge and three spit roast machines. The lamb was seasoned with rosemary and garlic and a little olive oil and lemon to help give the skin a nice crispy and delicate flavour and we started to prepare the salads and canapés.
The groom, best man and family soon left for the service and wished us luck in the windy conditions and they were right…. we needed it!!
It was clear after about an hour the gazebo’s, although very strong were not going to stay where we wanted them, the wind was getting so strong that the sides were acting like sails and if we did not do something quick, they were going to take off. We decided we were going to have to move the whole kitchen area to a more sheltered place. Easier said than done as we were half way through preparing canapés, peeling vegetables, we also had pots of pans of boiling water on the cooker and on top of this we were on the edge off a field and the wind was blowing straight at us. We did find a slightly more sheltered area and moved everything but the kitchen sink… we would of moved that as well but we did not actually have this set up… so we hoped for the best and just hoped we would not get blown away.
The October evenings become dark and cold after the clocks have gone back and when the guests arrived back at the farm they were greeted by our illuminated gazebo and the small of the spit roast lamb slowly turning and basting in its own juices. The aroma of the feast to come could be smelt down the long drive as the wind carried the wafts of the succulent spit roast lamb in Flaunden.
The guests soon mingled and huddled around the entrance to the barn. Some guests made a bee line for the tepee that was housing the bar and sipped real ale while waiting for the bride and groom. I am a big fan of real ale and managed to fit in a pint and I must say it was just about the nicest pint I have had. The ale was sourced from the puritybrewing.com and I will definitely be purchasing some for myself.
Our canapés are all freshly made on site by our experienced chefs and we had an array of tantalising tasty nibbles to tempt the guest’s taste buds. We find that homemade canapés are much more preferred than mass produced supermarket offerings at a hog roast wedding in Watford or spit roast lamb in Stevenage. Two of our waitresses served champagne and the other three silver service trained waitresses floated around offering our snacks that were too wet the guest’s appetite before the spit roast lamb Hertfordshire. The salmon on mini dill scones with sour cream and horse radish was being devoured as were the very simple cock tail sausages that are made by our local butcher. As I say very simple but once roasted in honey and coated with sesame seeds are just irresistible. We find that offering a few cold canapés and some hot canapé options is key to getting the right balance and of course you must make sure that there is at least a couple of veggie options. Our shortbreads with roasted plum tomato, feta and black olive hits the spot with the veggie option and are always a hit as were the mushroom Bouchees. The fillet of beef on crispy breads topped with our home made salsa Verdi was the highlight for nibbles and our waitresses could not keep up with the demand. They were back within seconds demanding more of the delicious morsels and we were quizzed as to the recipe by many guests…. But it is our secret and we would have to kill them if we told them!
After about an hour of sampling our home made canapés, guests were invited to sit at the rows of tables that had been set either side of the barn. The groom decided the speeches would be before the main meal so there was a few moments to tidy up and prepare for the main meal of spit roast in Flaunden.
As if the weather was not bad enough and the elements were really against us, we lifted the lamb roast Flaunden to start carving the scrumptious, tender sweet feast when all of a sudden the lights went out…. Yes it was pitch black, no lights and in a field in the howling wind with one hundred and thirty odd hungry guests waiting to tuck into something hot and tasty.
Don’t panic Mr Mannering!!! We shouted at each other while laughing. (Some of you may remember this if you are old enough to have watched Dads Army) as we fumbled about pointing the torches on our mobile phones at each other. Hannah came running out and laughed I bet this is all you need at serving time. It was a funny moment and these things do happen from time to time but a cool head is needed and there is always a solution to a problem. This time it was a simple fuse that had blown when Hannah turned on a micro wave in the barn to warm some baby milk and this caused the circuit in the barn to blow a fuse. Within five minutes or so all was back to normal and we set about our task of serving the wedding banquet
As the theme was Moroccan lamb roast, we were serving the meal on platters which were to be placed on the table for guests to help themselves. This is becoming more popular and really is a good way to have the meal as it encourages guests to talk and gives a very relaxed and informal affair as guests pass the food between each other which was what Hannah and George had wished.
After the speeches, platters that we had heated in the oven were laid with the spit roast lamb, crispy but soft skin and roasted new potatoes that had been seasoned with rosemary and garlic and cooked in the spit roast machine, basting in the juices from the lamb. There were also the roasted Mediterranean vegetables and spicy cous cous with apricots which were placed in hot bowls and dotted along the tables for guests to share between them. The whole effect of serving this way almost gives a medieval banquet feel to the meal and is just a wonderful way to experience a hog roast in Broxbourne, spit roast in Welwyn or even a spit roast turkey as a festive meal in Milton Keynes.
Our waitresses then wandered around offering second helpings of vegetables, potatoes and of course more of the mouth watering spit roast lamb before clearing the tables of all crockery and cutlery.
The desserts were an array of homemade cakes, cheese boards and desserts that the guests had brought along and were placed in the middle of the two rows of tables. George and Hannah had wanted guests to choose something they fancied from the dessert table and hope fully encourage the guests to wander about, mingle and chat to each other. We are finding more people are doing this and it really works…. It encourages guests for weddings in London to chat to each other and really is an ice breaker and gives the whole wedding a very informal and relaxed atmosphere.
The real partying soon started and we went about the task of cleaning and clearing away all our equipment and packing the vans before heading off home to Hemel Hempstead and leaving another party full of happy, well fed guests at a wedding in Hertfordshire.
For all your wedding catering in Hertfordshire or corporate caterer in Hertfordshire requirements have a look at our exciting menus at Herts Hog Roasts.
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Hello, Steve and Karen
Hope you had a good holiday.
I’ve been meaning to e-mail to say a big thank you since we returned from our holiday, but haven’t got around to it and now you’ve beaten me to it!
We were so pleased with the food and service from Hertfordshire Hog Roasts. You delivered exactly what we had imagined on the food (and we had very high expectations!), and you definitely went over and above on the service, It must have been pretty tough in the wind, and then hindered by the lack of lighting for a period (sorry). Amazingly this didn’t seem to phase you.
The beer was from the Purity Brewery near us . Quite expensive for delivery, but very reasonable if you can pick it up in person.
Once we get some pictures back we will email some through – you’d be more than welcome to use them on your website, and we’ll try to put some words together as well. We were genuinely thrilled with everything you delivered.
Kind Regards,
Hannah & George
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