It’s the most romantic time of the year, that’s right—it’s almost Valentine’s Day!
It’s the day when we celebrate the power of love with that special someone by giving them gifts or taking them out for a romantic meal.
Now, what better way is there to celebrate the day of love than a romantic (and delicious) buffet? It’s a great way to let your friends and family spend time together with their significant other and mingle a bit. That being said, holding a Valentine’s Day buffet goes well beyond just buffet menu planning—you need to create an atmosphere that whispers “romance” and gives your guests a memorable experience.
So here are 5 romantic ideas to consider when setting up your Valentine’s Day buffet and what to include in your menu planning.
1. Incorporate a romantic theme and decor
Before you start buffet menu planning, you need to decide how to set up your buffet. For a Valentine’s Day buffet, you’ll want to add a touch of romance to the layout and the decor.
Have all the guest tables decorated with romantic centerpieces, like flowers or small cupid sculptures. In addition, you could sprinkle some rose petals on the surface of the tables for a more intimate table setting.
If this is an indoor event, consider keeping the lighting soft and dim to create a more relaxing atmosphere. A good way to do this is to use candles or LED mood lights that change color. In addition, you should try playing some soft music during the event. Instrumental songs and classic love songs are great choices to create a romantic mood.
2. Get a romantic buffet menu catered
Now for the star attraction of the event—the buffet menu! This won’t be your run-of-the-mill buffet menu; you need to make it romantic and include foods that speak the language of love.
First, make sure to include a big appetizer menu. Your guests will want to walk around and mingle with people during the event, so it would be good to have an appetizer menu with plenty of finger foods.
Also, you might want to include a charcuterie board or a meat and cheese platter. These are great appetizers for any buffet and they offer many tasty options. Make sure to add a veggie platter with vegan cheese too for guests who don’t eat animal products.
For dessert, opt for chocolate—no flavor says “love” like chocolate! Include a bunch of delicious chocolate desserts, like chocolate cupcakes, black forest cake, and even some chocolate chip cookies.
3. Include interactive food stations
Everyone loves food stations, so why not decide to include some during your Valentine’s Day buffet menu planning?
Food stations like cocktail bars can be a lot of fun for your guests. They can create their own cocktails and have fun with their significant other while doing so. Also, throwing in a salad station would be a great idea for your vegetarian guests.
If you’re expecting non-drinkers, you could include a coffee bar so guests can brew their own coffee. You could even add the chocolate cupcakes we mentioned earlier to the coffee bar to take your coffee bar to the next level.
4. Engage the senses
Just making your Valentine’s Day buffet look romantic won’t be enough—you need to make it feel romantic too. But how do you make someone “feel” romantic? Well, you need to engage their senses.
One clever way to do this is to light scented candles throughout the venue, especially on the guest tables. Choose scents that give off a romantic feel, like vanilla, roses, or strawberries. Also, decorate your tables with soft velvet table runners and napkins—this can offer your guests a more luxurious dining experience.
In addition, consider hiring a chocolate fountain with a bowl of strawberries for your guests to enjoy. The taste of strawberries and melted chocolate will tickle their senses, so why not go all out and ensure your guests feel the love in the air?
5. Leave small mementos
You’ll want your guests to remember this experience, so why not give them a few mementos to take home?
Some great mementos to give your guests include decorated cards and notes with romantic quotes and messages, small hand-made portraits of the couples who will be attending, cute boxes of chocolates or a Valentine’s themed cupcake, or small scented candles.
Make sure to take an accurate count of how many guests will be coming to your gathering before you order these mementos. It would be a shame to discard any surplus of mementos, so consider giving them to the catering staff after the event is over.
Romantic buffet menu planning made easy
Planning a Valentine’s Day buffet can be quite tricky since you need to get not just the buffet menu planning right but the atmosphere too. If you don’t know where to start, you could always try calling a good catering company in Pittsburgh for help.
These companies have tons of experience in catering for all kinds of events—weddings, parties, Valentine’s Day-themed events; you name it, they do it. Get in touch with a good catering company today and take a gander at their special catering menu packages.
