Fall Wedding Menu Ideas in Vermont

When clients ask for a fall wedding menu, what they usually mean is a menu that tastes like the way the air feels in October. The good news is that fall in Vermont is genuinely the most generous menu-building moment of the year. Within an hour of our kitchens we have:

• Heritage squash — delicata, butternut, kabocha, honeynut
• Root vegetables — carrots, parsnips, beets, celeriac, sunchokes
• Apples and pears at peak, plus fresh pressed cider
• Wild mushrooms — chanterelles early fall, hen-of-the-woods deeper into October
• Brassicas — Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage
• Pasture-raised beef, lamb, pork, and duck at their best
• Vermont cheeses going into their best months — Jasper Hill, Vermont Shepherd, Grafton Village

Fall cocktail hour at a Vermont wedding wants to feel abundant and warm. Our default approach: one stationary board, three to four passed hors d'oeuvres, and a signature drink that names the season.

• Stationary board: Vermont cheeses and charcuterie with honeycomb, candied pecans, fig jam, sliced apples, sourdough crackers
• Passed: butternut squash arancini with sage brown butter, maple-bacon wrapped dates with blue cheese, apple-cheddar tartlets, mini grilled-cheese with tomato bisque shooters
• Signature drink: Vermont apple-cider gimlet, maple Old Fashioned, or hot mulled cider with bourbon

We default to a salad or a soup-shooter pair for fall first courses. They warm the room without filling guests up before the entrée.

• Roasted beet and chèvre salad with candied walnuts, frisée, and cider vinaigrette
• Butternut squash soup with brown butter, sage, and crème fraîche
• Apple-fennel slaw with shaved Vermont cheddar and toasted hazelnuts

Fall entrées are where Vermont menus really show off. Our most-loved fall wedding entrée directions:

• Slow-roasted Vermont beef tenderloin with red-wine demi, herbed potato pavé, and roasted root vegetables
• Cider-brined pork loin with apple-fennel slaw, sage jus, and brown-butter polenta
• Pan-seared duck breast with cherry-port reduction, parsnip purée, and roasted parsnips
• Wild mushroom pappardelle (vegetarian) with hand-cut pasta, brown butter, and parmesan

Family-style fall sides are some of our favorite work. Generous, warming, photogenic. The defaults we keep coming back to:

• Roasted harvest vegetables — delicata, carrots, parsnips, beets, brown butter, sage
• Maple-glazed Brussels sprouts with pancetta and toasted hazelnuts
• Wild rice pilaf with cranberries, toasted pecans, and brown butter
• Stone-ground polenta with aged Vermont cheddar

Skip the standard wedding cake if you can. A fall Vermont wedding dessert wants to feel specifically of the place.

• Apple-cider doughnut cake with cider caramel and Vermont vanilla cream
• Maple panna cotta with whipped cream and candied pecans
• Pumpkin crème brûlée with brûléed sugar and ginger snap
• Late-night moment: warm apple-cider doughnuts and hot mulled cider sent off with guests

We start your fall menu about three months out. We pull what is realistically in season for your specific date (early October sources very differently from late October), draft three menu directions, narrow to one at the tasting, and lock the final menu about six weeks before the wedding. Then we source it the week of, cook it the day of, and plate it the night of. That is the entire process.