Catering: Crafting culinary love stories for the ages

Afterwards, everyone will always have an opinion on the food. They may not remember what you wore, what song you danced to, or which grandmother threw a sulk, but they will remember what you fed them. Food is central to our culture, perhaps more so in the UAE, where it is so central to our identity.

But delicious food that looks good is so very corona-era; everybody learnt to take pictures of their plates in lockdown. Now, as brides couples look to present who they are – or who they want to be seen as – in every area of their wedding, they also want chefs to create dishes that reflect who they are.

“There’s really no wedding without food, it’s what brings everyone together,” celebrity chef Vikas Khanna tells Friday Bride. “Even if the wedding is happening in the most remote part of the world, the food has to reflect the culture, the roots, the emotion.”

That’s what he and his team aim to do at Kinara restaurant at JA The Resort in Dubai’s Jebel Ali area. The three properties are a popular destination wedding venue in the emirates, and Khanna’s food is a major draw across demographics.

Most couples want their personal culture front and centre, says Ashish Kumar. One of Khanna’s protégés, he is Executive Sous Chef for three hotels: JA Lake View Hotel, JA Beach Hotel & JA Palm Tree Court. The three properties make up JA The Resort. “We’ve been dealing with weddings from different cultures, especially Indian weddings, over the last five years, and we’ve noticed the rise of personalisation as a trend,” Kumar says. “To create a lasting memory, people tend to personalise everything for their weddings, starting from menus, décor, return gifts and set up for the events.”

Part of this trend is a desire for customised food experiences. Specially printed macarons, for instance, are almost de rigeur now, since they first appeared at royal buffets a few of years ago. Others want cocktails named after family members, often capitalising on family in-jokes, says Hitesh Sharma, managing director of Taste Studio catering in Dubai. And Shresht Bansal, CEO of CCI Catering, says food is now a cultural and visual extension of the couple’s identity and the wedding’s atmosphere. “We often get requests from couples to create food that reflects their heritage like Lebanese-French or plating styles to match the wedding theme,” he says.

Many of these are dishes that didn’t exist before. In 2025, one-size-fits-all menus are dead.

Customisation isn’t only for sentimental reasons. Dietary restrictions are handled with precision, not apology. Gluten-free, dairy-free and low-sugar are now entry-level expectations. What’s new is the care taken to make sure those alternatives match the quality of the main offering. At a recent anniversary dinner party in Jumeirah, waiters brought around gluten-free pastry canapés filled with hummus for everyone.

“People want their weddings to be different from everyone else so the more items you can customise the better,” says Chef Jay Williams, who is Culinary Director at the Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Deira Creek, perhaps the most storied venue for weddings in the UAE – including many couples from the nation’s ruling families.

“For one recent wedding we did, both the bride and groom were huge basketball fans so we made chocolate basketballs for dessert where the guests had would smash them open with a small hammer to eat the filling,” he says.

Personalisation leads right into a longstanding appetite for fusion food that shows no signs of dissipating. Combining ingredients from different culinary traditions is a tasty byproduct of neoculturation, which occurs when different cultural groups interact, such as through globalisation or migration.

Fusion cuisine, a blend of different culinary traditions, is a growing trend in the food industry. “Our fusion menus offer a cultural symphony,” trills Hareesh Gopalan, Executive Chef at the Dusit Thani Dubai. “We serve green curry-infused biryani and saffron mahalabiya bridging Thai, Indian, and Arabic culinary heritage.”

Fusion is hardly new, but what’s happening in the UAE now is a more deliberate, cross-cultural layering, and in many ways, it reflects the way we live now: pasta for dinner, a Korean series on Netflix and a multilingual WhatsApp group are everyday experiences.

“Finding traditional dishes is probably harder than finding something fusion in Dubai,” Williams says, “because we have the opportunity to travel abroad much more often than a lot of other countries as a nation and we have become more educated in different cuisines.”

Whether at Dubai Creek or Al Barari, fusion takes different forms, limited only to the chef’s imagination. Sushi rolls might come topped with harissa mayo. Miso-glazed lamb might sit beside a Lebanese-style freekeh salad. Felafel has now become merely an additional ingredient at an Indian chaat station, while pizza with Korean barbecue or butter chicken are just regular late-night snacks.

At the Burj Al Arab, fusion is a culinary strategy to deliver authenticity at the luxury end. The hotel works with regional farms to integrate Emirati ingredients such as dates, cardamom and saffron into fine-dining wedding menus, creating camel sliders with foie gras or deconstructed luqaimat. Saffron-infused risotto and miso-marinated hammour using UAE-sourced seafood are among its other creative pairings.

“Dubai being a multicultural city demands international flavours that are also deep-rooted in individual cultures,” Bansal says. His response? Truffle-kunafa bites (perhaps a riff on Dubai chocolate?), and gold-leaf-covered dates filled with artisanal cheese.

Live cooking stations are often the go-to format, sometimes in addition to a plated, sit-down menu. On the surface, they’re a variation of the buffet. As Kumar puts it, nobody wants the standard buffet items. “Everyone is looking for more and more live stations as they want to customise every guest plate. We serve a broad range of cuisines at JA The Resort and plan menus to offer guests the best from across our properties. But even if we put two or three live counters for each different cuisine, that doesn’t create an issue for logistics and budget,” he says.

So, while keeping a lid on costs, live stations also help reduce food waste – something the UAE is pushing hard for, most recently with the ne’ma initiative. Rather than quantity, the focus is on precision: fewer ingredients, cooked à la minute, carefully plated.

Live stations are also about theatre. “Wedding food trends are evolving towards more interactive and visually appealing experiences,” says Loui Makhoul, General Manager of the Story Al Maya hotel. “Live stations remain a firm favourite, offering guests immersive culinary moments as chefs prepare diverse cuisines on the spot, from sushi and pasta to shawarma and tacos.

Seafood is typically cooked live, particularly at beachfront receptions. Meat carving and grills also remain popular food requests, Loui says. Nor, he adds, is the ouzi station being packed away yet.

At the Dusit Thani Dubai, live stations often serve beef steamship. This large roast, also called a Baron of Beef, uses the round. It has some of the tastiest – but toughest – cuts: the rump, heel and shank. Gopalan’s team gets around this with a 48-hour slow roast, , smoking it with cherry wood all through. “Our live carving stations highlight tradition while reflecting a commitment to conscious indulgence,” he says.

Live stations are also evolving in different ways. At the Burj Al Arab, this means guests can get in on the action with ‘immersive experiences’: sushi rolling, Emirati dessert bars or mezze stations.

As always, the meal’s bookends – appetisers and desserts – lend themselves to live counters. They’re also where TikTok trends show up first. Bansal says vegan mezze and cold press juice stations are  popular, but he’s now seeing demand rise for Kunafa chocolate bar stations.

Seems there’s no stopping kunafa chocolate. It’s among the most requested desserts at UAE weddings, caterers say, and is showing up in cake, truffle balls, even tiramisu. “Kunafa chocolate is the best example of the biggest trend right now: locally sourced products,” says Harshada Vithal Badade, Pastry Chef at the Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah.

Naturally, wedding desserts are embracing the heritage-heavy trend. Alongside, she’s seeing desserts becoming more elaborate and interactive (right).

As with wedding catering in general, customisation and personalisation are other major demands. She’s responding with health-conscious ingredients and high-tech methods.

“We’ve started using 3D printing technology to create intricate dessert décor that would be very difficult to craft by hand [while] creating personal messages that makes the desserts a showstopper,” she says. “We’re also seeing a rise in interactive stations like cupcake decorating, which lets the couple and their guests create sweet moments together.”

When it comes to choosing between edible art installations and the comfort desserts that have been trending for a while now, brides ask for both.

“Brides today want the best of both worlds. But many always lean towards the nostalgic touch, especially the ones that resonate most with their family traditions,” she says.

As for the battle between buffet and plated, neither seems to be winning.

At one end, more couples are leaning in to formats that feel more intentional – less about show and more about connection. Here, plated meals are seeing a return. “We now do a lot more location weddings, at a private dessert camp or on a private yacht with fewer guests, maybe only 30-40, but with a much higher level of food and service than before,” Williams says.

At the other end, multi-cuisine buffets continue to be popular. “A five-cuisine buffet remains the gold standard, balancing international appeal with local favourites,” Gopalan says. But even here, couples want new recipes that reflect inclusive tastes, regional stories and zero-waste practices.

Bansal and his team at CCI bridge the divide with what he calls flying buffets. Neither live station nor sit-down dinner, this new take on tray service involves serving guests with substantial mini portions, not just is canapés. Guests eat what they like, when they like, without queuing or committing to courses. For hosts, it’s a way of keeping the mood unbroken.

So drop the monogrammed napkins – but send out spoonfuls of saffron risotto or miniature chai-spiced profiteroles when the dancing pauses. That’s what will keep people talking

Mocktails have been a hallmark of events in the UAE long before Gen Z leaned into clean living and alcohol-free drinks all over the world. But this global momentum has sparked a new role for what were once dismissed as soft beverages at weddings in the country.

“We’re seeing a shift toward inclusive, conscious celebration,” says Marko Marcelo, Assistant General Manager of Laguna Beach Taverna & Lounge and Beverage Manager at Sofitel Dubai The Palm. He has ten years of experience as a bartender and believes that mocktails are a luxurious, indulgent choice in their own right. “Couples are increasingly choosing sophisticated clean beverages that are elegant and respectful, something that’s rooted in the UAE’s cultural values and driven by global trends.”

Current trends include botanical and herbal infusions, fermented flavours and global inspirations. Such ingredients may include botanical-first choices such as thyme and mint, fermented elements like kefir or kombucha, and flavors such as tamarind or sumac.

A standout is the Pomegranate Mojito, which is among the most requested mocktails at his resort. “It beautifully blends global inspirations from both Asian and Mediterranean cultures,” he says. “Pomegranate infuses the drink with depth and intrigue, creating a refreshing twist on the classic mojito.”

The other big trend is theatrics. “The focus is now on engaging the senses, making the experience highly sensorial,” Marcelo says. “Visual elements such as smoke, edible flowers, and aromatic scents becomes a key element in creating a luxurious experience.”

Health-conscious choices no longer mean sacrificing sophistication.