Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Ideas from a Bar Mitzvah

At many Bar and Bat Mitzvahs I've attended over the years I noticed that there were two separate cocktail hours - one for the kids and one for the adults. The kids had entertainment, an alcohol-free bar and kid-friendly appetizers. The adult cocktail party had a full, open bar, background music (jazz trio) and adult-oriented appetizers.

There always seemed to be a lot of "concerned" dads wandering over to the kids area to check on their sons and daughters. At a cousin's Bat Mitzvah when I was about 20 my father confided in me that the dads wanted to eat the kid-friendly food, instead of the "fancy stuff" and that's why they checked on their kids so often.

Kid-friendly foods always attract adults and I think it's part nostalgia and part deliciousness. how many times do we, as adults, get to eat mac n cheese, sliders and chicken fingers?

When planning your cocktail hour - whether you're having kids at your wedding or not - talk to your caterer about adding some of the traditional children's menu item to your "adult" menu. These items will probably be the first ones the waiters run out of!