January 3, 2012

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Rev up your reception menu. When it came to planning the menu for their recent wedding, Sita and Matt Cooke of Pennington knew they didn’t want to go the traditional route. “I hate the chafing dish thing and we didn’t want our guests to be pinned down to a table all night,” Sita says. They had a “eureka moment” while enjoying hot, fresh slices from Nomad Pizza’s vintage REO Speedwagon truck at a festival in Princeton (nomadpizzaco.com). “We realized we could hire the truck to make gourmet pizzas at our wedding,” she says. They also decided to enlist the Taco Truck (thetacotruck.com) from Hoboken to serve up three types of tacos, plus chips, guacamole and salsa.

Karin Belgrave Photography.

Nomad's Pizza's vintage REO Speedwagon turck offers custom pizzas.

CupcakeStop.

For dessert? An ice cream truck, of course! The quirky cuisine idea turned out to be a winner. “Our guests thought the trucks were super cute, and people socialized more because they were getting up for something to eat instead of just sitting at a table,” Sita says. “It was unique, plus we were able to have delicious, made-to-order food without spending a fortune.” As it turns out, Sita and Matt are part of a new trend. Mobile eateries are dishing up everything from crepes and waffles to barbeque and pizza—they’ve even inspired a television show, The Great Food Truck Race, on the Food Network—and brides and grooms are taking notice. Hiring a food truck to wow your wedding guests is hot right now, confirms Richard Kallman, CEO of the CupcakeStop (877-733-8588; cupcakestop.com), a mobile cupcake shop whose trucks make frequent appearances at weddings and other private parties in New Jersey and beyond. “Our business is up 110% from last year,” he says.

With trucks specializing in everything from Indian fare to Korean barbecue, it’s easy to personalize your cocktail hour or wedding meal with offerings that reflect your ethnicity or simply your favorite foods. Vegan couples, for example, can treat their guests to an all-organic, all-vegan feast courtesy of the Cinnamon Snail (cinnamonsnail.com), a Red Bank-based food truck run by chef/owner Adam Sobel.

Also popular: Hiring food trucks to give guests a late-night snack at an after-party or to offer everyone a final dessert—perhaps a custom-filled crepe, Belgian waffle, donut or signature cupcake—as they head home at the end of the night. Cupcakes, a perennial favorite, can be customized to showcase your wedding colors or favorite flavors. “We recently created special cumin-inspired cupcakes for a wedding,” says CupcakeStop’s Kallman. “We can even print sugar paper photos of the bride and groom to decorate the cupcakes.”

Pair one with coffee, tea or hot cider for a send-off that guests aren’t likely to forget. And some brides and grooms are skipping traditional wedding favors and instead gifting their guests with a yummy take-away from a sweets truck such as a cupcake, brownie or other treat in individual to-go boxes. You can personalize the boxes with your names, monogram or wedding motif and even add a custom sticker with “thank you” or another message. When it comes to incorporating a food truck into your party, you’re in the driver’s seat.