Industrial Chic Brooklyn Food Truck Wedding
A Movable Feast sounds like the sort of fete I was made to attend. Add in the craft beer patio and tacos galore and it's pretty much my version of paradise. But what I really love about this celebration is that this creative couple made their wedding 100% THEM. It was authentic and awesome. Katie Osgood captured it all and if these pics don't give you party envy, I'm not sure what would. See it all this way!
From the Bride... Throwing a food truck wedding seems like the kind of event a couple would set out to deliberately host. You know – the kind of idea that had been brewing for some time, with photos pinned to a secret Pinterest board and specific food trucks already on deck. But for Dov and me, the idea was a solution – a really delicious one – to the planning problems many couples typically face.
When Dov and I sat down to plan, we considered food, alcohol and music the holy trinity of our reception – the trifecta that truly makes for a great party. We also learned within a hot second that these were among the most expensive elements of any wedding. So to keep our guest list at 200 people, we made some decisions early on: we would search for a venue where we could stock our own bar, we wouldn't use a traditional caterer and we would find the most fun DJ NYC could offer.
We also had some stylistic preferences of our own. We wanted a wedding that was simple and informal. Dov grew up in Los Angeles, so we wanted our wedding to incorporate some of that casual elegance native to California. As a lifestyle editor who grew up in New York, I've seen just how elaborate and stunning weddings can become. But that level of grandeur just isn't me (I skipped the veil and ditched the bouquet), and it certainly isn't us. It was challenging to find vendors that had similarly restrained approaches, and it wasn't until we decided to work with food trucks that we found some awesome collaborators.
Dov and I opted for a cocktail-style reception so guests would be up and about. We looked into some loft spaces but preferred a venue that shined on its own and only needed a few subtle, seasonal details. We came across a former foundry called The Green Building on a quiet street in Brooklyn and fell in love with its exposed brick, vintage charm and sky-high ceilings.
Since we weren't using a traditional caterer, we had more freedom to serve the kind of food people love to eat – like grilled cheese, fish tacos and falafel. We thought about using some local Brooklyn restaurants to cater the food, but we wanted such a variety of options that no one restaurant made sense. We initially came across the concept of food trucks as something couples used as an extra element, like for dessert or as a late-night snack. But food trucks were our answer for the whole reception, allowing us to serve the kind of food we love to eat and cutting our food and alcohol budget by more than 60 percent.
We included a card in our wedding invitation informing guests that the reception would be “A Moveable Feast, featuring vegetarian fare from our favorite New York City food trucks.” We hired trucks that served four different types of grilled cheese and handmade sodas, Middle-Eastern cuisine, roasted local vegetables, fish tacos and customizable chipwiches for dessert. To top it all off, my mom made the wedding cake and additional pies, while the groom's mom individually wrapped dozens of her homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. And as a final detail, we served coffee and tea in to-go Anthora cups, as a final nod to New York City and the casual dining we love. The trucks were placed in the patio area of the venue, as well as on the street right outside. Guests were able to move from the patio to the reception room, and out to the street with ease.
For the bar, we chose our favorite top-shelf liquor combined with delicious wine, champagne and the craft beers we love. We set up a self-serve “craft beer garden” in the patio, so guests could help themselves to nine different types of beer -- which included some local brews, ciders and seasonal ales -- throughout the night.
And when it came to music, our friend Allyson Levine at Bob Gail Special Events recommended DJ James Mulry, who spins at the Wythe Hotel, for some great tunes. James was especially awesome on the big day – somehow incorporating my love for jazz and old standards with music that people actually want to get up and dance to. He also kept our wedding – both the ceremony and the reception – on schedule.
Planning a food truck wedding for 200 people was certainly a logistical nightmare at times – you basically quadruple the amount of vendors you're dealing with, and how is one supposed to know how many fish tacos to order vs. falafels vs. pounds of roasted bokchoy?! But it's pretty amazing to know that we designed every single element of our wedding ourselves, which seemed like the right way to kick off sharing a life together.
When Dov and I sat down to plan, we considered food, alcohol and music the holy trinity of our reception – the trifecta that truly makes for a great party. We also learned within a hot second that these were among the most expensive elements of any wedding. So to keep our guest list at 200 people, we made some decisions early on: we would search for a venue where we could stock our own bar, we wouldn't use a traditional caterer and we would find the most fun DJ NYC could offer.
We also had some stylistic preferences of our own. We wanted a wedding that was simple and informal. Dov grew up in Los Angeles, so we wanted our wedding to incorporate some of that casual elegance native to California. As a lifestyle editor who grew up in New York, I've seen just how elaborate and stunning weddings can become. But that level of grandeur just isn't me (I skipped the veil and ditched the bouquet), and it certainly isn't us. It was challenging to find vendors that had similarly restrained approaches, and it wasn't until we decided to work with food trucks that we found some awesome collaborators.
Dov and I opted for a cocktail-style reception so guests would be up and about. We looked into some loft spaces but preferred a venue that shined on its own and only needed a few subtle, seasonal details. We came across a former foundry called The Green Building on a quiet street in Brooklyn and fell in love with its exposed brick, vintage charm and sky-high ceilings.
Since we weren't using a traditional caterer, we had more freedom to serve the kind of food people love to eat – like grilled cheese, fish tacos and falafel. We thought about using some local Brooklyn restaurants to cater the food, but we wanted such a variety of options that no one restaurant made sense. We initially came across the concept of food trucks as something couples used as an extra element, like for dessert or as a late-night snack. But food trucks were our answer for the whole reception, allowing us to serve the kind of food we love to eat and cutting our food and alcohol budget by more than 60 percent.
We included a card in our wedding invitation informing guests that the reception would be “A Moveable Feast, featuring vegetarian fare from our favorite New York City food trucks.” We hired trucks that served four different types of grilled cheese and handmade sodas, Middle-Eastern cuisine, roasted local vegetables, fish tacos and customizable chipwiches for dessert. To top it all off, my mom made the wedding cake and additional pies, while the groom's mom individually wrapped dozens of her homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. And as a final detail, we served coffee and tea in to-go Anthora cups, as a final nod to New York City and the casual dining we love. The trucks were placed in the patio area of the venue, as well as on the street right outside. Guests were able to move from the patio to the reception room, and out to the street with ease.
For the bar, we chose our favorite top-shelf liquor combined with delicious wine, champagne and the craft beers we love. We set up a self-serve “craft beer garden” in the patio, so guests could help themselves to nine different types of beer -- which included some local brews, ciders and seasonal ales -- throughout the night.
And when it came to music, our friend Allyson Levine at Bob Gail Special Events recommended DJ James Mulry, who spins at the Wythe Hotel, for some great tunes. James was especially awesome on the big day – somehow incorporating my love for jazz and old standards with music that people actually want to get up and dance to. He also kept our wedding – both the ceremony and the reception – on schedule.
Planning a food truck wedding for 200 people was certainly a logistical nightmare at times – you basically quadruple the amount of vendors you're dealing with, and how is one supposed to know how many fish tacos to order vs. falafels vs. pounds of roasted bokchoy?! But it's pretty amazing to know that we designed every single element of our wedding ourselves, which seemed like the right way to kick off sharing a life together.
