Georgian style wedding menu

Georgia is an amazing country and there are many reasons for that, but one of the main ones is the fact that one of its most outstanding achievements is its dining culture.

Yes, you heard right. That’s exactly right.

If Italy is famous for its Colosseum, Greece for its democracy and France for its exquisite cuisine, Georgia has elevated the culture of celebrating significant days and simply eating food into something completely new and unexpected.

Celebrating special dates such as birthdays, New Year, weddings and so on is customary all over the world, but only here the celebrations are held with such magnitude and excitement. Georgians not only adore holidays themselves, but also consider it a mortal offense if you refuse to be their guest. Not in vain according to ancient traditions, refusal to come to the wedding could be the cause of a long feud.

If you want to repeat a real Georgian wedding, you will need at least a few elements:

• A Georgian family.
• Lots of guests.
• Georgian music.
• A toastmaster.
• Local cuisine.
• Georgian wine.

Yes, it is simply impossible to recreate a real Georgian wedding without family and guests. So get ready to send out a huge number of invitations, look for a good toastmaster and take care of a decent meal.

What to feed guests at a Georgian wedding?           

The menu at a Georgian wedding involves two components:

• There should be a lot of food.
• It is necessary to treat the local cuisine.

It is so traditional that the Georgian festive table should simply burst from the number of dishes. None of the guests should not go hungry. Therefore, the portions in Georgian cuisine are large, and the dishes are nutritious.

The menu at a Georgian wedding includes:

Cold and hot appetizers:

• Badrijani;
• Lobio;
• Pkhali (from spinach, beets, sauerkraut, nuts, etc.);
• Kuchmachi;
• Jonjoli;
• Pickles;
• Cheese aasorti;
• Vegetable plate with greens;
• Mushrooms on keci;
• Salads.

Meat dishes:

• Hinkali (with pork, lamb, veal or cheese);
• Shkmeruli;
• Ojakhuri;
• Chashushuli;
• Mtsvadi;
• Ostri;
• Satsivi;
• Chakhapuli;
• Tobacco chicken;
• Chanakhi;
• Chakhokhbili;
• Shashliks.

Pastries:

• Achma;
• Khachapuri in Adjarski style;
• Khachapuri in Mingrelian style;
• Royal khachapuri;
• Gurian pies;
• Kubdari;
• Mchadi;
• Shotis puri (Georgian pita) – instead of bread.

Dessert:

• Chiri;
• Baklava;
• Tatara;
• Churchkhela;
• Nazuki;
• Pelamushi;
• Tklapi;
• Pastila;
• Kozinaki or gozinaki.

Beverages:

• Natakhtari;
• Zedazeni;
• Kazbegi;
• Lagidze;
• Red or white wine;
• Chacha.

Georgian cuisine is quite diverse and extensive, but another huge plus is the abundance of purely vegetable dishes. This means that even guests who consciously or for other reasons do not eat meat and fish, will be able to find something tasty for themselves.

For traditional weddings even adopted the order of appearance of certain dishes on the table and not everything that we have listed can be attributed to the classics of the wedding celebration. But today, couples rarely prefer to strictly adhere to the rules, and in most cases choose a mixture of Georgian and other cuisines of the world for the wedding table. Which is quite understandable.

What cuisine for a wedding to choose foreign couples in Georgia? 

Wedding agency “Shu Wedding” is engaged in organizing weddings for couples from other countries in Georgia and here is what we can recommend you on this issue:

• Before making Georgian dishes the main treat of your table, you should try them and make sure that you like them at least yourself.
• It’s a local tradition to invite a lot of guests and set a huge table with an abundance of food, but that doesn’t mean you have to do the same. You can invite a few close people and limit yourself to a minimum of food. After all, this celebration is not about food, but about love.
• Do not get carried away with Georgian wines. Despite their apparent lightness and the ability of locals to drink them like water, they are quite strong and insidious.
• Do not limit your wedding menu to Georgian cuisine only. There is no better solution than to combine local cuisine with your traditional or familiar food.

The wedding menu is an important enough element of the celebration, but do not forget that even without dinner and guests, your wedding in Georgia can be unforgettable.