You are planning your wedding and everything is running smoothly, when all of a sudden you probably find yourself debating that age-old, stereotypical question, “Chicken or fish?”

But after speaking with the managing director of The Flying Chef Catering Service, Sara Masters, it seems that people nowadays are more interested in keeping it simple. Less concerned with the fare and more concerned with the presentation, the question instead seems to be, “Cocktail or buffet?”

“Basically it breaks down on the demographics side of it,” Ms Masters explains.

“You either have a cocktail party with an open bar and the food is hand passed, or on the other side of it, you feature a buffet with traditional Bermudian fare- chicken, peas and rice, fish, macaroni and cheese. It’s like a barbecue menu.”

It is pretty much dependant on how much you are willing to spend, she adds. And so you have solved that minor dilemma- a little bit of everything to make everyone happy.

You have your food but your next question should invariably be, “What am I going to do about dessert?”

As many brides and grooms seem to be stepping away from traditional wedding gowns, foods, and the like, it seems only logical that there would be a progression away from the conventional wedding cake.

“I guess in the old days, going back to when I got married, you would just have the wedding cake,” recalls Ms Masters. “It used to be a cocktail party and wedding cake but in this day and age you can have anything, including buffet stations for desserts.”

The Flying Chef has two pastry chefs on hand to create French pastries for every occasion which seem to be so popular today.

“Nobody is doing just the plain cake or the fruit cake anymore,” Ms Masters explains of the conventional wedding cake, including the traditional Bermudian Silver and Gold cakes for the bride and groom. “Some people will still do that but most people like to have different tiers. One can be a plain cake, one a chocolate mousse cake and the other can be whatever they’d like.

“The most popular thing to do today though is probably to have a selection of different pastries, chocolate mousse or something, and fruits, as well as the cake. Fruits are very big,” she continues. “As for the cake, the newlyweds will either take it home with them after or it can be cut up and placed on the buffet with the rest of the desserts.”

You can help Bermudian tradition to live on through your wedding though, by having the Silver and Gold cakes- their symbolism is still relevant in our point and click world.

The groom’s cake, customarily a plain pound cake, is covered in gold leaf to symbolise wealth. Custom also suggests placing a symbol of the groom’s favourite activity on top. The bride’s cake is a fruitcake, which is supposed to symbolise fruitfulness in the marriage. The silver leaf that covers it symbolises purity.

On top of the bride’s cake there is usually a small vase containing a cedar tree, which the couple will plant after the ceremony. The cedar tree signifies their starting a new life together, and the tree grows along with their marriage. But according to Ms Masters, “It’s a dying art.”

From food and beverage, to venue, you can have your wedding needs met by The Flying Chef Catering Service, who can “do everything”:

“Depending on what the bride wants, we can do it all,” Ms Masters says.

But they specialise in making sure your day is perfect: “We live up to our name of flying chef because you’ll see us flying around no matter what. If you run out of anything, you’ll never know because we will get it to you before you notice.”