A Family-Style Ranch Wedding at Rancho Carmina

The menu was built around what was ripening in September. Passed appetizers opened with whipped ricotta crostini with stone fruit, balsamic glaze and basil; halloumi and watermelon skewers with fresh mint; pork bao buns; and lamb lollipops with mint and pistachio. The salad was seasonal greens and garden herbs dressed in a herb vinaigrette and finished with edible flowers.

Two mains went to every table, among them grilled ribeye with chimichurri, the horseradish served on the side and select platters sent out bone-in for the look of them. Three sides followed: roasted farm vegetables with sea salt potatoes, spiced carrots with shallot yogurt and a pistachio mint pistou, and grilled corn with chipotle butter, cilantro and lime. Bread and butter on every table.

Dessert belonged to the family. The couple brought a pavlova, and their relatives decorated it themselves at the venue before it went out beside a cheese table the couple served their guests from. Later, at 9:30, a wood-fired pizza station opened with margherita and hot honey pepperoni.

Two things about this day show what a bring-your-own-everything ranch actually asks of a caterer. The first is water. There is potable water on the property, but it does not taste good, so the bar team brought in their own water and ice rather than pour it. That is the sort of thing you only know to check because you have worked the site, and it is the difference between a good cocktail and a strange one.

The second is the dietary matrix. Fourteen guests came with restrictions: several nut allergies, two shellfish allergies, four pescatarians, a celiac guest, a guest avoiding red meat and pork, and one vegan who was served a mushroom risotto built for them. Family-style service makes that harder than plated, because platters land in the middle of a table rather than in front of a person. Every restricted guest was accounted for by seat before service began.