Wedding caterers are finding increasingly inventive ways of staging food displays that pack as big a punch visually as they do in the flavour department.

"Food is art - it's all about eating with your eyes," says Simon Shaw, director of events at caterer, Philip Small.

Adam Zeitlin of Zeitlin & Co agrees presentation is key. "When things look exceptional people think that if it looks good it'll taste good as well."

One big current trend is to hang food on frames. Matt Rickard, managing director of Food Story says it displays foods on copper frames.

"We chose copper because it ties in with our corporate colours. It also has strong culinary connotations as copper pans are highly valued by chefs. I actually built our frames myself! We use them to display breads flavoured with sun- dried tomatoes or olives and even little savoury shortbread biscuits with holes in that we hook them from."

Ben Tenenblat - always a trend-setter when it comes to presentation - is also a fan of copper frames for food displays.

"The frames I use resemble the ones on which salmon smokers hang their fish. We display sides of smoked salmon on them and place them behind the chef carving the salmon; the chefs can take them down and carve them. We've also used the frames for hanging breads or even cured meats and charcuterie."

Tenenblat has further novel ways of displaying salmon and cured fish: "We use huge chalk boards to arrange the fish on, and write a description of the fish in chalk on the board itself."

He describes his displays as food theatre. "Every bride is looking for something bigger and better," he smiles.

While visually impressive, the copper frames are also functional. Rickard stresses that there are two factors at work when he and his team are looking at new display ware:

"We use both personalised and bespoke presentation for a number of reasons. The first is to make a point of difference for that particular event and give it the 'wow' factor. The second, and just as important a reason for the methods we choose to present food, is that they are often functional and practical.

"For example, we use glass bowls which show off the food beautifully but also allow us to build some of the dessert back at our base. They are easy to carry, keep the puddings safe, and look great too."

He explains how the frames were used for a recent party catered by Food Story at Syon House which was themed on potting sheds and gardens. "We had a variety of foods in different containers - baskets that looked like trugs filled with brightly coloured vegetables that looked freshly picked from the garden or filled with thin sheets of parmesan crackers alongside pots of herbs like rosemary and all on rustic-looking tables that could have been in a potting shed."

The flowerpot theme is a current favourite with party givers. Teneblat laughs: "We served a tuna tartare that looked like a real plant pot with soil in it. A guest was worried to eat it as it looked so much like the real thing,"

Celia Cline of Celia Cline Banqueting has also used plant pots to display desserts. "We make little trees to go in the pots. The stems are made from liquorice sticks and the foliage from green tea microwave cakes. We make the 'soil' from chocolate mousse topped with chocolate crumble. There's nothing we won't do," she smiles.

As well as trompe l'oeil puds, canapé trays are also being styled to order. Food Story has invented one they call the bookcase, which has a cunning function: "It has doors on the front that can be closed, which means a waiter can make it across a busy function room with the canapés inside intact for the bride and groom."

Zeitlin now serves fruit platters on little wooden boats - something he picked up in Israel. "We also put dipping bowls of sauces and melted chocolate on the boats that the waiting staff carry around to guests rather than just leaving fruit platters on tables."

The boats are something Cline has also adopted: "We serve smoked salmon on them or fruit or even sweeties."

Style sometimes overrules strict practicality, with another popular trend - serving elements of dishes in syringes and even, as Tenenblat has done, toothpaste tubes or golden syrup tins.

"We serve children chocolate mousse in giant syringes with skewers of toasted marshmallows on the side. They love it," says Shaw. "We also serve vodka shots in tiny frozen syringes displayed on Perspex holders."

The medical theme continues with the use of pipettes.

"Instead of serving mini sausages in a bowl, we now present them in little spoons with pipettes of mash on the side," says Zeitlin. "Or we do mini cones of fish and chips with tiny pipettes of vinegar. The idea is that the decoration needs to help the ease of eating the food. It must be easy to eat and hold and people need to understand what it is."

Tenenblat, who serves a "lemon tart" which is a shortbread biscuit with a tube of lemon cream to top it with, says that he and his team will try anything when it comes to interesting service styles. "We've served canapés in birdcages or from a bed of coffee beans. The most whacky was a Perspex container which is an acrylic box. You had to eat the first layer before you could get to the second one," he smiles.

Caterers are also going beyond theatrical serviceware to create parties entirely themed to make a truly impressive spectacle.

"This month we'll be turning a whole ballroom into a rainforest," says Shaw. "Food will be served on distressed wood and we'll use mini pineapples and coconut shells to serve drinks from. It's all about the ideas. We've done a waterfall at a wedding at The Landmark before - it was beautiful."

Tenenblat was asked to theme a Glasgow wedding in line with a gourmet burger theme. "The bride - who works for a fashion magazine - wanted the burger theme, so we set up food stalls, brought in little food vans and even served food from a carousel."

Says Shaw: "There's nothing within reason that cannot be done. We're allowed to run wild with creativity - the whackier the better."

The gauntlet to future brides and grooms has been laid down.