Food...Help

You could even do just a dessert reception...wedding cake, cupcakes, etc...just be sure to have some sugar free in case there are any people on restricted diets. If you want to serve more...the fresh fruit, veggies, cheese, nuts, mints would be fine for that time of the day. I would not go with a full bar....I would serve coffee, tea, soft drinks, and wine.

You really need to serve a meal. Most people will have eaten lunch beforehand, and then will have no other meal since lunch through your 3pm ceremony through a typical 4 hour (give or take) reception. That`s most of the afternoon and evening without a meal.

If you are having an afternoon or morning reception, there is no need to serve a meal. Its fine to serve appetizers. If the reception is at dinner time though, say 5 to 8 pm, you might want to think about serving a meal, or at least heavier appetizers, like sandwiches or Swedish meatballs.

Excited Bride,

We went to a wedding recently were they bought quiche from a local store (Top Foods) and served fresh fruit and a few salads(like a waldorf or a chinese chicken salad). There was hardly any "waste" except for the quiche containers. At three if the afternoon people are not expecting a full meal. They also just had a punch bowl and urn of coffe. Good Luck

Sounds like her ceremony is at 3 and that means her reception will run thru past dinner time so she should do a meal. Unless she is having a quick reception, then it would be okay to serve light appetizers or just dessert and coffee.

Thanks everyone. The ceremony is at 3pm which means the reception will begin around 3:30. With the 4 hour minimum it would be 7:30. On a holiday weekend if anyone was still hungry they could get dinner right? It`s Labor Day weekend. No one is traveling more than 30 minutes.

I don`t know exactly what I listed as food possibilities, but i didn`t mean light appetizers. I meant things like Quiche, stuffed mushrooms, meatballs, and so on. Like 10 different apps., a heavier salad like Antipasto, a fresh fruit plate and a few smaller desserts, and the cupcake tree cake would be put in small boxes for the guests to take home after display.

I think there would be less waste with so many inexpensive choices. Those that didn`t like the mushrooms or whatever would eat more of other things and vice versa. I wouldn`t be skimping at all on the amount of food. It`ll be more like a smaller buffet of apps. And such.

With choosing entrees for so many different types of people it can be horrifing to think of spending so much money on things that 1/2 of the people don`t like or won`t eat. So most of it will go in the trash uneaten. (my city doesn`t allow distributing to the shelters).

Instead of a champagne toast we were thinking of having a champagne punch. That way we could afford to offer more of a variety of beverages, including the sodas and coffee.

I too was on a tight budget. You can do a WINE and CHeese type of event, serve different wines (buy them yourself) have a huge cheese/cracker/grapes/etc. Display, a PASTA station with condiments. Pasta is CHEAP and people like it. Have a couple of salads (also cheap) and breads. That is filling enough. Trust me it wont cost a ton of money. Have chicken or beef, for light sandwhiches... I hope this helps you

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

We did finally decide. Because the wedding/reception are going to be outside in a potentially hot area, our weather can still be 100 degrees in Sept., we decided against a meal.

We can afford to have a full meal, our caterer is amazing, but were afraid to because of the heat and peoples personal tastes. We didn`t want to spend so much just to have most of it hit the trash and our guests leave hungry.

We have decided to go with 4-5 hot appetizers, a garden salad, fresh veggie kabobs, bruschetta, fresh fruit salad, a few light desserts and the cake of course. As well as a gourmet deli platter with specialty rolls and bread to make small sandwiches. I would rather have had something like pinwheel sandwiches on a fresh bread, but because of pickiness on my FH`s side I was told it wouldn`t work. Not many likes mayo or mustard or an kind of real flavor. So this way everyone can make it the way the like.

For the beverages, most of his family will not drink alcohol other than the toast, and there won`t be very many of my family members attending. So we really don`t have a need for a full bar. We will offer a keg of local brewery beer, a red & white wine, one signature tropical drink that we will make in advance and have a dispenser for, as well as coffee, tea, and 3 kinds of soda.

And before anyone trashes me for being cheap or not providing enough. Please take into account that this is not a huge formal event. It is a semi casual event in a private backyard garden where the temp may soar over 100 degrees, and will most like be over by 8 pm on a holiday weekend. Those who didn`t get enough to eat or are obviously very picky and would probably have left hungry even had I served a meal.

Excited Bride,

If anyone is going to trash you for that, then that is THEIR problem. You are taking into account HIS family, and if they don`t like it then they derserve to go hungry. This is YOUR day......enjoy it...I hope you have a wonderful wedding and Congratulations....

I think your menu idea sounds GREAT!!! really fun. Maybe you can find someone to do some ice sculptures I know they will melt but it takes awhile and since its hott it might be kind of cool to see that!! enjoy your day to the fullest!!