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Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

Budget Weddings

Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

Want a beautiful wedding on a budget? Chat here.

We are having our reception on a Sunday afternoon in August. The reception will be from about 1-4 or so (meeting w/ venue tomorrow to put down deposit and firm up times). Instead of a plated meal, whi

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Budget Weddings

Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

Want a beautiful wedding on a budget? Chat here.

We are having our reception on a Sunday afternoon in August. The reception will be from about 1-4 or so (meeting w/ venue tomorrow to put down deposit and firm up times). Instead of a plated meal, whi

0

Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:665

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Forums > Wedding Boards > Budget Weddings > Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

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Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 9:28 AM EST on theknot.com

Rachel405

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02-06-2012
BALTIMORE

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We are having our reception on a Sunday afternoon in August. The reception will be from about 1-4 or so (meeting w/ venue tomorrow to put down deposit and firm up times). Instead of a plated meal, which I don't think makes sense in the afternoon, I am planning:

Fruit/Cheese/Crackers during cocktail hour (when we are doing photos)

Hot hors d'oeuvres to be opened a little later...maybe 2pm? Does anyone have ideas for how to lay the schedule out? The only thing I want to avoid is having all the food gone too early.

Which brings me to my next question, about the food. Obviously we will discuss with the caterer, but just wanted to know if anyone had experiences doing a heavy hors d'oeuvres reception? I would have a ton of food, so no one felt like they were still hungry, lots of hot dips, seafood, egg rolls, things like that. I'm envisioning a buffet-style with stations on either side of the room, to encourage mingling.

I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to execute this and also how to keep costs down while doing so. THANKS!

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 10:18 AM EST on theknot.com

Madisonpenny

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Although I don't have any experience doing this myself, I do have experience going to a wedding that did this.
My cousin had a reception of this style. She had a late ceremony followed by the reception (I think the reception started around 7:30-8pm with the ceremony at 6:30 or 7) She failed to mention that there would be no meal served so many of the guests didn't eat beforehand thinking there would be a late dinner. This lead to people filling their plates mountain high and the caterers running out of food (a worst nightmare for any bride).
With your reception starting at 1pm I can see something similar happening at your event. People may think a lunch will be served.
Some people tend to forget that when people mingle and eat (or drink) they tend to consume more because they don't even realize what they are putting in their mouth or how much.
If your doing this style of reception thinking that it will save money you may want to price everything out (take the recommended serving from your caterer for hors d'eurvres and maybe add 1/4-1/3 of the amount of food to the quote) and price out a actual sit down meal and see if there's any real difference. GL

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 10:47 AM EST on theknot.com

xobride

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I agree with the PP, but I would also mention the kind of reception you are having on the invites. One of my friends put that a "dessert reception" would follow the ceremony so no one was under the impression that they would be fed. We're doing a dinner reception so I'm putting that on the invite so that people know not to eat beforehand.

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 11:28 AM EST on theknot.com

hose85

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i agree, we were looking at doing the same thing. afternoon reception w/ passed hors d'oeuvres. but when we started pricing it a plated lunch was actually cheaper. since then we have changed the venue to accomodate more people at a lesser cost and so have a meeting w/ the new caterer next week so i am going to check on it with them but i 2nd what other pp have said about pricing the whole thing out to see what is actually going to be the best suited to your budget!

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 11:36 AM EST on theknot.com

ShakeUpTampa

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Most websites say 12-14pcs per person if that is the only thing served. Better to have more then not enough.

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 11:50 AM EST on theknot.com

LuckyHeather

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I went to a wedding that did this. She also did not mention that she wasn't serving dinner, and people were hungry expecting dinner at a 6pm wedding. Thankfully she had enough food.

One thing they did, instead of just having stations of food, was to have hand passed hors d'oeuvres. It helped not run out of food too fast. They came around with different trays every so often.

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/10/2012 12:47 PM EST on theknot.com

Rachel405

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Thanks everyone!! Definitely some things to think about when we sit down with the venue tomorrow to discuss food and pricing. Great advice.

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/12/2012 1:41 PM EST on theknot.com

RetreadBride

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It's the TIME of the wedding and reception that determines what should be served. How about moving the wedding from 2-5? People won't expect a full meal then.

Apps are great, but they can end up costing as much as a meal, depending on the caterer, so shop around.

You could also have a barbecue reception. One of my Knotties went to Costco and bought fixings for hotdogs and burgers, potato salad, beans and chips, and fed all her guests for four bucks per person.

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Re: Anyone have experience w/ hors d'oeuvres reception?

posted at 2/12/2012 3:31 PM EST on theknot.com

Gustafson28

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Look into marche receptions.. That sounds more like what you are trying to accomplish. To me, the size of the meal for that set up would be between apps only and a plated meal. There ar lots of ideas out there for this style. Can do around the world food stations or have stations take on a favorite dish or style of your loved ones (and your fave too of course)

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