Wedding Cakes & Food Forum

Appetizer/ hors d'oeuvres ideas

Need your help ladies!
We're having a spring wedding in the early afternoon, so we have decided to do a appetizer receptions w/cake of course! :)
But I need ideas for the appetizer/hors d'oeuvres to serve. Please give me some ideas! Thanks!

Re: Appetizer/ hors d'oeuvres ideas

  • UDscoobychickUDscoobychick member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Bruschetta, mini quiches, asparagus en croute, fruit kebabs...think light and fresh...
  • Jamilynn627Jamilynn627 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I agree with the pp. Light and refreshing is the way to go! I would serve what she suggested along with some finger sandwiches and fruit and veggie-based items like spanikopita and coconut shrimp. For beverages you can have lemonade or fruit juices for guests. If you want to add any desserts, you can have fruit tarts and sorbet.
  • felkelsfelkels member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    the one I have been dieing to do since I saw it online (while researching this type of reception for myself) was mini caprese salad.  a traditional caprese salad is just basil, tomoato, mozzarella, and balsamic vinigar and olive oil...well to finger food it up get a balsamic vinigar olive oil drizzle and assemble the rest of the ingrediants on a tooth pic...a cube or small ball of cheese, a charry tomoato, and a leaf of basil in between.  Drizzle the liquid over the top or even maranade the tomatos and cheese before hand...not the basil cause it would get soggy...it is such a burst of refreshing flavor in your mouth!  SUPER YUMMY!  Good luck!
  • edited December 2011
    Ooh, this is exactly what we are doing for our wedding!  We are getting married in May around 2:00.  We are having fruit and cheese/crackers platters to start with.  Then we are having tomato, basil and mozzarella skewers; mango salsa in corn cups (our caterer is making the corn tortilla cups from scratch); shrimp and snow peas on a skewer; bacon and apricot wraps (which sound really weird but they are delicious--a dried apricot wrapped in cooked bacon. YUM); and little rounds of beef on flat bread with a dollop of pesto on top.  And of course deviled eggs.  I am really excited about our food.  Think of colorful foods that will have a really pretty presentation!
  • edited December 2011
    I always associate this like fava beans, baby artichokes, rhubarb and lamb with spring! Take a look at the veg and fruit that are local in your area, and I bet you can draw on some inspiration.
  • edited December 2011
    do you guys like sushi? california rolls could be fun
  • cukimerrydollcukimerrydoll member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Cucumber sandwiches!
  • edited December 2011
    we are having little spring rolls and honeydew melon with proscuitto wrapped around it. yum!
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • PDXMarthaPDXMartha member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I wanted to do the hors d'ouevre idea, too, but it wouldn't work with our timing or venues.
    I like:
    prosciutto and fig with honey chevre - either on bruschetta or palmiers
    gaufrettes with creme fraiche and grav lox
    wild mushrooms - morels come back in season in spring - on crostini
    white bean puree with basil pesto with grilled bread
    cucumber canapes with lemon-caper cream cheese and salmon or bay shrimp
    grilled asparagus bundles with mozz (or provolone, swiss, gouda), wrapped with prsociutto and red pepper
    toasted brioche rounds with thin slices of steak, horseradish creme, and watercress
    sundried tomato and mozzarella pinwheels
    smoked salmon mousse on endive
    blue cheese or gorzonla tarlets (I'd say gorgonzolla for a milder taste)
    caramelized onion tartlets
    roasted sweet potato cubes with a cranberry (ok, that might be better in fall)
    a beet and horseradish cured salmon is gorgeous - you get a band of orangy to red; it looks like a sunrise/sunset and makes a gorgeous presentation.
    simple charcuterie - terrines or pates, smoked meats.  And not all meat - a great terrine can be made with herbed chevre and beets with an aged balsamic drizzle.

    or, for inspiration:  take your favorite meals and decompose them into an appetizer.

    words of caution: make sure you don't have meat in all your dishes (it can get very easy to throw prosciutto or bacon in darn near anything), and try not to be too messy (red sauce) or heavy (too much cream sauce/cheeses or fats).

    Good luck   sounds like fun. :D
  • tommyandytommyandy member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    For display: veggie tray with 3 dips like pepper/parm & ranch & honey mustard, cheese tray with at least 2 spreadable types like port wine/cheddar & flavored cream cheese, Bread with assorted crackers, bread rounds, pita chips.  Fruit tray with 2 dips, like cool whip & a sour cream dip.  These will be easy & cheap to make and replenish & your guests will have easy access to them. Putting freezer packs under the dips will keeps them from going bad.
    For butler passed: anything hot or pricey.  Like stuffed beggar purses, new potatoes with sour cream & caviar, mimi mozzarella balls with grape tomatoes on a stick(as seen in pp), cream cheese & lox on a bagel crisp, mini Vietnamese summer or spring or winter or autumn rolls, mini pot stickers, BBQ sliders, & any regional foods you & your FI love but in mini form.  Please don't serve any food that drips or takes more than 2 bites to eat.
    If you are self catering, go check out Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale, & Costco.  If you are paying a caterer, try to attend several of their functions during April this year to see what is served.  If the venue provides the food, do the same thing.
    I'm not suggesting you crash someone else's wedding, just do a walk thru or look at pictures & menus. Talk to the brides after the weddings & ask what was liked best, what went the fastest, what was leftover, etc. 
  • edited December 2011
    Hey I don't know what you were thinking of for drinks (all the food ideas above sound really delicious).  If you were not planning on doing anything alcoholic I have a few fun ideas:

    lemonade with sliced fruti (you can freeze it ahead of time if you'd like so you don't add ice and have it watered down) - strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes.  Pink lemonade is always a great idea, because the different colored fruit looks really pretty in it.  Add some sparkling soda or sprite in it to jazz it up a lil, OR add some champagne to it to make it fizz.

    I love doing this, its such a fun and fresh drink.  Hope I helped!
  • nicolecelinenicoleceline member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    For a light-meal reception such as you are doing, I would suggest going a slightly different route than some have suggested on here.

    Instead of a cold veggie platter, talk to your caterer about a Grilled Veggie Platter (those are AWESOME!!!)

    A Mixed Tropical Fruit Salad

    Chicken Diablo (chicken in a jalepeno with cheese, wrapped in a piece of bacon)

    Spinach-Artichoke Dip

    I'm a catering manager and we did that for one wedding that we did in June.  The guests loved it and the bride did an awesome job of making her menu. 

    Other possible choices:

    Fresh Spring Rolls (not the fried kind, but the kind with rice paper, shrimp, spinach, and rice sticks inside...fantastic!!)

    Sushi (that was mentioned on here)

    Beef or Chicken Satay

    Pot Stickers

    Petite Fours Hors d'oeurvres could be good.

    But for afternoon, I would say the Tropical Fruit Salad would be a huge hit and the grilled vegetable platters would really please the guests. I have never been at a catering where those didn't vanish quickly. 

    Good luck!!
  • edited December 2011
    This thread is making me hungry!!
  • snidereasniderea member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    I am also having a Spring day wedding. We are keeping our food very light and lunchy since that is our favorite type of food anyway. Chicken salad, ham/sweet potato rolls, pasta salad, potato salad, fresh melon, fruit and cheese tray, and roasted veggies and of course a picnic menu couldn't be complete without deviled eggs! Two layers of our cake are lemon poppyseed to stay consistent with the light, fresh food theme. Caprese skewers are also something that I would love to include-they are delicious!

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