Fingerfoods vs sitdown dinner

MrsHoward11

Just wondering which you think woul dbe more cost efficient.  Our wedding will be around 4:30 so the reception should start around 5.  Do you think we should have a sit down or a buffet or just a table or h'orduerves? opinions please!!!! My fiance and I are paying for the wedding ourselves so cost is a factor here but I don't want my guests starving either.  Not even sure what would be normal to spend on reception food really!

RebeccaB88

Honestly, for a 5 pm reception, I'd expect dinner, because it's dinnertime.  Can you move the ceremony and reception time back a few hours, maybe to start the reception around 3?  Then you could do appetizers and beverages and it would be perfectly fine.  Otherwise you will need to serve enough food to make a full meal. 

MrsHoward11

unfortunately the rental is either till 2 or 3-11pm.  I'm wanting to give enough time to get everyone there so i'm thinking everything will actually start no earlier than 4.  gotta find out how early we can get there to decorate. I'm meeting withthem Monday to figure stuff out. 

MelissaC315

I would say for a 5pm reception that people will probably expect a full meal. But that doesn't necessarily have to be a sit down dinner. If buffet is cheaper than go with that. I think as long as people have dinner they'll be happy... whether sit down or buffet.

hischelseababy

We have recently decided to do a pasta bar. We would serve a dinner salad with variety of dressings, some garlic bread, and three to four different sauces. Its a full meal, but its really cheap.

hischelseababy

I've also heard of people doing taco bars or baked potatoe bars, if you want more suggestions.

juma1111

I agree that for a 5pm reception you need to serve a full meal; most if not all guests would expect it. But you can definitely still do it on a budget. Just make a few, alot if necessary, phone calls & see what is cheapest in your area. It might surprise you but we saved $3 per person by having a sit down dinner versus a buffet with 3 main course options. As I have a vegatarian in the wedding party we would have had to have had atleast 2 options on the buffet. I was pleasently surprised that it saved us money to serve a plated sit down dinner.

MrsHoward11

JUMA - I'veheard sit downs can be cheaper cause it's one round of food. once the food is gone, it is gone. You don't have to keep refilling. i'm checking out the "very possibly the one" venue on Monday so I'm gonna see how everything is set up. 

Chelsea - love the pasta bar idea! What kinds of things are you having? Are you just going to do different cold pastas or a variety?

NOLAbridealmost

Oooh. I can't speak for Chelsea, but I can't imagine she's offering a bar of cold pastas.  I think "pasta bar" and think some spaghetti and meatballs, fettucini/penne Alfredo, lasagna, etc.   

hischelseababy

I was thinking about doing spaghetti and meatballs, chicken alfredo, mac and cheese (my fav =oD), and maybe some kind of vegetarian option. Fiance wants pasta salad. Add a selection of toppings such as bacon bits, sauteed pepers and mushrooms, shredded cheese... I've still got a while to work it all out, but I'm pretty excited about the idea. I'm a pasta fanatic!! lol

ECook25

A couple of suggestions:
- When you are quoted the price for the sit-down dinner vs. a buffet, make sure you get an exact layout of how many staff they would allot per person for each scenario.  In my experience, it is not so much the cost of the food that drives the overall price as it is the staff.  You need more staff for a sit-down dinner, and you don't want them skimping out there.
- If you end up going with a cocktail/hors d'oeuvres only reception, I would suggest offering some heavy hors d'oeuvres, like a pasta station and/or carving station.  The other thing to do is find a way to communicate to your guests before the wedding that there is no seated dinner - this may be in the invitation, or you may have to go word of mouth.  I went to a wedding last year that was hors d'oeuvres only - but I had no idea, so didn't eat much during what I thought was the cocktail hour.  Eventually, I realized we weren't getting dinner and wound up eating two pieces of cake.
Good luck!!