Wedding Cakes & Food Forum

Cocktail reception - how much food?!

We're having a cocktail reception instead of the traditional sit-down dinner. Our current plan is to have the ceremony at 4:30 p.m. and then the reception will start around 7:30. The time in between, while the venue rearranges the room for the reception, I'm guessing some people may go to eat, but we can't know for sure and we want to be sure to have enough food for everyone. How many appetizers do you think we should serve? I'm thinking 5-7 pieces per person? Is that too much or not enough?

Re: Cocktail reception - how much food?!

  • melissamc2melissamc2 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm going to be really honest here -

    Since you have a year until your wedding, you may want to really re-think this plan.

    A three hour gap between a wedding and reception is pretty terrible even when they are in different locations.  Three hours between the ceremony and reception that are held in the same room would be very inconvenient on everyone involved.

    I am NOT in the "you must serve a full meal" camp, so if your reception were immediately following the ceremony, I'd suggest around 6 pieces per person and make sure that you put "cocktail reception following" on the invitation so people would have the head's up that they aren't getting dinner - and that would be that.

    With what you're planning, yes, people will PROBABLY go somewhere to have dinner in between, but like I said - it's just very inconvenient.  I promise you that I really am one of the most easy going people in the world regarding time of day, what is served, and things of that nature, so this isn't at all about me thinking everyone should follow the same wedding template.  This just sounds like something that will have guests feeling more put out than hosted, if that makes sense.
    10-10-10
  • ldawngirlldawngirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I hear ya, but our venue needs the time to flip the room. The ceremony will be over at 5 pm and they need approx. 1 hr and 45 minutes to change everything over. So at the earliest, we could start the reception at 7 pm. With a sit-down dinner, we'd have the same issue (just that we'd have the ceremony earlier). I'm not sure how we can get around that. Most weddings I've been to have had a gap in between the ceremony and reception. I know from a guests POV, it's certainly not ideal, but it's not unheard of. We can trim down the time (and our times are just approximate right now), but we will definitely have a two hour wait regardless. The venue is in the middle of the city, so there are lots of things to do for the wait and we've thought about offering guests ideas in the program (or some other means).

    But regardless of what we do timing-wise, I'd love to hear opinons on the food quantity. Thanks!
  • edited December 2011
    I think it`s not enough. Here`s why:

    Usually, I think that, as long as you`re clear on your invitiations about the kind of reception you`re having, you don`t have to serve a full dinner. BUT, you`ve got really challenging logistics both from the guests`side and from your side. If you want guests to be there for a 4:30 start time, they`ll realistically start showing up between 3:30-4:15. And, if you back it up even farther, they`ll need to incorporate travel time and getting ready time. Given that, eating their dinner before they show up to the ceremony isn`t a real option for them.

    So that leaves them with that hour and a half to go put something in their stomachs. If they go offsite, you risk the possibility of people not coming back in time for the start time of your reception (or at all, if they`re bored), which may screw up your timeline for dances, speeches, or leave you with very few guests. If they stay onsite and don`t go grab something, 7 appetizers just aren`t going to be enough to both serve as dinner and to propel them through the night. Out of curiosity, what does your venue suggest you do with your guests while they reset the room?

    My suggestion would be to view the cocktail party as a proper cocktail party. I'd provide 3-5 pieces per guests PER HOUR of the reception. So, if you're having a 4 hour party, that's between 12-20 pieces per person.
  • AbbeyS2011AbbeyS2011 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    I think you need to include on your website an explanation about this "room flipping" to you guests, and to explain to them as well they are on their own for dinner, as well as the time frames from ceremony to actual reception.

    List 3-4 restaurants close to your venue as dining options in a variety of price ranges if possible, such as a McDonalds, a Shoneys, an Olive Garden or whatever so your guests have a choice to fit their budget. 

    kaesha's formula for the cocktail apps sounds right, but plan on not having as many guests at the reception as attended the ceremony. I agree, does the venue have ideas/suggestions for you regarding your guests? 

    I personally would really think twice about attending a wedding with such a setup.  Is there any way you can rent either another room for the reception or a bigger one, where you can have the ceremony on one end, the reception at the other?  I have looked at a couple venues that have more than one set up for a ceremony/reception in the same room.


    Good Luck!

    Anniversary
  • ldawngirlldawngirl member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our venue only has one room for the ceremony and reception, but there is a room upstairs that the girls are planning to use to get ready. I guess we could use that room for the guests while the big room is being transferred over, but I'm not sure how, as there is no ability to set up a bar there and it would really just be for them to hang out in and talk, so there wouldn't be anything formal planned.

    As for guests choosing not to come back for the reception, I would be shocked. We're only have 85-90 people and they are all very close friends and family members who would not do something like come for one part, but not the other. I could see that happening with a 300+ wedding where not everyone is close to the B&G, but that's not our situation.

    What if we did the ceremony earlier, so there is more time between it and the reception?
  • corecorecorecore member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I agree with the bride here. I've been to many weddings that leave a gap in between ceremony and reception - people expect it if only for wedding party photos.

    I am also having a cocktail style reception. I'm actually hoping to replace dinner with cocktails, so I want to fill my guests up. My caterer suggests 7 hors d'oeuvres per person plus 16 platters of food.
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