Cocktail hour food - how much?

lstruggles

We have invited 235 people to our wedding - a lot from out of town and some from out of the country - we are expecting about 150-175 to attend.  We are having an outdoor wedding in August at my parents house.

Now, the thing is, I may have watched too many episodes of "four weddings" but people are having extreme amounts of food at the cocktail hour.  Pasta stations etc.  I was thinking of just having 3 passed hot apps and 3 passed cold apps but now I am paranoid that this isn't going to cut it.  I mean, cocktail hour is just that - an HOUR, then we are sitting down to a fresco grillade style buffet where they bring in these huge grills manned by 3 chefs and they cook the meats and veggies right there and stock the buffet so its fresh, smells great etc.

Are 3 hot and 3 cold passed apps enough? Should I do 5 of each? I don't understand the need for tons of food at cocktail hour when we will have the buffet right aferwards.

Also, what are your thoughts on having a "midnight snack" bar? Is this something guests are going to want as well?

Sp2012

I gotta agree - I've been watching a lot of "four weddings" and it drives me a little crazy.  It seems most of the featured weddings are east coast and midwest (Chicago region). I have yet to see any south, northwest, west, southwest, alaska/hawaii or DW on that show. I think the cocktail hour "buffet" is a regional thing and on the show, seems very common at banquet halls.  I wonder if it is a common package option?  I've never been to a wedding like those, and we don't tend to have banquet halls out here.  In my area the typical thing is usually passed hors d'oeurves.  I've read suggestions around 4-6 per person is recommended when you are serving a full dinner after.  To me 6 choices are fine - perhaps a fruit or cheeswe & crackers station so guests can self serve as well. 

Personally, I think if you are having a buffet style meal where guests can eat as much as they want, you don't really need a midnight snack unless there are many hours between dinner and when your reception ends so that people may become hungry again.  That being said, we are considering doing a "midnight" snack since we have a plated dinner so guests can't just get up and eat more.

Try using the search box up at the top of the page and enter "cocktail hour" and then narrow down to "community" and you may find some similar discussions.

StephieDee

3 hot and 3 cold is definitely enough. I worked in catering for a long time and can tell you from experience that most people will eat max 3-4 pieces total. If your catering company tries to convince you to order more, they are just jacking up your bill. I've worked TONS of parties with loads of leftover hors d'oeuvres because the bride wanted 5+ pieces per person.

I think the formality of your wedding also has a lot to do with how many hors d'oeuvres you should have. I would expect at least 6 different choices at a black tie wedding and 2-4 at a more casual wedding. We're having a bbq wedding and only doing 1 hot and 1 cold.

I'm not sure what your budget is but if you plan on having 6 choices (most people will eat 1 of each choice) for 175 guests, that ends up being around 1050 pieces. Each piece on average is around $2. That's $2,100 bucks just on cocktail hour.

At work, I would usually recommend brides pick 2 hot and 2 cold. If you did this it would take your total (just an estimate) down to $1400. There were times where we would run out of food for cocktail hour around the 45-50 minute mark but honestly, no one notices. People have already sampled everything by then and are preoccupied with drinking and socializing. IMO, I just think it much more cost effective to run out of food a little early than have a ton of leftover food and wasted money.

Sue-n-Kevin

I agree with everyone's posts.

"Four Weddings" is a regional sampling, and I have a feeling the wedding industry supports that as an example of what a wedding should be. I have never been to a wedding with an actual meal served as the appetizer course, which that appears to be, full meal foods.

I'd go with a selection of 2-3 appetizers, hot or cold or mixed. You are serving a full meal and no need to overdue on the choices or cost.

We actually had 2 snacks served after dinner. We served dinner at 6 which was followed by cake, then an ice cream bar with various toppings at 9:30, then sliders and fries around 10:30. In hindsight I'd keep it to one snack, not two, and probably offer it 10 pm. But then our reception ended around 11:30, was not a real late night reception going until 1 am. Our caterer supplied all the ingredients for the ice cream bar, and they went to a local hamburger joint that everyone loves and picked up the burgers and fries and only charged us for the cost of them. They were honest and said they couldn't compete with the price that the burger joint charged.

A midnight snack is generally something offered to give guests an opportunity to eat before they leave, after drinking. I've seen suggestions of donut holes and a coffee bar, biscuits with ham, cheese and possibly eggs, ice cream, pizza, burgers and fries, cold cuts and bread. However I would never supply or order enough for the entire guest count, figure about half since people have eaten a meal and many leave before the end.

MillBride2012

We are having 5 passed appetizers and one stationary display of breads and spreads. I think what you have in mind is plenty!

lstruggles

Thank you everyone for your awesome suggestions! I feel much better now! It is just ridiculous to me to spend so much on one hour when a full meal accompanied by bread and salad is being served immediately afterwards. 

I am going to stick to my 3 hot and 3 cold or I may reduce it to 2 hot 2 cold and one "self serve" appetizer.

As for the midnight snack idea, we were thinking of lighting the fire pit in the back by the gazebo at my parents house and having a "s'mores bar" so I think that will just be our midnight snack!

Thanks ladies!