Reception Food

FDSL2010

My FH and I are stuck on reception planning. We are having our wedding at our church and the reception in the fellowship hall. He wants appetizers, a  big buffet dinner, and desserts. I think a small dinner would be fine or even a "pick up" food reception. We are just not sure what foods to have either way.

I have two questions....

1. Is there any other Bride out there having a "pick up" food reception and if so, what foods are you doing??

2. Are you having a cater or are you doing the reception dinner yourself? 

TIA!!!!

MeaghanandMichael

What is "pick up" food?

xoxob

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_reception-food-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:e174eefd-6fb1-411d-a590-2e2fe701feb6Post:bdc8d3ae-2005-43b5-9d09-5d620e84bcef">Re: Reception Food</a>:
[QUOTE]What is "pick up" food?
Posted by MeaghanandMichael[/QUOTE]

A Drive thru?

MeaghanandMichael

But to answer your question, you need much more food than a small dinner. This is a wedding and you are providing for your guests. You are the hostess and you need to be generous about it. Nothing is worse than coming to a wedding expecting to eat and leaving starving. Little amounts of food are also good ways to ensure people get drunk quick.

If you are set on not having a lot of food you need to have your reception at a time of day that people do not normally eat like 2:00pm and keep it short.

FDSL2010

Are you serious? (not to be mean, but I didnt expect that question...lol)

Example....Chicken salad sandwiches, chips & dip, buff. wings, vegy trays, cheese trays, and ect. That's one problem for me, I can't think of that many as of now.

Your help is appreciated.

FDSL2010

Our wedding time is 2:30 and there will be no alcohol.

MeaghanandMichael

aha!! I know it as finger food

But yes, the food needs to be heavier than that if you are serving at a traditional meal time. I like that kind of food a lot, but you should add a pasta station, cutlets of meat, and perhaps things like tacos/bbq?

MeaghanandMichael

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_reception-food-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:e174eefd-6fb1-411d-a590-2e2fe701feb6Post:2c308416-dfe6-4a86-88c3-7192089088f0">Re: Reception Food</a>:
[QUOTE]Our wedding time is 2:30 and there will be no alcohol.
Posted by FDSL2010[/QUOTE]

Ok cool! I like anti pasto displays, fix your own baked potato bars (have sour cream, butter, bacon, cheese, broccoli etc), fruit salad, mini sliders, and plenty more...

FDSL2010

Those are great ideas!!!!! I will run those by the FH. Thank you sooooo much, Meaghan!!!!

BTW....I've heard both terms, but I should have put finger foods to be more acurate. Sorry!

sweetviolet

We're having a similar type reception - afternoon wedding, finger foods/heavy appetizers, no alcohol. We are having it catered by a group of Grange members (they're kind of like a ladies' church group), but we're also making some of the cold food ourselves the day before. We're still finalizing the menu, but some of the things that we're serving are fried chicken, mini pulled pork sliders, bacon-wrapped l'il smokies, fried dill pickles, devilled eggs, fruit and cheese platters, chips and dip, a sweet tea and lemonade stand, root beer floats with homemade ice cream (served with the cake).

You could also have things like bacon-wrapped scallops, stuffed mushrooms, bacon-wrapped green bean bundles, sausage balls, bbq meatballs, kielbasa in a crockpot (I forget what it's actually called - we call it Game Night Kielbasa, since we started serving it whenever our friends all got together for game night - it's kielbasa in a crockpot, with a sauce made of grape jelly and either ketchup or bbq sauce. It sounds a little gross, but it's actually really yummy!), salad on a stick (I saw a recipe for it on msn.com, and it looked really cute), or a s'mores bar.

Sorry for the long lists - hope that helps!

Shutterbug678

haha this made me giggle a little. Correct way to phrase it is a cocktail reception because its all about mingling, having drinks and eating finger foods. We are doing this to cut down on the space that having tables for everyone to sit at would take up. We're doing a mix of sit down tables and cocktail tables and our dj is going to get the party going right away so that people dance, mingle etc.
our cocktail foods are....
veggies with 2 kinds fo dip
fruits with fruit dip
rye bread bowls with dip
assorted cheeses and crackers
mini sandwiches with different meats and cheeses on gourmet bread rolls
swedish meatballs
spinish artichoke dip with toast points
and possibly cucumber sandwiches with smoked salmon and dill.

Our caterers staff will keep everything organized, filled, clean and clear the tables of trash when people set down plates.

bigvoice3

Yeah even w/o alcohol you could do the "cocktail" feel and serve some "mocktails" like flavored lemonade and juices with spritzer to keep the same feel.  I like that.

But heavy appetizers are fine for an afternoon...I've been to several with like chicken skewers, salads, pastas, fruit, dips, and a mashed potato bar.

I would get a caterer though.  Its hard to keep that much food safe while cooking and serving in terms of safe temperature and storage and stuf to prevent foodborne illness.  Ive been to 2 self-catered weddings...and somone in my group got sick both times because the food was improperly handled.