Wednesday

professorscience

So, I don't know if anyone saw it, but for a brief moment yesterday, all the recent threads were gone and two or three "deleted" ones appeared.  One was about menu and I didn't get a chance to read the posts (I think there were only a few).

So, what is/was your menu at your reception?  Is/was the reception formal or informal?  Morning, Afternoon, or Evening?

chelseamb11

Reception will be in the evening.  Not SUPER formal, but still kinda formal.  Menu is a plated dinner of chicken and roast beef with california blend of veggies, red potatoes, rolls, salad, and cake of course.

Tami87

Reception is in the evening. Kind of formal as in plated dinner with open top shelf bar (we got to upgrade because only 120 our of the 170 we budgeted for are coming), but it is also being held in a children's museum, so not exactly a super formal venue.

I posted the full menu in the other thread, but basically we are having Caesar salad then the choice of a steak dish, chicken dish, or eggplant parmesan. With roasted potatoes and veggies as sides. Also our caterer does chicken tenders and mac and cheese for a kids meal. Then they will serve our wedding cake with coffee service for dessert. Also were able to get a wine pour service during dinner because the bar will be closed.

erin5286

Yep that was my post!  FI and I were going to our reception food tasting that afternoon, and I was curious what everyone had/would be having.  The menus that were posted all sounded delicious!

Now that we've done the tasting and are trying to plan, it's pretty much down to two options for an evening reception, semi-formal I guess you could say:
1) Herb roasted chicken, vegetarian entree (noted on RSVP if it's needed), garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, kids meal (chicken fingers & fries, noted on RSVP)
2) Pasta buffet:  Pasta, marinara and alfredo sauces, meatballs and/or grilled chicken, green beans, salad rolls, kids meal (chicken fingers & fries, noted on RSVP)

Option 1 isn't as extensive on the options, but it's less expensive and I swear the herb-roasted chicken was delicious!  It'll be more work to figure out a way to get the veg entrees and kids meals to those who need them, but again, it would save us a decent amount of money.

Option 2 is more expensive, but we don't have to worry about coordinating a veg entree, and is a little bit more variety.  But, if we have a really high attendance rate, and if a good number of the kids don't order a less-expensive kids meal but instead eat off the buffet, it really comes to the top or a little over our budget for food.  We could bring the cost down by only offering meatballs OR chicken, but I think that might be weird.

Sorry to sort of steal the point of this thread, but, what do you all think about our options? 

professorscience

Erin, I am always a fan of more options!

Ours was an afternoon-into-evening reception.  It started around 3:30-4:00 (I don't know what time guests actually arrived) and ended at 9:00.  It was semi-formal, I guess, because we had action stations instead of plated dinner.

Passed hors d'ouerves: prosciutto-wrapped mango, coconut-crusted lobster skewers, and something else I can't remember (and didn't get to eat)

Dinner: Carving station with beef tenderloin and various sauces, risotto station with lobster risotto, asiago/spinach risotto, and summer squash risotto (definitely the hit of dinner), salad, and then we added chicken fingers at the last minute and they were a huge hit.  

Dessert was cake, of course.    We had people tell us they just went back for more risotto instead of cake.

chelseamb11

You guys are making me hungry.

texasbride0617

Oh I can't wait until it is close enough to start thinking about the food!! Especially the cake - yummm. The only thing I know is that I'd prefer to have a sit-down meal. We are expecting a fair amount of people and I think it is really painful to have to wait for a buffet line while everyone else is eating! The last two weddings I went to, we had to wait until the emcee came by our table and dismissed us to go get food. It was fine, but I'm a hungry girl and really wanted to be able to just eat quickly. So I guess it will dependon how the reception site handles buffets.

We are doing a 2:00 wedding so I'm assuming the reception will be "afternoon to evening" like Professor's... My parents have expressed a willingness to extend the reception if needed--but I don't want to stretch it out too late either. We're doing a November wedding [most likely, probably], and according to weather.com the sun should set by 5:30, so I'm thinking that plus the activities of the day plus drinking will make people think it is later/get tired sooner/so it won't be too disappointing when the party doesn't keep going until midnight.

My extended family is also slightly... oh... let's say... pleasantly rowdy? Usually no matter what time the reception ends, there is some sort of after-get-together, at the hotel where everyone is staying or whatever. 

professorscience

SMN, we went to a bar after the reception was over in our wedding attire.  H's parents hosted a party at their hotel, and our friends hosted a party at their house.  There was a ton of partying.    We didn't go to the house party -- we were too tired -- but I hear it was just amazing.

ETA: Also, we got married in November AND had a ton of people.  Yaaaay!

monkeysip

@ Erin

Both sounds delicious, but if the chicken is plated, I would pick it over the pasta buffet.  I just always prefer plated over buffet.  But both options are good.

We're having a choice of grilled salmon and asparagus or rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes (we tried the latter--really good!). 

We'll start with some appetizers, but not sure which.  And we'll have either a garden or caesar salad.

Then wedding cake and grooms cake (not sure which flavors yet).

And finally, we were hoping to bring out one more appetizer later in the evening.

christyhal

Ours was a late afternoon/evening reception (cocktail hour started at 4:30, and reception ended at 10:30).  We got an awesome deal on the catering through our venue, and had a sit-down plated dinner.  We had salad, soup, and a choice of either garlic roasted chicken (not sure how to describe it, some kind of garlic sauce.  It rocked.) or black pepper beef strips, or a vegetarian baked pasta.  Sides were fresh green beans and roasted redskin potatoes.  Dessert was cake with a scoop of ice cream on the side.

I am blanking on our cocktail hour appetizers...we finished our pictures late and barely had a minute to scarf something down before our big entrance.  We had a mix of 'standard' appetizers and Indian/Portuguese items.  I think we had mini crab cakes, a veggie display, spicy sausage and these awesome spicy shrimp filled pastry things, and something else I can't remember!  (I know there was another vegetarian friendly option...)

I've been to weddings with buffet stations, and while I love trying all kinds of food, I prefer the seated meal option from a logistical standpoint.  The buffet weddings I've been to have just seemed so disorganized.  The last one I was at was really cramped - the food stations were so close to the tables I was afraid I was going to bump into someone with my plate and end up wearing my dinner!  Also, if you have a smaller guest list people aren't waiting so long for food with a buffet, but with a larger crowd you can have people finishing up while others are still in line!