Hors D'Oeuvers Reception?

veijes

This past week I have received 3 invites to weddings, 2 of which say that the reception with be an hors d'oeuvers reception. I'm just wondering if anyone on here is doing this? Is this becoming more popular or something? I have never heard of it! I'm wondering how the timeline looks and if anyone has gone to a wedding like this and liked it? I guess I will find out on Friday when I go but I'm just a little curious. TIA!

megsticks31

I've seen this a lot for Friday weddings and for at-home receptions for destination weddings. Usually ceremony at 7 followed immediately by apps and then a dance.  It allows for people to eat dinner before coming...

KERJF

my friend just had one. it was a nice alternative to save some money. her ceremony wasnt until 6 i believe, and then the reception. she had some heavier apps. for people to choose from. theirs was a buffet style appetizer station.

LittleSweetie

I've been to one before - it was a few years ago at NIP.  They had apps at 7/8:00 (4:00 ceremony).  Just make sure to grab dinner, because I felt like a ravenous vulture once the apps came out!  (Then again, I do get a little carried away with cute bite-sized food...)

hkiesling

jolawsky had one.  It was on a Friday night, and it sounded like it went over really well.

veijes

I wonder if that would work for us? We are having a Sunday wedding ceremony either at 330 or 4. Just wondering because we planned on having an appetizer hour then plated dinner but I wonder how long people are actually going to want to stay on a Sunday night, hors d'oeuvers reception would definitely take less time for the people to eat and leave if they have kids and an early job to get to. thoughts??

periippa

I'd never heard of it until I moved to DC, but a lot of my Southern friends say it's quite common where they're from. In fact, my Man of Honor (who's from Southern Mississippi) said he's never been to a sit-down plated reception. I've heard that it gives the impression that the bride and groom are being "cheap," because they won't feed you a full meal. But in reality, good appetizers can cost almost as much as a seated dinner.

kclepire

We were planning on doing a heavy app reception until we attended one last summer.  The invite said reception at 7pm with heavy apps (it was a family only ceremony).  There was not enough food and everyone was starving.  We eneded up leaving the reception and running to McDonald's to grab food because we and the other 8 people in our group of friends were all so hungry. At McDonald's we ran into others that we did not know from teh reception who were also there getting food. We did go back to the reception, but it was just not enough food.   veijes - just curious how you would do an all hors d'oeuvers reception are Carlson?  You would not be able to meet the minimum.....

emilykathleen511

I don't think it would be a good idea for a 4pm ceremony. If you're going to do a hors d'oeuvers reception the ceremony should be LATE, as in 7, 8, or even 9, to give people plenty of time to eat dinner before they come. The other option would be to have a 1 or 2 pm ceremony with afternoon hors d'oeuvers so that people can get dinner afterward.

veijes

Kclepire- Our food minimum is locked in at $5k since we booked early and are on a Sunday so between the more expensive hors d'oeuvers and possibly doing a dessert buffet instead of cake I know we would meet our minimum. I guess we will wait and go to the other two weddings to decide if we like it or not. I don't want our guests to be hungry!

mrs.katematch

Communication is key -- if you're going to do apps only, be sure that guests are given fair warning on the invites.  Mention it'll be an hors d'oeuvres reception and also give the timeline of the day. 

kclepire

Ah yes, then you would meet you minimum with no trouble.  If you do choose to go this way I wonder if you'll be able to taste test anything as they only allow you to taste 2 entrees and no hors d'oeuvers.  

rkroer

We're planning on doing an hors d'oeuvres-only reception --- our wedding is on a Friday with the ceremony starting at 7pm so reception starting at 8 or 8:30.  I think that's plenty of time for people to do dinner on their own and then attend.  For our Reception cards in the invite we're writing:"Please join us for hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, and dancing following the ceremony"This way there is no question as to what we'll be serving.  We had planned to do a champagne toast in addition to hosting beer & wine to a specific $ amt --- but very few people would actually drink it so we're skipping that and putting more money into the apps.If it's done well, and the food is brought out throughout the evening, it can be really nicely executed.  I went to one before and it was great!  If you do mini sandwiches or mini burgers that can fill people up, more substantial than just crackers and cheese.I'm excited for it, I personally wouldn't want to eat a huge meal at 9pm anyway --- I'd get too sluggish to dance! LOL

mrsdawnmarie

We did this, on a Saturday. Our ceremony was at 7pm, with apps following after the 2.5 mile drive to the reception site. We wouldn't have met the minimum with just the hor d'ourves so we also did a dessert bar instead of a full cake. This and the bar we partially hosted met the minimum just fine. Our invites said "Hor D'ourves reception and dancing to follow at [reception venue]"

rkroer

P.S. -- if you put little snacks on the tables (like pretzles or popcorn and kisses/m&ms) that will help keep people grazing and take the edge off of hunger.  You could also time it so that they bring out late-night pizzas or something, again it keeps the food flow going and keeps you and the guests happy!

veijes

Thanks for all the info everyone! I definitely think people would have enough food at ours if we did an hors d'eouvres only reception because the appetizers that our venue offers are more than just cheese and crackers, so having walleye fingers, mini burgers, chicken skewers, etc. would definitely be filling, I just thought it would be a nice idea to have a ton of different appetizers rather than just one plated meal sitting in front of you. Plus we would have a candy buffet, dessert buffet, and I'm hoping to look into the late night popcorn thing! but if I don't like the weddings I go to with only appetizers I'm sure we will cut that option out. i just don't want our guests to think we are taking the cheap route!

dancegirl731

Just a little info... I just looked into how many appetizers I needed to get for each guest and everything said around 3 a person and that is with plated meals.  They recommended around 9 appetizers a person for a reception without a meal.  Just thought that might be helpful as you are planning to see if this will work!

hbach83

We did that, but we didn't intend for people to eat first. We made it so that there was much variety and quantity so people made a full meal out of it!

am_snoboard

We are thinking about doing an hors d'oeuvers reception also. I really like the idea of not having to sit down for a full meal, being able to mingle with guests all night. Also, no seating charts!

Emily&Geoff

I am new here, but I thought I would add to the discussion. I am getting married in a week and a half and we are doing an hor d'oeuver reception. But our ceremony is at 2:30 and the reception is immediately following at the same location. We are doing mini cheeseburgers with all the fixings on the side, chicken skewers, mini cuban sandwiches, fruit plate, veggies, and phyllo cups with black beans, salsa, etc (veggie option) and then cupcakes. the whole thing will be done by 6ish. So people will be able to eat lunch before hand and still have more than enough time to enjoy a dinner later in the evening if needed. But our caterer said that they do more and more of these and people tend to enjoy the food variety and the mingling-we are having lawn games. We made sure to note the type of reception, that is the most important part. I went to one that had an hour and half in between the ceremony and reception and the reception started at 6:30pm and we have no idea it was just appetizers. We would have gotten food in the in-between but oh well. We were also at one that ran out of food-but it was a friday night and the ceremony started 6pm, was an hour long, and the reception site was about 20/30mins away, so no one even had a chance to eat dinner. I made sure to discuss this worry with my caterer and they knew how to order the proper amount of food and we ended up adding 5 more "guests" so that they would be extra food too. So all in all, let your guests know ahead of time, give them options, and heavier foods!