Wedding Etiquette Forum

Reception food

I posted a few days back about FI not being sure about inviting his extended family to the wedding. In the end, he decided to invite everyone, which is cool. However, our original budget was for 20 guests, and now we're closer to 50.

Our ceremony is at 1:30, reception immediately following at our house. Is it appropriate to serve an assortment of sandwiches along with some basic appetizers and a couple side salads? We'd also have cake and assorted drinks, both alcoholic and not, since we already have a full bar at our house. We're not having a typical reception with dancing, toasts, tosses, etc. It's mostly a chance for us to chat with everyone for a couple hours. Our entire wedding is lowbudget, so I don't think the scaleddown meal would stand out as being cheap relative to the other elements of the wedding. We'd make sure there was plenty of food. Also, nobody is traveling more than 20 minutes for the wedding or reception, so it's not like we're asking guests to fly or shell out for a hotel room just to get a sandwich. Thoughts?

Re: Reception food

  • I think that sounds just fine:-)  
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_reception-food-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:b99e954d-b8aa-4a31-98b1-87b89b89e583Post:d3b10a38-725d-4e08-b6c9-4784674e00bf">Reception food</a>:
    [QUOTE]I posted a few days back about FI not being sure about inviting his extended family to the wedding. In the end, he decided to invite everyone, which is cool. However, our original budget was for 20 guests, and now we're closer to 50. Our ceremony is at 1:30, reception immediately following at our house. Is it appropriate to serve an assortment of sandwiches along with some basic appetizers and a couple side salads? We'd also have cake and assorted drinks, both alcoholic and not, since we already have a full bar at our house. We're not having a typical reception with dancing, toasts, tosses, etc. It's mostly a chance for us to chat with everyone for a couple hours. Our entire wedding is lowbudget, so I don't think the scaleddown meal would stand out as being cheap relative to the other elements of the wedding. We'd make sure there was plenty of food. Also, nobody is traveling more than 20 minutes for the wedding or reception, so it's not like we're asking guests to fly or shell out for a hotel room just to get a sandwich. Thoughts?
    Posted by CA.Giraffe[/QUOTE]

    I think this is fine.  If you have sandwiches and some sides, chips, etc., you should be fine.  Since it's close to the lunch hour, just try to make sure there are enough sandwiches for everyone, and maybe a few extra.
  • Sure.  Nothing starts until 1:30, so no one will be expecting lunch.  Or dinner.
  • Thanks! I'm actually a little excited about the sandwiches, the deli where they're coming from is awesome and they're giving us a deal because we're the first wedding they've done.
  • We have no gluten free or other special dietary needs, except my allergy to nuts. There will be glutenfree and veggie appetizers and salads though, just because a lot of what I eat falls into those categories.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_reception-food-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:b99e954d-b8aa-4a31-98b1-87b89b89e583Post:4e62ad23-3867-4390-9c86-738123e2ed3c">Re: Reception food</a>:
    [QUOTE]Do you have any gluten-free guests?  It seems to me like half of my friends and family are eating gluten free these days.  If so, you might want to make sure you have enough non-gluten options to give those people something to eat.  The side salads could work for that, provided they don't have noodles or croutons.
    Posted by kwitherington[/QUOTE]

    <div>I know the OP doesn't need to worry about this, but for anyone else looking to accommodate someone on a gluten-free diet, please be careful. I require a gluten-free diet due to Celiac Disease, and I wouldn't be able to eat something that "should" be gluten-free unless I was 100% sure it was prepared correctly and that no one had accidentily spilled a sandwich crumb into the bowl. Because I'm so sensitive, I always eat before or bring my own food as I don't feel it's fair to expect the host to accommodate something like that when they have a million other things to worry about. I also feel worse when they put a lot of effort into trying, but I have no way of knowing if the food is safe or not and can't eat it anyway. </div>
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