Poll: Do you think NJ CHs are a little over the top?

I <3 Seabass

The wedding we went to on Friday was in PA and it was lovely, no complaints. But I must stay compared to NJ, the CH at this wedding was basically non existent. No stations, just a couple of waiters walking around with trays of a couple of different apps, and it was fine. I wasn't starving before dinner came.  After that I kind of felt like we over do it a little bit in NJ for our CHs. Didn't help that my other out-of-state friend said her's was going to be the same way as this PA wedding.

caketime

Do we overdo it, probably.  Do I still love it, absolutely!

illmollywopya

Ditto cake.. we are jersey girls and are known to over do everything. I have come to accept it

dominoe611

ditto caketime! i went to a wedding in PA in May and it was the same thing.  i have to admit i was slightly disappointed!

Laurms15

In my experience with galas, charity events, corporate diners, hliday parties, and weddings in NYC caterers don't usually do stations either and I think that's ok. A lot of ppl I work with who live/work in NYC are surprised when they attend weddings in Long Island, Statan Island, New Jersey at how much food is served before dinner.I'm using a NYC caterer (my venue doesn't have one) and I'm not planning on having major stations. We are having 2 small ones of crackers/cheese/veggies and one station of Italian antipasta and everything else will be passed. I want ppl to be hungry for the dinner portion. Additionally I am working on my BM's wedding and she is doing passed for cocktail hours and then having stations for dinner instead of sit-down. Both of those are a good way to save money by not having such a huge cocktail hour.

jen629

i am from Illinois and they doing NOTHING like that there..lol... when I told my family about all the food at the cocktail hour they were blown away and cant wait to come here for the wedding

uppereastgirl

ABSOLUTELY.  I think it can become showy and ridiculous, to be honest.  Particularly when the food isn't good but there are like 900 choices.  I'd much prefer a few good things to snack on and then a good meal.  And often the meals are lacking...

mbcdefg

I definitely feel like we go overboard. I went to my cousin's wedding in Florida last year (and she's originally from Staten Island, so it's not like she was unfamiliar with how other regions do it). Her cocktail hour had a roast beef carving station, and some stationary platters on a table - cheese and crackers, fruit, vegetables, and I think one or two platters of hors d'oeuvres. And dinner was salad, the entree and a slice of wedding cake. That was PLENTY. That being said, when I go to a wedding in this area, the cocktail hour is the part I usually look forward to the most. I just wish there wasn't so much wasted food at the end.

kewltif

I like a nice cocktail hour. It's always my favorite part of the event. I think there is a fine line though. Sometimes it really can be pushed to excess.

Mye

If there isnt shrimp during the CH i am not happy, some can be too much, but I much prefer the over the top than just cheese & cracker kind of CH....Weddings in Portugal are way more over the top with food! There are at least 2 entrees, one meat and one fish. It starts with a huge CH, than an appetizer, a soup, followed by salad, fish, then meat, sometimes a 2nd meat dish, then tons of desserts...yeah its crazy

DMLJ

I love the over-the-topness of it all. I just went to a very simple wedding in PA- no hot food at all and before the sandwiches came out they had passed bruschetta and shrimp on a ritz cracker. I think when she comes to my wedding she might be stunned- but she must have saved so much!

jtheiss

I'm originally from Wisconsin and there is never a CH at weddings out there. At most I've seen cheese and crackers, that's it. My entire family keeps telling me that I'm doing too much and that I don't NEED a cocktail hour and that I'm spending too much money (even though they're NOT paying for any of it!). No matter how many times I tell my mother that this is just the way it is out here, she still makes me feel that I'm being extravagant for having a CH. I agree that it's a little over the top for my Midwestern family, but FI's family would find it odd if we didn't have one, so I feel stuck.

attybride2

Ditto Uppereast.  I am remembering the wedding at the Pleasantdale Chateau I went to...not all around that great of food, but really really showey.  I feel the same way about multiple desserts...like when you just had a piece of wedding cake or whatever adn dessert number TWO comes out...and then viennese hours on top of that!   

jaimelody

When I looked at venues here in GA the first thing one of the venues told me was - don't expect the lavish CH and venetian that a NJ wedding comes with. They had choices, and they were cheaper - but if you're used to weddings in NJ, you LOVE the over the topness.

Partymixx27

I think it's over the top compared to other areas of the country, but I love it. CH is my favorite part of a wedding too.  I've never been to an out-of-state wedding, so this is just what I'm used to.

itsme32985

It's NJ of course its over the top!! But I wouldn't want it any other way!

njbrowneyedgrl74

The OH guests thought our wedding was wonderful--tons of compliments and questions if this is the norm.  Ours wasn't totally over the top, but way more than what we will get in OH in Oct I'm sure.

Jaytee501

I love a fantastic cocktail hour. Looking back, everyone loved their entreés but I should have stuck with my original all-cocktails idea!

LarissaAnn

Nope, I like ours.

brad1431

we also pay a lot more so you get more

VivaLaDiva405

Ditto Seabass! I was just at a wedding in Cleveland on Friday and it was the same thing. FI and I didn't eat lunch because we thought we'd chow down at the cocktail hour - alas, we ended up stalking the wait staff as they traveled with their tiny bruscettas (sp??) and itty pitty spinach pie thingees. A veggie platter and one hot item (Swedish meatballs) and that was it. I was not prepared for this, LOL! I am so looking forward to our guests enjoying the CH (We'll be taking pics, but the venue will save us plates, because I'm not missing those crabcakes for nuthin'). That said, she definitely saved a whole helluva lot - Friday, mini-CH, buffet dinner. I can see the appeal, but as someone upthread said, we pay more, so we get more! I'm just fine with this.

capecod1986

I love NJ CH but in all honesty we pay way more for weddings here than people I know in other states. A friend got married in Texas and paid about $20 a head. No going into debt over a wedding. And they are just as married.