Wedding Reception Food HELP!

ashyc04 · May 2011

Has anyone thought about, or been to a wedding that didn't have a main course?

Our ceremony and reception will be in the summer at a beautiful garden venue where people are free to walk around and explore. We don't want a formal sit down dinner because we want our guest to take advantage of the venue. We're looking at caterers and they all have fantastic hors d'oeuvres, but the main dishes seem rather played out.

Would it be horribly tacky to not have the chicken/beef/fish entree with the small amount of sides, and instead go with a TON of heavy hors d'oeuvres? We want our guests to be able to go up to the buffet several times and get an array of different types of foods and we'll definately have more than enough of all the hors d'oeuvres, so no one is feeling less that stuffed in the end.

Opinions?

ckollstedt · May 2011

I think heavy hors d'oeuvres would be fine, as long as the amount of food is comparable to a meal.

Guests might be expecting a sit-down meal if the reception will be taking place during a meal time, so you might want to specify something about having hors d'oeuvres on the invites if you do go this route.

BTW, your reception idea sounds good-- I know I would enjoy it-- but make sure you're providing seating and tables for every guest.

Good luck!

medusia00 · May 2011

I agree with PP, it sounds really nice just make sure everyone knows no formal dinner, and you'll be good!

lisafalon84 · May 2011

I went to a wedding with just hours d'ouves and it was fantastic. They would come around with something different and refresh the buffet stand every 2 hours

Madisonpenny · May 2011

Yup, I've been to a wedding where there was no main course. Just be sure that you order enough hors d'oeuvres. The wedding I was at didnt let people know there would be no meal per se and didnt have enough food, so alot of people actually left and went to the Mcdonalds down the road because they were so hungry.

HYDROPHILE · May 2011

Generally when someone doesn't include a dinner choice in their response cards ("beef or chicken?") then it would be assumed there is not a plated dinner.

If you have a website or anything, I would post "a heavy hors d'oeuvres reception to follow" as I have seen done several times before.

If it's Summer in a beautiful garden, I think you are a-okay

Heavy hors d'oeuvres are okay anyways. It's when you get to the REALLY cheap hors d'oeuvres that it gets annoying (aka peanuts, M&Ms, etc. and yes, I've been to those as well.)

itybitymommy · May 2011

yeah! My FI and I are doing something very similar. I think the flow of our event would be better suited to a buffet/tappas style presentation so people can just come up and pick throughout the night, and then go back to dancing and having fun. Like the PP's have mentioned, just make sure you have enough for everone to fill up on h'oursderves and make sure they know not to expect a sit-down dinner. The wedding website is a great place for that, I've found it to be a very helpful tool-- I put the URL link on the back of our STD's to make sure everyone had access.

OuachitaTrixie · May 2011

I have been to a wedding with heavy hors d'oeurves where there were different themed "stations." It was AMAZING! Everyone had plenty to eat and could graze the entire night. There was no "main course." They just had several round tables sprinkled around the garden with the different foods. There was never long buffet lines or congestion either even though they had a huge number of guests.
Each station had stacks of small dessert sized plates and utensils. Servers collected used plates from dining tables and trays that were set up for guests to leave glasses and plates on.

These were they "themes" they had

Italian: choice of bow-tie or rigatoni pasta
           choice of sauces: red, alfredo
           choice of toppings: olives, pepperoni, grilled ck breast in small cubes
           choice of cheese: grated parmesan, grated asiago

Small sandwiches:
           white and wheat rolls
           ham or turkey
           two or three types of sliced cheese
           sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles
           condiments

Fruit table

Savory finger food table
           stuffed mushroom caps
           mini quiches
           etc.

sweets table
           hot gooey cinnamon rolls
           bite sized cheesecakes

they had more stuff but I don't remember. The most important thing that I remember was how much all the guests loved the food and they way it was presented. Usually our large Catholic weddings have you standing in an hour long line at the buffet... this was a HUGE improvement!

KarenLM · May 2011

Your invitation could have "Cocktail reception to follow" printed on it so that guests know it is not a full meal. If the reception is around dinner time, guests might automatically expect a meal. If they are forewarned, they can plan their evening meal accordingly, and hopefully you won't have guests leaving the reception early in search of a full meal.

brooks55 · May 2011

We're doing passed hors d'oeuvres for the cocktail hour and then opening heavy hors d'oeuvres stations:

Beef Tenderloin Tips in Bourbon Brown Sugar Sauce with mashed potatoes - chef attended

Build Your Own Grilled Cheese Bar with seasonal soup shooters - chef attended

Asian Station: Chicken Satay Skewers, Assorted Sushi, Egg Rolls with Spicy Orange Dipping Sauce and Vegetable Teriyaki Noodle Salad served in Chinese Take out Boxes

Tapas Station: Chef Attended Grilled Snapper Taco Bar & Shrimp Ceviche.

We figure that this set up allows for maximum mingling and dancing as it is an indoor/outdoor event- folks can graze for 4 hours on the food.

Wedding Reception Food HELP!

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