Catering Ideas

cunger1 · October 2011

I am getting married in May, and we are on a strict budget. The wedding ceremony is going to be at noon. So the reception would be around 1:00pm. Is it acceptable just to have finger sandwiches, punch and cake? I watched to have a entire lunch but it was just way out of our budget.

jessicabessica · October 2011

To me, that's lunch time, so you need to have enough food to fill people up for their lunch. You don't have to have fancy food or a sit down meal, though. I think it would be fine to have the sandwiches--just make sure you have enough that everyone can fill up--with some veggie platters and maybe a salad or two.

If you don't want to have that much food, I would push back your start time. If you started the ceremony at 2 and had the reception at 3, I think people would have already eaten lunch on their own and what you suggested would be fine.

cunger1 · October 2011

Thank You! I was thinking of having veggie and fruit trays anyways! That would be a nice addition. Thanks for your input.

Astrid821 · October 2011

I think, if push comes to shove with your food budget, you can always put something to the affect of "please join us for a light lunch, punch and cake following the ceremony" on your invitations. That way your guests will at least know what to expect. No one says you have to feed people at your wedding but most guests expect it, so if it's not in your budget it would be nice to give your guests a heads up.

But I agree, if you can, you should try to have a little bit more food.

jessicabessica · October 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_catering-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:58e3fa8f-cb22-4622-82f2-385f5b041aa0Post:fc312f2f-5f7f-4a6d-9a20-47ecf2729136">Re: Catering Ideas</a>:
[QUOTE]I think, if push comes to shove with your food budget, you can always put something to the affect of "please join us for a light lunch, punch and cake following the ceremony" on your invitations. That way your guests will at least know what to expect. No one says you have to feed people at your wedding but most guests expect it, so if it's not in your budget it would be nice to give your guests a heads up. But I agree, if you can, you should try to have a little bit more food.
Posted by Astrid821[/QUOTE]

<div>Actually, the reception is to thank your guests for coming to witness and celebrate your marriage, so you do need to host them. Like I said before, it doesn't need to be elaborate or expensive, but you should feed people something. I don't know why you would plan a wedding over a meal time if you didn't want to provide enough food to be a meal. The easy alternative is to pick a non-meal time, and then have cake and punch or whatever you want to serve. </div>

Astrid821 · November 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_catering-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:58e3fa8f-cb22-4622-82f2-385f5b041aa0Post:474c2bda-58a1-49ad-8727-58eaa376e224">Re: Catering Ideas</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Catering Ideas : Actually, the reception is to thank your guests for coming to witness and celebrate your marriage, so you do need to host them. Like I said before, it doesn't need to be elaborate or expensive, but you should feed people something. I don't know why you would plan a wedding over a meal time if you didn't want to provide enough food to be a meal. The easy alternative is to pick a non-meal time, and then have cake and punch or whatever you want to serve.
Posted by jessicabessica[/QUOTE]

<div> You do not have to thank people by feeding them. You can "host" with any amount of food you'd like. People are not dog who need a treat for doing something nice. It is just the norm and what is expected. Lunch is not thought of as a very big meal so one would think that it's the perfect time of day to have a celebration with less food provided. Once again I agree that you should have a bit more than sandwiches and cake, maybe a few displays with cheese and crackers, fruits and veggies and a few finger food appetizers could fit in your budget. If you're having your wedding early in the day with little or no hot foods you should be able to secure a discount from your caterer since they are likely to be able to staff an evening wedding after yours. I have been to a wedding where the cocktail hour had so much food we thought it was the reception dinner and I've also been to a wedding where the only foods were a supermarket party platter, a 6 foot sub, and a home made cake. And guess what, we had fun at both of these wedding. The second wedding even had a *gasp* cash bar! But we knew that the couple was paying for the whole wedding on a very tight budget and we were happy to watch them get married and to party with them afterwards. There are many different ways to have a wedding and feeding people does not have to be the most important part. 
</div>

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