Buffett or food stations

Are you asking about finger food instead of a meal?

Yes, its more expensive.

Yes, it is more expensive. As a guest, if I attended an evening mealtime wedding and all you had was finger foods, I would very likely be pretty pissed that I was going to have to go pay for dinner on top of everything i spent to attend your wedding, after I left.

Feed people a meal, not appetizers.

If your wedding is around a mealtime, provide a full meal. Having enough finger foods for everyone to have several a piece in place of a meal will be pricey.

My aunt had a buffet at her wedding and it was lovely.

A buffet isn't finger foods.. A buffet is dinner. So I guess I don't really understand your question. It depends on your venue or your caterer. For us, buffet was cheaper, but one for one of my friends that is getting married in a different town, plated dinner was cheaper

If I were a guest at your wedding, I'd be pissed to have finger foods as my meal if your reception is at a meal time.

You can absolutely feed your guests and entire dinner between stations and passed hors d'oeuvres, but it's rarely less expensive. Generally,the most cost effective way to serve a dinner amount of food is a plated dinner.

It's really more of a style choice, not a budget one.

Our meal is finger foods. Not like appetizers but tiny versions of everything. Mini tacos, mini burgers, mini crab cakes, etc. I'm not sure about cheaper but it's what we're doing

If you do stations and passed hors d'oeuvres, PLEASE make sure there's plenty of food. I was once a guest at a wedding that splurged on a top shelf liquor open bar but the passed apps and few platters laying around that made up "dinner" weren't nearly enough. We were ravenous and fairly drunk after that much nice booze and little food.

At one point we saw a waiter walk past with grilled chicken strips and we tried to pounce only to be told that they were a special order for the mother of the groom. I'm going out on a limb and saying that if the VIPs have to special order private food, there's not enough for guests, either.

We stood in the corner and actually talked about ordering a pizza to the venue. They put out late night grilled cheese sandwiches and doughnuts but it happened way too late. Worst wedding I've ever been to, and I'm not hard to please. Worse, I'm sure it cost them a fortune more than other simple weddings that were fun and lovely with well-fed guests.

ETA: This is not meant to be a knock on passed apps and stations. I've also been to weddings where the passed apps and stations were so hearty that I was shocked to see that later on there was also dinner. As long as the quantity is sufficient, either option is fine!

We had stations at our reception… during meal time. GASP!

We had a ridiculous amount of food and our guests loved it. Our reception was also only 3 hours (6:45-9:45) and we had a somewhat small guest list. I think this is one of those “know your guests” things too.

We did not do just finger foods though… we did heavy, protein based appetizers that could easily be a meal. Our space was small and time was limited (outside and noise ordinance forced us to shut down early).

It is important to let your guests know what you are doing though. We had our menu on our website and spread it via word of mouth as well.

It was not less expensive than buffet though…

Less expensive, no. We're doing stations but we're having a lot of them and they're pretty filling - not "finger foods." Sliders station, mashtini bar, mac n cheese station, carving station, etc are just a few examples of stations that can make a full meal! Oh, also tacos. Everyone loves tacos.

You won't save any money, if that's the objective. Guests will walk away feeling satisfied or looking for the nearest exit posting a fast food restaurant after they leave your wedding. That's just the way it is. The budget remains the same -- whether it's passed apps, food stations, a plated meal, or a buffet.

If it's a mealtime, then feed your guests dinner. If I went to a wedding and it was 7:00 and all I had were small little finger foods, then I would be kind of pissed.

As for expense, I don't think it will be cheeper. Quite the opposite actually.

Thank you for all your feedback! It's been helpful. I was deciding between food stations or a buffet with an appetizer cocktail hour for those that were confused!