Cocktail hour and dinner

It all depends on what you can afford and/or if you want plated or buffet. Some go real casual and do BBQ/pizza or some even do Italian. The norm is something like fish, chicken and steak. For us, we're having a buffet with fish and steak with a couple of sides and chicken and waffles (mostly for my FH picky behind lol).

I agree with the previous poster, it depends on what you can afford.

Budget and the type of event you're having are big factors on determining what food should be served! If you're having a more dressy casual/semi-formal event, then BBQ or a pizza/taco bar are some fun ideas! If it's more formal like a black tie event, then you would lean more towards a plated meal with options like a chicken or steak dish! For cocktail hour, bruschetta is a pretty easy app. option as well as bacon wrapped asparagus!

We're thinking about having traditional southern staples for our reception! Mac&Cheese, green beans, chicken, pulled pork, salad, rolls, etc. For cocktail hour, we might do lumpia which is a type of Filipino spring roll (I'm half Filipino so we wanted to incorporate that!)

I knew I didn’t want typical “wedding food” grilled chicken with sides usually mashed potatoes. Boring!
We got married right after Christmas and I wanted a warm cozy celebratory family meal. So I wanted carved turkey. I searched like crazy for a caterer who could do it in my budget and finally found one.
I also looked through dozens of menus from different caterers. To try and get an idea. Start with what you and FH like, favorite foods or comfort foods. Then start looking at caterers and loom through their menus. If you can’t find any who fit your budget then you might have to change what you serve, but don’t let budget steer you away from using an actual caterer as opposed to a restaurant. We spent $25 per person for our food. And it was great, from an actual careering company, and they provided great service.

View Quoted Comment I really would like to do a plated dinner, but the cater either doesn't have what we are looking for in our menu or they don't do plated and that really bugs me right now

View Quoted Comment Lumpia sounds so great for cocktail hour. That is one of my favorite things to make

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Doesn't it! They're so yummy, but also the perfect size for an appetizer!

View Quoted Comment They really are, my tech college would make them for us and uhhh one of the only reasons I would go back to school

For cocktail hour we had fried ravioli, tomato basil grilled cheese squares, and sesame chicken bites with a mango sauce. The red ravioli was a special request since that isn't included on their menu, but they were able to make it.

For dinner we had a pasta station with your choice of tortellini or penne pasta with either alfredo or vodka sauce, a carving station with craved turkey and prime rib, mashed potatoes, and grilled veggies.

We also had a candy bar with assorted black and red candy (our wedding colors).

Our late night snack was a nacho bar.

View Quoted Comment That sounds so awesome thank you