Cocktail hour food

We have three passed apps, and cocktail hour

We're having assorted cheese, fruit, meats, and crackers as our cocktail hour will last for just that one hour and dinner will be served literally 30min-1hr later

Thanks for asking this - it's been interesting to see the variety of responses! We're having a fresh fruit display, a cheeseboard, fried green tomato BLT sliders, and shrimp and grits in martini glasses for cocktail hour. We're expecting 125 or 150 guests.

Wedding of 70, we’re doing 3 passed apps, fruit and cheese platter and veggies and dips. Open beer and wine. We have a lot of non drinkers and paying for everyone to drink was costly...

We've got about 135 people and we're doing vegetable crudite and a couple of cheese, crackers and pepperoni platters. You really only need enough so that people aren't starving until dinner. You don't want so much that no one is hungry at dinner time.

I also had 4 passed appetizers for 45 guest during my cocktail hour which lasted an hour and a half. My guest seemed to be fine and no mention the stay hungry. We then follow with dinner which was a big buffet style. If you plan on serving just a small plated dinner maybe consider adding more for cocktail hour.

I love the idea suggested about having a fruit/cheese/charcuterie board but not full the full 100 people (that option is $7 a person for my venue and no way can I (and definitely not my fiancé) get on board with that high of addition) but adding it for 30-40 people sounds like a great idea! I know our friends and family are more about drinking at our open bar than they will be about eating haha, so I really think for my wedding a $700 spread is just too much food. But I will ask my vendor about maybe passing 3 apps and doing a smaller grazing table. Thanks for all the input ladies!

View Quoted Comment That sounds perfect! I don’t think our dinner would be considered small, but it’s not a buffet. We are serving a salad course, soup course (both those haven’t been chosen yet) and then the option for a filet or salmon both with whipped garlic mashed potatoes and a seasonal vegetable I also haven’t chosen yet. We’re not dessert people so we are only serving our wedding cake, no dessert table.
So much for me to think about!

I think 4 is enough. That's the typical for what I have seen. I actually went to a wedding that only had 2. They were fantastic though so I didn't care! We actually get a choice of 6 and I think this is too much. I am Italian so a meet & cheese display (or passed) is a necessity. I told them I would like to replace two apps for this method instead. Hopefully they agree because I said I didn't want to pay extra for it and made it known when we booked.

View Quoted Comment You are fine! No worries 😊😊

I think it's enough to plan on 4 bites per person! We have 4 bites per person and a stationary appetizer, but we are planning for a lot of food.

One of the caterers I am talking to for our Waukesha, WI wedding is including a grazing table in the price of the apps. I guess it's common for them to do this. Did you already book a caterer?

View Quoted Comment Yes we did. We’re getting married in the Chicago suburbs are got an awesome deal
on our venue, which includes all food, full bar, cake, late night snack...pretty much everything. She really compromised a lot though to what I wanted so I’m thinking about asking her about doing one less passed app and having a grazing table instead.
Thanks for the feedback!

Hello fellow cost-conscious bride! I'm having about 115 guests at my NJ Jeffrey A Miller catering venue. We have 5 butlered hors d’oeuvres, and I too was worried about the amount of food versus the amount of guests. So for our grazing station, we just have a nice cheese and fruit harvest table. It adds a nice touch, some extra food, but doesn't break the bank. The Jeffery A Miller crew really accommodated my need to save money LOL so I didn't have to try TOO hard to find alternatives to things. I would suggest looking into a harvest grazing table too, though! You could probably even DIY it!

We are having 5x apps, followed by salad (sit down) and a gourmet lunch. I think 4x will be plenty & that a grazing table will probably have a ton of food leftover. If you wanted to add like a candy or treat station it could help if people are still hungry & can double as favors when ur guests leave.
I have scalloped wrapped in bacon
Crab stuffed mushrooms
Spinach & blue cheese stuffed mushrooms
Caprese skewers
Bruschetta crustinis


I struggled a bit because we have vegans & every veg that the venue had besides the bruschetta had cheese in it. I’m still nervous that the crustinis will have egg in it, but there literally nothing else that I can order. I almost did the mash potato bar as an alternative, but I was worried that the vegans wouldn’t eat potatoes bc of gluten.

If your dinner is right after it should be fine.

We get 2 hot and 2 cold for ours, but we are starting dinner within 15 minutes of the cocktail hour ending so I think it will be fine. I have been to weddings with no cocktail hour and 1 that had almost to much food that I wasn't hungry for the dinner.