Dinner or not.....

You could definitely do a cake and punch reception, but that's generally around non-meal times. If your reception is from 5-9, I worry that your guests will get pretty hungry. Could you get Mexican or Italian from a local restaurant? They can be much less expensive than a traditional caterer.

I agree, if it was mid-afternoon you could do heavy appetizers. But you’ll need to do dinner since it’s during a meal time.

You can absolutely do just cake & refreshments but not as a meal-time reception. You need to do 2 pm or a non-mealtime.

Considering it is going to be at dinner time, it would be rude to not offer your guests dinner. You could have a cake and punch reception if it were much earlier in the day though. I think your guests count might surprise you lol. Good luck and congratulations!

View Quoted Comment Yes Mexican is a great affordable option! Especially if the area has a bomb taco truck. Taco stations and food trucks are really popular for the casual weddings in my area.

Echoing everyone on here, a cake and punch reception would be a fine choice to have, as long as you host your wedding at a non-meal time (late afternoon or late evening (aka after 7)). However, if you're going to host people at a meal-time reception, you really need to provide something a bit more hardy for them. Like Samantha suggested above, Mexican or Italian tend to be less expensive (and delicious!) options. I know we have a few amazing Mexican places around here that we get to cater our staff lunches and they're definitely on the affordable side (teacher pay and all).

I agree with PP that based on your reception time, guests will be hungry and expecting dinner. If you had a mid-afternoon reception, I think cake and light hors d'oeuvres would be perfect, but that won't be enough to hold people over until 9:00, and I fear many would leave early to go get something to eat.

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That's what we are thinking... we are just at a stand still at what to do and how to do it financially. We are supposed to be putting so much back for the wedding honeymoon and with Covid19 affecting both of our jobs we have had to take money out of that fund to pay bills... I just don't know. If we do it earlier then no one will come at all. My fiancé thinking that many may not just because of the time and location. We had to choose a location kind of out of the way, due to last minute decision of having the reception and wanting to do it as cheap as possible The reason we chose the location and time is a long story. We are basically only having a reception to keep his mom happy because she DID NOT like the idea of us just eloping and going out to eat. She gave me the address list for his side and she literally gave me 5 addresses.... I'm like seriously... We are spending hundreds of dollars for a party that she pitched a fit over for 5 addresses..... and our families are about the same size. If I cancel the reception then I will lose the money for the venue and cake.... that's over 700$ right there, unless I reschedule, but whats the point of that. Maybe not many will show and we can just order pizzas or something lol like little cesars lol just hide the boxes no one will know lol. I love cheap but not look cheap lol

Have You Looked Into A Restaurant That Could Cater? They Generally Run Cheaper From What I Hear

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The ones near the venue start at 18 per person, our original caterer was charging us 8 per person, buffet style. we might just do pizzas... Idk

I agree that the timing of when you want your wedding sounds like you need a meal

You have to serve a meal if your having it during a meal time. If I'm a guest and you don't supply a meal, I'm leaving early to go eat something.

Cake only receptions are very common and not tacky in the least. Usually held in a church fellowship room. But they are not served during a meal time...either mid day or after dinner hours.


If you want to serve a meal, contact local restaurants about catering. You would be surprised at their options and affordability compared to wedding caterers.

If your event is at a meal time, you need to serve a meal. If you want to have a cake and punch reception then you need to change the time of your event to being at a non-meal time such as 2-5 pm or after 8 pm.