Ideas for backyard minimony

We're doing individually-wrapped meals. Since there are only 9 of us, everyone picked what they wanted to eat from a caterer just like any restaurant to-go order. For beverages, we're using single-serve cans and bottles. Even wine, beer, and liquor come in small bottles. We're using disposable plates, cups, and cutlery. We will still cut a cake, but also ordered individually-packaged cookies for everyone so they don't have to eat shared food. Finally, we bought some pop-up trash and recycling bins to scatter around so everyone can take care of their own items.

We are using disposable cutlery, plates, and cups. For food, we will have a table with hand sanitizer and gloves that must be used before serving themselves. Everyone must wear their masks while in line. We are serving the high-risk guests first before everyone else goes. We have a small gathering of less that 20 people, so, it'll go quickly.

I'd recommend using cans of soda as opposed to 2 liters, disposable plates and utensils, and any plated meals you can do (as opposed to buffet style. Make sure to have hand sanitizer handy!

We worked with a caterer to help us find the safest food options. We're doing heavy appetizers in attractive individual containers for dinner, so no one will be touching any of the same utensils and we don't have to have a server. An ice cream truck is coming for dessert, so that will be individually packaged as well.
I don't know exactly how we're handling drinks. If you have large bottles, multiple people touch them, but if you have individual drinks, they have to be stored in a cooler that everyone reaches into, which obviously has its own issues. I'll probably put some bleach wipes near the bar so people can wipe things down before they touch them if they want to. The good thing is that coronavirus is mostly spread through people breathing on each other, not through surface contamination, so the most important thing is to have a system for people to get drinks without forming a line. Ours will be in a separate area, away from the food and the tables. I'm also making "covid boxes" so each person will have a mask (that goes with the decor so it feels more like we chose the masks, not just that we were afraid of spreading disease) and somewhere to put the mask while they eat, their own bottle of hand sanitizer, and extra napkins so no one has to touch a pile of napkins that other people have touched.

We're doing "cake and punch" style minimony with 11 guests in the backyard. The idea is to get people in and out with minimal mingling or touching surfaces.


Individually wrapped sandwiches and pastries for anyone who gets hungry. Islands of seating by household. An ice bucket with single serve apple cider at each island. Individually wrapped cupcakes on each chair.
We will do the toast and cake cutting right after the vows, so the guests don't even have to get up. After family portraits, we're done.
It's not ideal.

This is never how I envisioned a wedding, but as FH said, safety trumps our desire to host more conventionally

Use single serve beverages. If you wanted to do a big containers of self serve punch of sangria or something like that, you could put hand sanitizer next to the jug and have some one frequently disinfecting the nozzle.

Glad to see what we're doing seems to be the norm! I'm also having a "minimony" with 16 guests plus us. Originally we were going to do pre-plated meals and have our guests tell us ahead of time what they wanted, but as we're not hiring anyone I imagined my mother spending the whole afternoon running back and forth so we've decided not to do that. Instead, we've decided to do appetizers, cake, and sweets, all pre-filled in little disposable cups w/ Syran wrap on top. They'll be served on a large table, and everyone can just grab what they want without breathing on anyone else's food, and without anyone having to be the server. I also think this will make the reception as a whole feel less awkward. Seeing as how we can't actually be sitting close to anyone, it really didn't make much sense for us to do plated meals. This way, folks don't even need to sit down, they can stand and mingle at a distance with their appetizers and drinks. That being said, we will have a few small tables scattered about, as well as TV trays (decorated w/ tablecloths) so guests can grab one if they want to sit and eat. As for drinks, we'll have an ice tub filled with single beverages, a hand sanitizer pump next to it, and a little sign reminding folks to use it. We'll also be giving everyone little hand sanitizers to use throughout the day.

Have the food plated at everyone’s seats rather than a buffet line for less contamination! Food that won’t spoil easily like sandwiches and salads are a safe bet. Champagne comes in cute little mini individual bottles, you could buy those!