Reception Food Dilemma!

I think it's ok as long as the feel of the wedding is on the informal side and not specifically during a heavy meal time such as dinner....

What about the idea of heavy h'ors d'eouvres? I wouldn't mind a variety of cocktails to nosh on.

ETA: think of it this way. Let's say 200 people came. $1500 / 200 = $7.50 a head. That's cutting it pretty low. Perhaps even a cake and punch ceremony with a few appetizers. And I would not recommend this during dinner time.

Weʻre getting a 5-star chef friend to do all the cooking for us so he can put it on his professional resume as experience for around $500 to feed 130

220 is a lot, Iʻd honestly just go to costco and buy a ton of platters of different foods and put them out buffet-style with someone to monitor and replace as they run low

also, you got time so you may consider setting aside a little bit of money each month for this expense since itʻs not one to skip

I think that is fine. I am sure you can find many restaurants to cater that for something close to your price or a little higher. especially if you are having a casual wedding that would definitely work. But perhaps 2,000 would be more reasonable, however I am sure you can find something to fit your budget. Many Italian restaurants maybe able to cater for that amount

The wedding isn't formal, but definitely not informal either haha so that's why i'm kind of iffy on it. I'd hate to just have the food there and feel like it wasn't good enough, but I've also seen some ideas on Pinterest where you can present the food in a way that helps make it look like you put more love into it.

If I went to a wedding with sandwiches, fruit salad Ect if be so happy lol. It's classic simple food people just wanna eat, they won't nit pick. Just have a nice presentation Itll be fine. We are making all the food, family and bridal party helping.

Future Mrs Noel that's awesome, same here. Yeah if I do go that route I'd like to decorate the tables more and maybe put the food on nice looking platters or plates. I'd also like to do a popcorn/candy buffet.

We are having Classic BBQ food. Pulled pork in slow cookers prior, another additional meat being grilled on site ( I say no to that FH says yes) then we are having 2 hot sides 2 cold sides and my sister an FMIL are making tons of cookies plus were having apples dipped on sticks. I have a price list somewhere but it's VERY LOW for everything. Dollar tree, oriental trading will be friend for the DIY platters to present it gorgeously lol. It can be done!

That sounds delicious! Thank you!

Sorry I'm on my phone and can't see your date. Is it too late for you cut down on your guest list? If your wedding is more formal than a backyard BBQ I feel like sandwiches will be really out of place.

It's June 7th 2014 And we've already sent out save the dates and have several known family members that won't be able to make it, but still quite a bit live nearby. I was thinking about that too, but i'd like to try and decorate everything so that it looks like they fit in possibly, and have the food sit on platters/bowls/plates that look well with the foods. I'll have to experiment a bit!

220? wow, thats a big amount of people and then to serve them lunchmeat? I would cut that down and then get better food.

I think simple sandwiches and such is fine as long as your venue isn't fancy... that would look odd. But i was just at a wedding this summer like that. It was fine. Just make sure you get plenty. The women were making 2 sandwiches and the men 3-4.

You could also look into having a casual restaurant cater it (fazolis, a bbq joint) or even a bunch of fried chicken.

Yay!! We are june 7th also! Have you set a time for the wedding? We are having ours at 7 pm for 2 reasons 1. People should have recently had dinner so we can just have heavy appitizers 2. We have a lot of out of town family coming some are driving so we want to give them time to get here check into hotels and relax!

Is your reception during the day or at night? If it's during dinner time, I would be a bit worried about it being enough, but if you get substantial enough bread (e.g. not just wonder bread...) and a wide variety of meats, then you'll be just fine! Sandwiches are also fairly easy to keep at safe temps, but you still might want to read up on food prep & safety just to make sure.

Our time is limited for our reception: 7-11 and really, 7-10 because we need that last hour to be cleaned up and OUT. We're doing a heavy selection of hors d'ouevres with a bunch of different stations: meditteranean, tex mex, classic american...

Is the wedding in the afternoon or the evening? i think what you're describing is more suited to lunch than dinner. if its in the evening, i would think about cutting the guest list so you can serve dinner. BBQ, food trucks and italian come to mind for delicious but inexpensive dinner catering options.

Yay! I'm also June 7th =) Personally I would have thought about it more before you finalized your guest list... I think a decent meal at a wedding should be a top priority. If your budget only allows $7.50 a person, you should have cut back on the guests.

I think whatever you choose to do is fine - I am sure your guests will appreciate any effort you go to and understand money is tight! Another suggestion if you want to have a little more help would be to check out local casual restaurants... For our rehearsal dinner, we're doing Rumbi's Island Grill - for something like $8 per person they deliver, set up, and clean up afterwards. We also looked at Chipotle and Boston Market who both offer something similar. We went to one wedding where they had chicken nuggets from Chik-fil-a, though - and they were a huge hit. Just do it with love and those that come will appreciate it!

Food is food! As long as you have something (and enough) for them to eat. We are having a Ruby Tuesdays drop off buffet. It's less than $10 a person.

My brother had a sandwich station for his wedding with different meats, cheese, bread. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was a meal so nothing really to complain about.