Seated Meal or lots of Hors d'oeuvres

I think it would depend on the time. If it is during dinner time then I would definitely serve a full meal rather than just hors d'oeuvres. I also think you would have to serve a lot of hors d'oeuvres so your guests are not leaving there hungry or leave early to go get food.

Our reception will begin around 7 so we're definitely providing a full meal instead of only appetizers.

We didn't consider finger foods only because we're having an evening reception and it's proper to offer your guests a full meal, but if you're having a non meal time reception, it's definitely an option. I would look into pricing though since having enough apps to fill your guests up can often times be more expensive than just serving a meal.

We are having both a sit down dinner and Hors d'oeuvres. Our Hors d'oeuvres will be passed out during cocktail hour which is 4:00-5:00, then guests are invited to sit down, we will have soup/salad, dinner starts at 5:30-6:40, then cake cutting. We also have a hot chocolate bar and cookie bar set up from the start of the day.

If it's mealtime you should serve a meal.
If you do only hours dvours I'd say "light reception" on the invitation and have three hours max for the reception.

We are going heavy on the hors d'oeuvres, buffet style instead of a plated meal. The venue we chose doesn't allow outside catering and only has a list of 5 places to use. 1 was Chik-Fil-A (closed on Sunday), 1 was frozen yogurt, 1 was cajun (I can't eat spicy and they wouldn't do non spicy dishes), 1 was italian (very few options for catering) so we went with the 5th place which is organic americana style comfort food. Sliders, salads, bites etc.

We will also have a dessert table with donut towers and a s'mores bar.

I feel like heavy hors d'oeuvre would be ok if you legit had it looking like actual food stations. And there was a lot of it for everyone to get full off of

I prefer full meals at weddings, especially if they are at all during a meal time. My cousin did heavy appetizers, which was fine, but we didn't fill up regardless how many times they came around.

If your reception is during typical dinner hours, I'd serve a full meal. The con is that it's more expensive, but the pro is that your guests will be much happier and have a better time at your wedding because they'll be well-fed. The only wedding I've attended in recent years that just had heavy hors d'oeuvres in lieu of a meal was a large, informal reception that had an open invite to people in a church community, and the couple made it clear that only appetizers would be served so that guests knew to eat in advance if they wanted a full meal.

If you can only afford an appetizer style reception then it should be fine. If budget isn't an issue I would always go with a full meal. People are going to leave hungry most likely afterwards

I'm doing both. This is the second marriage for both of us so neither one of us is wanting a formal, seated, 4 course meal. We want to celebrate and have a more informal affair with our close family and friends. That being said, we are doing very heavy plated (not passed) hors d'oeuvres as well as food stations. We are having a mixed grill, a pasta station, a mashed potato bar, a salad bar, a raw bar, an antipasto station as well as the typical crudites and cheese/crackers/ fruit displays. I feel like this will cover a full meal and our guests will be satisfied, not hungry. (We're also doing late night pizzas at the end of our reception)

We’re getting married in November and are doing that. I did not want a traditional seated meal. We are going to have a few stations set up; taco station and a pizza station. Then we will have a lot of appetizers. Feel it’ll help make things more social.

We are doing hors d'oeuvres for cocktail hour but then having a buffet for the dinner meal. I hate the idea of making people decide what they want to eat that night 6 weeks before hand because I'm the type of person that doesn't know what I want to eat until maybe a hour ahead of time lol. So buffet was our way of having a nice meal but not making people pick their meal far in advance.