Food is a very common part of any wedding reception and something you do need to think about. What you serve is important because it should be easy to eat and foods that most in attendance will enjoy. You can offer a sit down meal, a buffet style of self serving, and even go with cold cuts and snacks for the occasion.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to serving food at your wedding reception. The cost of it though can be a deciding factor. If you have the money to hire a caterer then the burden of the food preparing, serving, and clean up will be lifted from your shoulders. However, it isn’t a necessity if funding for the event is tight. Instead, you can ask friends and family to assist with making the food and serving it. Most will be very happy to help you out with this.
For a more formal wedding reception a sit down meal is often served. This involves sending out choices of meal entrees for people to select from when they return the RSVP. You will need to get an accurate count of how many people will be in attendance so that enough food can be prepared. This is an additional element to planning your wedding that has to be covered. Make sure you are up to the task if you would like this type of dinner option for your wedding reception.
Try to serve foods that people won’t ruin their clothing with! This may sound funny but people wear their nice clothing to weddings and they don’t want them to be destroyed. Pasta may taste great but those sauces can get onto clothing quickly. Offering ribs with barbeque sauce is another one that you want to avoid.
There are lots of great finger foods that you can serve at a wedding reception. This cuts down on the need for real plates and silverware. Instead you can go with disposable items that your guests can just toss into the trash can when they are done. This is easier to get in place than heavy dishes and the clean up will take less time.
When you are planning the foods to serve at your wedding reception you need to take the location into consideration. Many halls that you can rent feature a kitchen where foods can be prepared and stored. If you have an outdoor event you will need to take additional action to ensure the foods stay warm or cold depending on what you decide to offer.
It can be fun to have decorative foods out there for your guests. For example you can make great looking dishes with fresh fruit and even ice sculptures to help complete the look. If you want to keep it simple then just offer a variety of foods that people will like. Keep the younger people in mind too with some food items that children of all ages seem to enjoy.
What you decide to serve in the way of food for your wedding reception is completely up to you. Keep in mind that your guests are going to want some type of food so you should have a plan of action in this area. You also need to make sure you have more than enough food on hand for all that are in attendance. It can become very stressful if you start to run short on it.
The drinks you serve should also be considered. You want to have a couple of options such as lemonade and iced tea. Make sure that plain water is also offered for your guests that would like it.