Cocktail style reception with food stations - how to word invites???

@wendy, if it's done right there is a lot of food and a great variety.

A mac and cheese station would be super and maybe some beef filet or other type of carved meat station would help fill people up but still be cocktail.

This is my venue's station menu

Just reception to follow. And then announcement at the reception. If you specify cocktail, I think people are going to eat before. If you don't do an announcement, some people might not eat the cocktail food expecting the sit-down dinner to come later

Triple post

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Use celebration to follow

We are doing this for our reception. We'll have passed appetizers during cocktail hour, then the stations are opening. We are doing:

Made to order crab cakes with succotash

Beef tenderloin sliders with roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Lobster mac and cheese and four cheese mac and cheese

Seafood station with chilled crab, jumbo shrimp and oysters (both raw and chargrilled)

We will also have a cupcake station, and then a passed late night snack of fried pimento cheese sandwiches and poutine.

We didn't put anything on our invitations, but I did put on our website that there would be a cocktail hour followed by a cocktail style reception with multiple food stations.

Meghan, that sounds delish!

I honestly have never attended a wedding that gave assigned seats/tables. There have always been reserved tables near the sweetheart table for family, but everyone else has been free to choose. I think you will be perfectly fine with wording the invite generically as "reception to follow." If you are still concerned about them looking for assigned tables, I think a small sign near the entrance of the reception encouraging people to mix an mingle will look really nice, especially if you're going for a less formal vibe.

@Svetlana, Did you do the pierogi bar?? I am having an hors d'oeuvres and food stations reception in winter 2021, and if it went over well I would love to request that. It sounds amazing!!