How important is the food you will serve?!?!

Food is extremely important to me. As a host I always make sure my guests are fed well. If your reception is at 5:30 which is a meal time, you should offer them a meal. If you change the reception time to a non- meal time then I would say apps and hors d'oeuvres are perfect!

Food is a huge priority to everyone. You're asking people to come and be with you during a meal time which means you need to feed them a meal, not snacks. I would be really disappointed if I came to a wedding during dinner time and didn't get an actual dinner. If you want people to focus on the dancing, get an awesome DJ. Dinner lasts an hour (usually) and most weddings I've been to with awesome DJ's, people will dance after they're fed. I get drunk a lot faster when I don't eat, and I'd leave your wedding early in order to eat.

I agree with Jennifer about moving reception to a non-meal time. I remember going to a 5:30 work event that only served light appetizers and people were NOT happy. If you started your reception at say like 7 then that might work out better.

Otherwise, you run the risk of guests leaving to go find food because they are hungry.

Valid points! I can see the other side of it

It is very important to me and I share you feelings about not wanting people to be tied to their tables. We are having food stations and passed small plates to encourage people to get up and mingle. There will be A TON of food but it'll be spread around the room (to limit the time standing in line) and everything will be portable on small plates or tiny take out boxes. We also don't have table assignments. Instead we have mixed seating and lounges. You can make it work the way you want but you have to plan accordingly. I want to see people's booties shaking! LOL You'll even have to cross the dance floor to get to the bar and the photo booth!

As the previous comments mentioned, food is a priority for most. I know, as a guest, I always look forward to what the reception has to offer. I've been to beautiful weddings where the food was just disgusting and it ruined my overall perception of the wedding.

Food is something I would place importance on... you can never go wrong with good quality food, and an abundance of it, at that.

Food is a huge priority. The guests care more about that then the invites or your flowers or your dress. It's what will be talked about.

Food is really important to me. I've been to over 20 weddings and one thing I always seem to remember is what I ate and if it was good. I do agree with the other ladies though that this will certainly depend on what item your reception falls.

So, what about when they get hungry? At 5:30 I haven't eaten yet. If I haven't eaten by 8:30, it's the only thing on my mind. That's my focus. Your moment won't matter at all to me. It's not fun to be hungry.
You can do a later wedding and your plan will work completely. You could do a buffet and then have only bar and cocktail seating which I think would also give the atmosphere you want. You can't just starve people and expect that people will stay.

Food is very important. You have to consider that most people work Fridays, and they will probably rush to get ready right after work. So, won't have time to eat, and of course since your reception is at a meal time, they probably assume that there is dinner. If you serve alcohol and don't feed your guests a proper meal, that can cause trouble.

Food and drink is extremely important. If you are hosting a wedding that takes place during a meal time, then you are responsible for serving that meal to your guests.

If your ceremony begins at 5:30pm, your guests will be rushing straight from work to quick change and arrive at your venue between 5-5:30pm. They probably won't have eaten since lunch. When your ceremony is over around 6pm, they will be extremely hungry. Appetizers will not be enough to fill them up or soak up any alcohol. Your guests won't be able to concentrate on any fun or dancing if all they are thinking about is how hungry they are. Many people will leave early so they can go somewhere to eat dinner if you aren't providing enough food to keep guests comfortable.

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I love this entire idea! I want people to mix and mingle. After all it is a Friday evening. Thank you!!

For a wedding at 5:30 I would expect to be served dinner. If I went and only had appetizers and such I'd be wondering when the food is coming and then leave to get dinner. It's dinner time.

Any wedding I've been to during the dinner hours there was a dinner followed by tons of dancing and fun.

It's like tied for first in order of importance with booze and entertainment.

Apps are not enough unless your entire wedding is less than 2 hours long.

The only time your guests want to focus on the moment will be during the ceremony. the rest of the time they are your honored guests and deserve to be treated as such- so that includes feeding them well.

It's hard to focus when your stomach is growling.

I think generally people at weddings focus on the food and the alcohol regardless of how much you would like them to focus on other things..... I think your plan could work if you serve heavier appetizers/hors d'oeuvres and LOTS of them. Given your reception will be over dinner, they will need an amount of food equivalent to a dinner. At my venue that ended up being more expensive than a plated dinner when I priced it since appetizers can be tricky to make, assemble, etc.

Appetizers and heavy hors d'oeuvres can be an inexpensive and engaging way to host a reception! Tasting plates are growing to be very popular, so I am certain you would have success! I encourage you to note this for your guests somehow-perhaps on your wedding website- to advise that you will have plenty of food that comes out over the course of the evening. I attended a wedding that was similarly designed, and once guest realized there would be not true dinner plates, they began to horde food which made it difficult for the service to keep up with demand. Many guests left early, and those of us who did not get much food during the first pass waited a very long time before we were able to eat anything substantial. The idea is very fun, though, and encourages guests to mingle around the room rather than simply sit at tables. Best of luck!

Food is sooooo important. If your guests are not properly fed they can't be on the dance floor all night. Most will leave early to go feed themselves. We had a lot of people tell us our wedding was the best wedding they have ever been to and one of the main factors in that was how good the food was, and how much there was of it. Never skimp out on food.

As long as guests are fed, I don't think it matters how it's served. I'd rather a guest enjoy themselves and be able to celebrate with me rather than thinking about where to go eat and when it would be appropriate to leave. Serve some heavier appetizers to help fill guests up and make sure eeveryone gets enough.

Extremely important. When I go to a wedding I remember the food served, drinks and how much fun I had.

We kept our guests VERY well fed. We didn't want anyone to be hungry, or not like the food. If the food blows I will leave early because I will be hungry and not have the energy to dance.

Hey! I’ve attended a wedding that didn’t have assigned seating and only did a carving station and a pasta action station, beer and wine only. It was the best wedding I’ve ever been to! Everyone had so much fun just mingling around talking and dancing. That wedding was about 4 years ago and we all still talk about how amazing it was. It was a smaller wedding, I think about 60 people total. You do have to think about your guests experience and I felt this bride and groom knew their guests well. Hope this helps!