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

Food for me is really important. We're having a 4 course sit down plated meal! I want everyone to be well fed since a reception is at meal time

View Quoted Comment 7/7:30 is still dinner time. If the wedding starts at 8 then she'd be in the clear

Food is very important.

Yes, I think it really does matter, especially if your reception will fall around dinnertime. We're doing hors d'oeuvres and appetizers during cocktail hour and a buffet for dinner. If you don't want to do a sit-down meal just make sure you have enough food to replace a meal so your guests don't go hungry and aren't drinking on an empty stomach!

For me and my family (And FH's family), food is SUPER important, but that may not be the same for your family. However, if your reception is at dinner time, you need to serve a full dinner, either plated or buffet. Even if it was the most fun wedding in the world, if I'm only having appetizers and hors d'oeuvres (I legit don't know what an action station is, so I can't comment on that), I'd still leave early to go get a real meal.

I would say the actual food choices aren’t as important to me as a gues because I’m not picky and will eat anything. But it extremely important that I eat enough!
As a host I wanted to make sure we had something for everyone so we are having 3 entrees to choose from and several sides.

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Perfect- This shines some light on food options. We have options on the action station- pasta, taco, different bars and the carving station. Mentally I did not think it was bad or being cheap. Thank you for your feedback

As long as you have more than enough and a good assortment of heavy items, you can probably implement your vision well. We basically had a heavy hors d'oeuvres buffet with action stations at our 6:00pm Friday wedding last year. We made sure to have lots of heavy options, vegan, gluten-free, and people raved about our food. It sounds like you are including pasta and/or taco stations, which will help people feel like it is a meal. Mashed potato bars and carving stations are another way to add some extra fun to the meal. We chose appetizers because the appetizers offered by our all-inclusive were much better than the standard meals we tasted. We worked closely with the venue caterer to make sure our menu was equivalent to a meal.

One note - just make sure you have enough tables for everyone to sit at. Depending on how the food is served, people may sit down like a normal dinner because it's hard to balance a plate of heavy appetizers and pasta/tacos walking around the venue.

Agree that food is a top priority! It’s what everyone cares about most when they go to a wedding. Catering costs is where most of our budget is going.

That being said, appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, an action station and a carving station sounds like dinner to me! I’m not sure why everyone is saying this isn’t enough? We’re doing hors d'oeuvres and app stations during the cocktail hour, followed by a plated salad, and 3 stations for dinner (carving, pasta, and taco.) So I think your idea is fine as long as your caterer knows this is meant to be dinner (because as PPs said, you need to serve the equivalent of a meal at dinner time). You’ll probably need another station to round it out, but you definitely can keep your guests happy with the kind of cocktail hour set up you’re thinking. We chose the station set up because we want people to have a lot of options and not be sitting at their tables all night!

I think food is one of the most important aspects of your planning! Why do you think people are "tied to their tables" if you have a regular meal? People WILL mingle and mix if that is what they do anyway. My DH's side of the family is NEVER EVER on the dance floor except for one of his brothers and his wife. I have danced with my husband of 22+ years exactly twice. People do like to have a place to put their things and maybe sit for a bit, but if they are mixers the table won't put a stop to that.

Hi future bride! Food is so important to me. I️t was my number one when looking for a venue, I know everyone is different however I feel like as a guest I kind of expect a meal lol... I think if you do not have dinner people still will not be able to concentrate on your wedding because they are hungry or hangry. If you have a great dj then your guests will still be full and focusing on you and be able to party! Happy planning!

View Quoted Comment Of course! As long as there is enough food no one will think that. I believe the stations were out for 3 hours. We were able to get seconds and thirds if we wanted. I forgot to mention that they did have appetizer platters before the action stations and then they just had their cake cut and placed on a buffet table for people to take when they were ready.

This was probably one of the biggest things for us, especially with my family culturally. It also depends on what region you’re from. Outside of the NYC area I’ve seen simple bbq buffets which people seem to be fine with but around here, you kind of expect the full 5 station cocktail hour with a sit down menu.

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I love food and I want our guests to be well fed since we are also offering beer and wine. I agree with Jennifer completely. How long are you planning on having your wedding?

Food is definitely a huge part of the day for me and my guests. I know that if there is little food, they will become hangry but also if there is not a full meal, people will get very drunk, very quickly.

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Everyone was saying it's not enough cause originally OP only had apps and hors d'oeuvres listed. She added action and carving station after some of the responses.

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Yes this is the idea that i had.

there is a ceremony room, a "happy hour" room- punch, drinks, and soft hit of the food, and then an actually reception room- action station, carving station, more appetizers and hors d'oeuvres,

Food is very important because if you’re hungry you can’t fully enjoy the night.

Food is literally 90% of our budget. It's extremely important.

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Yes I did not mention the action station and the carving station. But I have an idea. and your reception is pretty much what I had in mind.