Passed Apps vs. Food Stations in Cocktail Hour

We did passed appetizers before dinner. I prefer them over stations because there are no lines. Your venue will be able to help you with the numbers. If you're having a big meal, you can do 75-80% of the head count and that should be plenty.

We have a few elderly guests, so we are doing both.

We're doing passed. That way guests can mingle, eat and drink with little effort. Hopefully this will get them ready for the dance floor!

I personally think that there is way too much food at most of the venues here. Usually 10-12 passed hors d'oeuvres, a cold station or two, carving, pasta and something else (sushi, mashed potatoes, grilling, burgers/fries). Then they go in for dinner and they are served salad/pasta, an entree and dessert and cake. It's just too much.

I'd do passed with maybe a cheese station keep your cocktail hour to one hour and then go into dinner. That's plenty.

We did one big table display and two passed apps. I wanted one stationary because of all the kids, but passed because I prefer it. Much fancier and convenient

We are doing 6 passed apps and a fruit and cheese station for cocktail hour, with (hopefully) a small lull where people can find their seats/chat a while, then salad, bread, chicken/beef, 2 sides. We don't want our wedding to be "food focused" but we don't want our guests to be starving either. Our caterer provides a dipped fruit table for dessert which I think is a nice feature to their package. Then have a wedding cake. So, guess you could say we aren't having an additional dessert. The fruit dipped in chocolate tea & coffee service with wedding cake should be enough. We hope.

Our venue does 2-3 stationary and 4 butlered hors d'oeuvres. I feel like that sounds like enough without being overwhelming. Then there's salad or soup, entree, dessert.

We're having two passed appetizers and also a stationary antipasto display.

Celia is right there is too much food in our area. Our venue is doing 8 passed, 4 stations and 1 Garde Manger Creations (aka fruits, veggies, dips, breads, etc).

We are doing a station....and passed drinks (plus bar and a wine station).

I came to this post because I had the same question. Love this advice!!