Pre-reception food?

I think something simple as you mentioned like meat cheese and veggie trays would be nice

Do you mean for cocktail hour? Yes you definitely need to feed your guests during that time. We had a mix of passed appetizers and a cheese and charcuterie station.

We're providing apps to guests during our cocktail hour! I'm the same way where I get hungry really easily (thanks to still having a high metabolism). We're providing different types of cheeses, breads, and pickles. If they'll let you, you could probably get the food cheaper than $500. We're just buying the apps ourselves. We have 223 people attending our wedding in 19 days.

Cocktail hour food is definitely a necessity, otherwise you’ll just have a bunch of drunk guests before dinner.

We're doing a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, and a popcorn bar for our cocktail "hour" (really closer to an hour and half)

I think you're referring to cocktail hour? Yes, food & drinks should be provided for guests while they are waiting around for you guys to take pictures for sure.

I would say yes , definitely need some snacks lol I’m the same way and I like “pickies “ as my FH says lol bc I’m always picking at the cheese and cracker /fruit&veggie stations

I think you should have a little something. Even if it's just trays of fruit, meats and crackers. Giving your guests something to munch on will hold them over until dinner is served.

I'm glad the general consensus is YES we do need food for cocktail hour. I'm hoping when I show him this he'll see the light lol. He's just in "money saving mode" and trying to cut costs wherever he can (we're 14+ months out, we can cut costs on other things).

Yes if you are having a cocktail hour you need to provide some type of food.

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Ha! Yes, they do get into money saving mode, don't they?! I planned a whole wedding and paid for lots of things over the last year and then my honey tells me last week, "We don't need to feed them a WHOLE MEAL, right?" What do you mean, sir? What on earth are you saying right now? All he sees are dollar signs in our bank account and now wants to cut corners. Food is not the place to do that!!

We'll be having chips and crackers with salsa and queso during our cocktail hour (it's only a half hour). It's definitely good to feed the crowd if they're going to be drinking, but it doesn't have to be over-the-top, either. Just a few snackies.

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Yes! That's a great idea, actually. And our caterer (who also owns our venue) is VERY receptive to any ideas, so I'm sure we could work the price down/figure out what kind of snacks we want. But I didn't even think about cutting it down to a short portion of time! Half hour seems pretty reasonable - even 45 minutes if we're running late!

Meat and cheese tray you can add fruit!

Yes, you definitely need to provide water/drinks and snacks for your guests while they are waiting for the reception to begin. I've attended weddings where they did not do this, and it was pretty miserable. it doesn't have to be anything crazy, just something to hold them over!

As someone who has been to wedding where the cocktail hour was just a meat/cheese/fruit/veggie display, I highly recommend adding more appetizers to that! The main thing I remember from that wedding is being completely starving before they served dinner, especially because their cocktail hour was a full hour and they did not serve dinner right away when they returned from taking pictures. My venue also offers the same thing, and we will definitely be adding more

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Did you serve drinks, alcoholic and non alcoholic as well?

View Quoted Comment Yes we did!

I think cocktail hour food is always nice! It’s not a must, but depending on when your ceremony is it is definitely appreciated. If you have an evening ceremony I would opt for the pre reception food.

I would definitely do simple like you mentioned. 😁

I’m having bacon wrapped shrimp