Planning Wedding Reception Food

Unless you plan on a very informal wedding, wedding reception food most often comes catered. Who has time with the million and one other details to which one has to attend to even think about cooking and preparing food for this most important day of your life?

Since wedding reception food plays such an integral part of any well-planned wedding, we’ve gathered together some tips on how to take care of this rather daunting task in a logical fashion. Thinking ahead and thinking smart will leave you finished with this part of your wedding and ready to move on to the myriad other preparations on which you need to focus your attention.

Keep Your Budget and Time in Mind

Give yourself plenty of time to plan for wedding reception food. Don’t wait until a week before your wedding day! You’ll need to have a list of guests, however, so you can’t plan too far in advance in order to give everyone who’s been invited time to have responded, letting you know just how many people for which to plan.

Your budget, of course, greatly dictates what you’ll be able to serve in the way of wedding reception food. The frugal couple won’t be serving truffles! If you’re really tight on finances, you might even consider eliminating a full-course meal and opting instead for an afternoon tea, evening cocktails, or serving only drinks and hors d’oeuvres – along with the wedding cake, of course.

Taste Before Ordering

Before you place your order for your wedding reception food, go to the caterer’s place of business and ask for a tasting session. Tasting every item you’re planning on serving gives you the opportunity to decide whether or not the caterer’s cooking is up to par as well as allowing you to decide whether or not the foods you’ve chosen are really what you want.

Many caterers provide this service free of charge – especially if your wedding is going to be large. Otherwise, you may have to pay a fee to cover the caterer’s costs in food, time, and labor.

Food Everyone Enjoys

Keep in mind that wedding reception food needs to include a variety to please a range of tastes. Attractively laid-out vegetable platters should always be included for those guests who eschew meat. Conversely, provide as elegant an entrée as possible that includes meat, chicken, or seafood to satisfy your non-vegetarian friends and family members. As for desserts, it’s best to stick with timeless recipes. It’s better to have something that is known to be a people-pleasing classic than to have half of it left to waste because it was so unusual few dared even to try it.

Bounce Ideas off Friends

Once you’ve made your wedding reception food decisions, written them down, and taken all costs into consideration, recruit several close friends to review them. As with most planning, two (or three!) heads are better than one. Someone may point out the folly in serving something you’ve never even thought about or suggest an item that’s possibly better suited for the event. When everyone agrees, you know you’ve got a winner menu.

With all this in mind, you should be able to make a hit with your wedding reception food. And now that you’ve gotten that out of the way, shouldn’t you be on to something else?

See Also:

Unique Wedding Reception Decorations