Thread: Wedding receptions

Has anyone had a wedding reception which was a self serve buffet? We are planning on having the ceremony quite late in the afternoon and rather than having a sit down formal meal and then an evening do, we were thinking of having a buffet style meal with an evening do. Money is clearly an issue and having spent ages doing the sums we just cant afford a wedding breakfast followed by an evening do as well. Is is ok to do it this way I wonder...we have always wanted quite a low key, informal celebration. Plus it means that people wont be upset at 'only' being invited to evening do...having to divide up friends like that was always going to bother me!! Just wondered if anyone else had done this.

Edited to add: This is fast turning into a bloody minefield :roll:

Smarty,

Do exactly what you want to do / can afford to do. Who cares if anyone gets upset, it's your day and nobody elses.

True friends will support every decision you make.

If anyone gets upset, tell them to bring their own sandwiches, that'll teach them!

(sorry im not being helpful)

Smartie, tis your day, do it your way!

Have heard of couples saying no pressies please but pay for your meal.....weddings are minefields and there are no hard and fast rules on "how to do it"!

I'd go for the get spliced with 2 total strangers dragged orf the street, down to the pub get leathered and keebabs on't way home....sorted!

I did. Our ceremony was at 3PM and, while I wanted to feed people up, I didn't want to go into debt paying for a prefab meal that only a few people might actually eat - I let everyone know, and figured that our invitees were savvy enough to feed themselves before or afterward if they really wanted a big meal.

So my wedding dinner was a serve-yourself buffet provided by my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. The main course were three kinds of tacos and tons of sides...and I had a few of people tell me they'd take the taco bar over some tough chicken or salmon any day.

I suppose it can depend on the tone of the wedding, though...mine was open-air and casual, which is traditional for weddings in my area, and the bar only served beer, wine and margaritas. If I'd had a big do at the Ritz, the taco bar might not have gone over as well!.

However, a clever caterer can do some really nice things with a buffet, and people will probably be more concerned with drinking than dining!

So...it's your wedding, it's your budget, and nobody you are gracious enough to invite has the right to get p!ssy with you about what you provide them for sustenance. Just make sure they know- and it might not hurt to leave them enough time between the ceremony and the reception if they want to get something else?

My cousin had a huge "do" for her wedding, where the food was served at around 6pm in a marquee. They had "the whole shebang" but the food was all quiches, chicken, potato salads , salads etc. and was buffet style. The food was cracking, everyone just grabbed their plate and sat where the tables were, and it was a great atmosphere.

Your day, your way. That's the way forward. I know someone else who made all her own sandwiches etc. for her wedding reception and didn't bother even telling people that it was the plan, and no one said a word.

Do what you can afford and what YOU like...seriously, you will get NO thanks from anyone if you start worrying what people will or won't like.

Smart,

We're going relatively low key as well, and I see no reason why a "help yourself" buffet isn't a good idea. I wanted people to be relaxed, not worried about what knife and fork to use (ok well me mainly) so we have opted for a meal at a restaurant in a private room, and then a buffet/bbq at home for the evening. I have to admit that my Mum and Dad are paying for a lot of the wedding but still I didn't want to spend their money on something we weren't all going to enjoy.

Whatever you end up doing I hope you have a wonderful day.

Originally Posted by CocoaKid

The food was cracking, everyone just grabbed their plate and sat where the tables were, and it was a great atmosphere.

Oh yeah, another benefit of doing it buffet-style! Or what I did anyway - just set up tables and chairs on the lawn next to the reception area and everyone just sat where they liked. No arranged seating - it was very relaxed and gave the sense of a big family party.

If I'd had to go through that seating arrangement palaver while planning a wedding from overseas, I think I would have strangled someone.

Originally Posted by TankiesYank

Originally Posted by CocoaKid

The food was cracking, everyone just grabbed their plate and sat where the tables were, and it was a great atmosphere.

No arranged seating - it was very relaxed and gave the sense of a big family party.

I think that sums up what we are after...a super relaxed family type party! Its strange but I have in my mind's eye what I want and am just struggling to know how to begin getting that. You are all right though...its our day and ultimately no-one will remember the flowers or the food or the decor but the atmosphere. If people dont like it then that's just tough. They are obviously missing the point of the whole day.

We had a buffet and no seating plan. We put cameras and bottles of bubbles on the tables. The resulting pics were hilarious!!
Also about 9pm we had arranged that the hotel brought out huge bowls of chips - they went down a treat.
One of the nicest receptions I have ever been to was in a pub and we has hot beef rolls and chips to eat.
To me the whole point is to share the couple's special day - not what the food is.
It's yours and Mr SC's day - have it exactly the way you want xx

hey,

We're getting married in June and have decided to go for the buffet style option with no wedding breakfast. We've put the service at 3.30 so everyone has lunch before they come and we're going to have food for 6pm. We've just invited everyone to the service and evening do. to be honest though it wasnt that much cheaper but thats because we're having the whole venue to ourselfs. we just didnt want to have to produce two seperate guest lists. I've spent the whole of this week making invitations and got so stressed out, i've decided to get the order of service's printed i've had enough!

I know what you mean about weddings being minefields me and OH are getting married in dec and the whole who to invite to and what not is driving me mad ......so we have just done exactly what we wanted and hope that everyone respects that.
If they dont....though!!

Youl soon come to a point where its sod them all!!!!!! hahahhaha
But as long as you make sure your doing what you guys want then you can't go wrong as at the end of the day its YOUR day!!!

Good luck xxxxxxxxxxxxx

For my "practice" wedding, we had a self service buffet. We had a seating plan too. We had a member of staff announce table numbers to head to the buffet in turn. I think the suggestion of grab a plate and food and sit where you like is a great idea. If you're wanting the atmosphere of a relaxed party then this would work well.

Smart

It's been said before, it's your day, do what you want.

More and more couples are chosing this option, and we normally advise couples to take this option if their wedding is later on the day.

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:21 pm Post subject: Re: Wedding receptions
For my "practice" wedding, we had a self service buffet. We had a seating plan too. We had a member of staff announce table numbers to head to the buffet in turn. I think the suggestion of grab a plate and food and sit where you like is a great idea. If you're wanting the atmosphere of a relaxed party then this would work well.


choc-chip-cookie - Can I ask how long it took for everyone to get their food and sit down to eat? We're having a hot buffet for 60, with 6 tables of 10 (in 3 weeks time, AGGHHH! :arrow: ). I'm worried the first people will have finished long before the last people go to get their food. Thanks x

We had a hog roast with salads and potatoes etc, our tables were called up in order and they were served the food onto their plate, we then had a pudding that was served to the table and coffee's, everyone seemed to get served and sat back down pretty quickly so I wouldnt worry Kiki, we also had cheese and biscuits served later on in the evening with wedding cake which seemed to go down a treat, ours was a very informal and relaxed day but still had some traditional touches.

thanks Boogie, I really needed someone to reassure me it will be ok!!!! :wink:

A slight change of topic but still on the wedding reception front.......we are trying to think of wedding favor ideas and want to do something a bit different. I was thinking of buying the help the heros keyrings for everyone it will cost quite a bit but then it is all for charity too.....what do you guys think?????

xxxxx

Originally Posted by xxfayexx

A slight change of topic but still on the wedding reception front.......we are trying to think of wedding favor ideas and want to do something a bit different. I was thinking of buying the help the heros keyrings for everyone it will cost quite a bit but then it is all for charity too.....what do you guys think?????

xxxxx

Faye, it's an excelent idea and if you do that I will provide any boxes/bags for them free of charge.

Originally Posted by xxfayexx

A slight change of topic but still on the wedding reception front.......we are trying to think of wedding favor ideas and want to do something a bit different. I was thinking of buying the help the heros keyrings for everyone it will cost quite a bit but then it is all for charity too.....what do you guys think?????

xxxxx

I think that's a great idea - our favours were boxes with childhood favourite sweeties inside (that took AGES! :roll: ) but on the tops were luggage tags with a breast cancer pin on it saying that a donation had been made for the pins.

H4H is a great idea - the keyrings are ace - and it probably won't cost any more than even the cheapest of favours

Our guests were given heart-shaped wine stoppers. Cheap and sort of cute. And useful!

http://www.thingsfestive.weddingstar.com/product/6095

With the H4H gifts, I think that's a nice idea, and it's not for anyone to question why you gave them the favours you did anyway, so why not? Also useful.