How to Decide Which Meal to Serve at Your Wedding

Whether you're planning a formal dinner, a light lunch buffet or tea and crumpets, many factors come into play when determining which meal to serve for your wedding.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Candleholders
• Candles
• Floating Candles
• Votive Candleholders
• Votive Candles
• Napkins
• Table Centerpieces
• Table Linens
• Napkins
• Candles

1. Determine the time of day of your reception. Morning weddings, for instance, call for breakfast or brunch; evenings can vary from cocktail buffets to elegant sit-down dinners.

2. Consider the length of the reception - brunches are considerably shorter than a sit-down dinner and won't provide as much sustenance if you'd like the celebration to continue well into the evening.

3. Take into account the reception site - will that rented recreation hall be large enough to set up food stations?

4. Set a budget for the meal. Keep in mind that average costs per person are $80 to $100 for dinner, $75 for brunch or lunch, $60 for cocktails, $50 for tea and $12 for dessert only.

5. Consider the atmosphere you want to create - choose a meal that will best reflect your personality as a couple. A cocktail reception provides enough elegance for a large, formal crowd; hors d'oeuvre, buffet and food stations will get the guests to get up and mingle. Or how about an ethnic meal to please the palate?

6. Consult your wedding planner, on-site caterer or location staff for advice and to ask about any restrictions that exist at the site.

7. Finalize your guest list. Knowing the head count will help you and the caterer make decisions regarding the extent of the menu.

Tips & Warnings

• Save money on the bar tab - guests drink less at breakfast than they do at dinner.
• Master the art of potluck, cater the event yourself, or choose a nontraditional catered theme and throw an old-fashioned Western barbecue. All of these options will save you money and get everyone to join in on the fun.
• Other cost-savers include serving lighter fare such as brunch, cocktails, dessert or a late-night diner-style snack.
• Buffets do not necessarily translate into less costly receptions - you will need more food to satisfy guests with larger appetites, as well as to maintain a nice look on the serving tables. It could also mean a bit more work for you, and lines for the guests.

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on 2/3/2008 Yes, I know that is a wedding, but 100 dollars per persone is a quite expensive for me. Anyway it was a good article.

on 6/30/2006 Unless the reception is right at lunch or dinner time, a cheaper option may be an hors d'oeuvres-only reception or a dessert-only reception. If you go with these options, though, be sure to make that clear in the invitation so people don't come expecting a full meal at three in the afternoon. Also, cutting down on alcohol (wine only, champagne only, or a "signature drink") or doing away with it entirely-- can save a lot of money.

on 11/22/2005 No one really remembers what they ate at a wedding. The guests are there to share their joy and wish you good luck. Look outside the square of what you will all eat; such as spit roasts, or BBQ. Hire locals to cater, look at community organizations which offer catering. When I was married, the Red Cross catered for our reception. It was a lovely home-style 3 course meal, at a very reasonable price. We were willing to donate a substantive sum as well.

on 11/22/2005 My reception site is catering the reception as well and after looking over all their menus, I discovered that it's going to be less expensive for us to have a sit-down dinner for our guests. Be sure that you look over all the menus, because some caterers know some poeple look over only the buffet items thinking they are saving money and they hike up the costs on the idividual buffet items.