anyone done the hors d''oeuvres only reception?

[velouriaL]

My favorite part of every wedding is the cocktail hour. I like the mingling, the natural grouping up of guests, the munching on different types of food. At the last wedding I went to, the cocktail hour was so fantastic that I thought it *was* the main dinner and, consequently, was pretty full by the time the main course was served.

Anyway, I was thinking that for my reception, I might like to have it cocktail-only... lots of stations of hot and cold dishes with a full bar and dancing. I was thinking also that some food that''s not traditionally an hors d''oevre could be served that way-- like a tray of three mini-raviolis served with a little sauce in a tiny bowl.

Has anyone done this before? How did it go? Any creative ideas?

Also, do the dishes have to have a theme? When I was brainstorming my list, I came up with everything from indian samosa to lox-on-mini-bagles to goat cheese and carmelized onion tarlettes. I am I allowed to serve them all, or is that just bizarre?

 

[njc]

What a great idea! I have never been to a wedding reception like this, but i think it would be a lot of fun.

My companys Christmas party this year was kind of like what you were describing. It was in a large room (like you would have a wed-recpt in), the food was along the walls, round tables set up around for people to sit down, bar on either side, dance floor in the middle. The food was set up in groups or stations and each one had a different type of food. One was all seafood (steamed shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, etc), another had chefs fixing salads (green, ceasar, fruit, etc), asian (sushi, lo mein, egg rolls, beef and broccolli, etc) even the dessert table had a lot to choose from. There was also the standard carving stations and other tables i cant remember.

I thought it was a fantastic. Eveything was done as small appetizers... some were old stand bys, some werent. For those that are adventurous and like to try new things, its great. For those that only stick to the normal, its great.

ETA: And if you do something like this, you dont need a theme... its a theme itself... my fav foods or foods from around the world!

 

[bar01]

My recent wedding was at the beach - reception was there too. We had only fine finger foods and fine wine/champagne – definitely very much like a cocktail party. Since it was on the water – there was a theme – crab cakes, shrimp pastries, salmon rolls, etc... food was brought out to people in waves by servers with trays walking among the guests - then "left overs" were set on a table- and the next dish was brought out...

Even the desserts were finger food - including s'mores!. The s’mores were the only concession to my rule that the food require only fingers and not have any thing that would be messy. The caterer is a friend of my wife who makes homemade recipes out of her kitchen. The food was gourmet quality. She actually “made the marshmallows” in the s’mores from scratch! Who "makes" marshmallows

?
It was a great time for all - everyone got plenty to eat and drink

 

[teebee]

Date: 6/27/2005 12:13:23 PM
Author:velouriaL
My favorite part of every wedding is the cocktail hour. I like the mingling, the natural grouping up of guests, the munching on different types of food. At the last wedding I went to, the cocktail hour was so fantastic that I thought it *was* the main dinner and, consequently, was pretty full by the time the main course was served.

Anyway, I was thinking that for my reception, I might like to have it cocktail-only... lots of stations of hot and cold dishes with a full bar and dancing. I was thinking also that some food that''s not traditionally an hors d''oevre could be served that way-- like a tray of three mini-raviolis served with a little sauce in a tiny bowl.

Has anyone done this before? How did it go? Any creative ideas?

Also, do the dishes have to have a theme? When I was brainstorming my list, I came up with everything from indian samosa to lox-on-mini-bagles to goat cheese and carmelized onion tarlettes. I am I allowed to serve them all, or is that just bizarre?

Velouria ~ This is exactly what we are doing for our wedding and very common in this area of the country. In fact, I think I''ve only been to one sit-down dinner reception and the rest have been cocktails and heavy hors d''oeuvres. We are planning on a wide variety of hot and cold hors d''oeuvres that will run the gammut. I agree with NJC, having the variety is the theme in and of itself and makes it fun and interesting ~ no need to pin it down any further. Plus, I think the big variety is better for guests since those that don''t eat beef, or chicken, or fish, or whatever, will have lots of choices!! And, one more thing, ours will end up being significantly cheaper than a sit down dinner or even a dinner buffet but I think we will actually end up with more food.

Oh, we also considered adding a couple of stations (like a fajita station, stir-fry station, pasta station) but these were still more oriented towards a dinner type of theme and would really require guests to sit down to eat, and I''d rather them be able to eat while standing and mingling if they so choose. If I get a minute I will post some of the things we will be serving...

 

[velouriaL]

These are all great ideas! I especially like the idea of each station having a sort-of theme. And I love the dessert table with lots of mini-desserts. Hmmm...

You guys are right, one of the best things about this style is that everyone can eat what they like to or are able to eat.

I also really like the idea of providing various seating arrangements-- bar, table, chair clusters... I''d almost like to include couches or chaise lounges with end tables for relaxing...

 

[Logan Sapphire]

My reception was sort of a mix between a sit-down dinner and a buffet. I got married in Charleston, SC, where heavy hors d''oevres are more the norm. However, my husband and I preferred the style of sit-downs and the seating, so our compromise was to have 4 stations with assigned tables (not seats) for everyone. Our stations were stir-fry, carving, black bean cakes/crab cakes, etc., and a dessert station with fruit, cookies, fondue, and other dips. It worked really well b/c people were still moving about mingling as they got up to get more food, and we had a lot of choices, especially vegetarian ones (since I''m a veggie and we had several other veggie guests). We also had the standard passed hors d''oevres before hand during the cocktail hour. I think it worked pretty well!

 

[BrightSpot]

velouria,

That sounds like a great idea! The appetizers are often the highlight of the meal & having lots of variety would be fun! Also, this kind of set-up seems like it would provide more opportunities to mingle than a sit-down dinner. (not to mention that it will likely save you some money!)

At what time of day do you plan to hold your wedding/reception? Will the reception be during the traditional cocktail hour or later in the evening? I love your idea to have different seating arrangements including couches. How fun! Have you chosen a site yet?

 

[momothree]

Velourial: My wedding was just as you described. Food was lots of passed hors doevres, followed by buffet tables of delicious but relatively easy to eat food. I think the only thing that required knife and fork was beef tenderloin. People ate and drank whatever and whenever they wanted, wherever they wanted. Seating was available in two different but connected (in an "L") rooms. One was more traditional and had a bunch of large round tables. The other was of equal size but a had few couches, side chairs, window seats, and several small round tables. We brought some small silver-framed pictures from home to scatter about on the end tables and fireplace mantel, along with flowers and tons of votive candles. The whole thing felt like a giant cocktail party in someone''s home (but a lot nicer home than I live in). While I enjoy attending weddings of all kinds, I preferred not to have a rigid, overly scheduled event for my own. And, if I do say so myself, everyone had a terrific time.

 

[jellybean]

I think I missed one of your other posts, but are you planning on having the ceremony at the same place you are having your reception? The reason I ask is b/c a couple of summers ago my DH and I attended the wedding of one of his friends who had an hors d''oevres reception. They had their wedding in a church then there was a lull for about an hour before the reception began, which was at a country club. By the time the guests that went to the ceremony went to the reception they were starving (us included) and chowed down! They also had a band and dancing so by the time the evening was over we were famished. We stopped at a Taco Bell drive thru on the way home b/c it was the only thing open.

So I guess what I''m saying is that if the ceremony and reception are at the same locale, it would work really well.

Oh - another thing to remember -- make sure it is clear on the invitation that it is an hors d''oevres only reception. This wedding we went to had it on the reception card and a lot of guests had forgotten that they were not serving a full dinner. I personally wrote it on the calender b/c I knew I would forget! If you''re not having a big wedding it may not be a big deal - just remind people via word of mouth (in addition to putting it on the invitations).

 

[momothree]

You can certainly serve enough food (between hors doevres and stations) that nobody will ever go hungry -- that''s what we did. In that case, there is no reason to indicate "hors doevres only" on the invitation. What I think you are talking about/what we did was a different format than traditional served meal ("away goes the salad, here comes the salmon") but in no way suggest less food overall. In fact, we probably ended up providing more because we had long discussions with the caterer about how many hors doevres & stuff on stations = full meal. Then we added more just to be safe.

And, if it matters at all, our ceremony was in the same place at the reception. It was in the more traditional room and everyone was shoved in the "living room" while that room was re-set. That''s when the champagne was passed and the hors doevres started.

I also forgot to mention that we also had lots of dancing -- it was in the room with the big tables. Obviously we room for a dance floor in there, too.

I have lovely, lovely memories...

 

[saturn]

I really, really wanted to do an hors d''oeuvres and dessert only reception, but my mother vetoed it.
I''ll probably be stuck with a boring old buffet dinner. Oh well.
I am definitely still insisting on the cotton candy machine, though. No way I''m backing down on that one.

 

[JCJD]

We did an hors d''oeuvres and dessert reception, and it was fantastic! We just had one food station and the dessert table because our wedding was pretty small. It was exactly like you said, lots of mingling, very casual, tons of fun - PERFECT! It also allowed us to have a nice variety of foods. We had Indian Chicken Skewers, spanokopita (spinach turnovers), phyllo dough turnovers (curried tempeh turnovers and mozzarella tomato and basil), red wine marinated mushrooms, hummus, cheese straws (light cheesy bread-sticks), a pesto cheesecake dip, and assorted desserts, in addition to wedding cake. Our pastor, who you can imagine goes to a lot of weddings, and is a HUGE food nut, said that he has NEVER had such good food at a wedding before! We literally got the most compliments on the food. The real secret to pulling off an hors d''oeuvres reception is to have the wedding at a between/after-meals time, like at 2pm or 7pm (ours was 7), and yes, you can have fun mixes of food - your possibility list sounds great; gourmet foods in an interesting variety.

 

[saturn]

Pesto cheesecake dip !!!
Am I reading that correctly? What is it like? I must know!

 

[JCJD]

Date: 7/7/2005 11:57:57 PM
Author: saturn
Pesto cheesecake dip !!!

Am I reading that correctly? What is it like? I must know!

Delicious! It''s a savory cheesecake, ricotta cheese, pesto, and sundried tomatoes with a breadcrumb crust. She served it with slices of French bread.

 

[teebee]

OMG that sounds amazing!! I don''t even like cheesecake but that made me drool!!

 

[appletini]

I love the sound of this...making a mental note. Also I think this would be an ideal situation to have something like a mashed potato bar.

 

[hearts set]

I don''t even belong here...but I''m glad I took a sneak peek!!

My bf and I are talking about rings...so wedding are not in the works...but...

I just talked to my best friend about having a coctail reception...decent booze, yummy hors d''oevres, wedding cake.

We''d be having a small wedding and we''re both not interested in most of the traditions of a sit down wedding reception (dancing with parents, throwing bouquet, etc.)

Would one note on the invite ..... "please join us for a coctail reception" ??

Best to all of the brides

 

[diamondfan]

I think it is great idea...most times, the cocktail hour is the best and the meal, though pricey, is not great. If you have amazing and multiple choices, great wine/champagne and good music, it should be great. People usually fill up on appetizers anyone and the meal is anticlimatic anyway! Great desserts aside from the cake are also great, if you do small bites of things...mini creme brulees and tartletts in little ramekins, etc...choices based on the season and what is delicious at the time of your wedding...

 

[JCJD]

Date: 7/11/2005 12:10:38 AM
Author: hearts set
Would one note on the invite ..... ''please join us for a coctail reception'' ??

Welcome! We put "Hors d''oeuvres and dessert reception immediately following ceremony (Reception address)" on our reception cards. We put the same thing on the back page of our program too, along with a map for OOT guests.

 

[hearts set]

diamondfan...so true! The cocktail hour is fun with the variety of food and drink along with the mingling...then the dinner is often anticlimactic, as you mentioned....and really expensive.

JCJD...good idea to mention the type of reception more than once. That way no one will be expecting sit down filet and salmon. Congrats on your marriage..did you post pics?

Thanks for the warm welcome!