Wedding Reception Meal Ideas

Once the wedding is over, the reception begins, and a big part of the reception for many weddings is the meal and then the serving of the wedding cake. Often, the reception costs as much or more than the wedding, so planning a reception should definitely take your budget into consideration, but beyond budget, choosing the right meal is very important for the success of your wedding reception.

One of the first things to take into consideration when planning a wedding reception meal is the actual formality of the wedding. If your wedding itself will be casual, then a more casual meal of finger foods or messier foods is more acceptable. However, if you are having a formal wedding, messier foods such as fried chicken, long noodle pasta meals, and other finger foods would not be the best choice.

A buffet style meal is a good choice for a more casual setting, allowing for a variety of food to be served, so the reception meal will cater to most of your wedding reception guests. There are several options for a buffet too.

If your wedding is very casual or in a home environment, you may consider asking each of your guests to bring a covered dish and set up a decorative table and place each dish on the table with serving spoons. A bit of masking tape to write the owner's name on the dish and sticking it to the bottom will save confusion when it's time to claim the dishes.

For a fancier wedding, you can actually hire a caterer or find a restaurant that caters or provides large dishes for parties. Of course, the caterer is a more expensive choice for your wedding reception meal, but then again, the caterer will remove all the dishes and leftovers as well as cleaning up after the wedding reception meal, saving you time cleaning and doing dishes. Using a restaurant to precook the wedding reception meal is a good choice for less expense, but will leave you with the cleanup.