What is some good food to make for a Wedding Reception?

Question

Im going to have my Wedding Reception at my house in April, what are some good foods to make for it, being Im going to be eating and helping to make the food I want it to be good, so HELP me out PLEASE. What should I make??

Answer 1

This is what we're making for our wedding this Sept.
Both wedding & reception are being held "outdoors" @ my parents farm, so my fiance & I want to go for good "comfort/downhome cooking" foods, but we have to keep the preparation manageable.
We've come up with:
Main Items: Ham & Roasted Turkey Breast
Hot Sides: Old Fashion Green Beans w/bacon & onion
Sweet Potatoes (Family favorite)
Cheesy Potatoes (Family favorite)
* Not scalloped,
uses hashbrowns, red/grn pepper, onion,
sour cream & cheese-YUM!
Cold Sides: Macaroni Salad (His mom makes the BEST!)
Tossed Salad w/FRESH greens
Dinner rolls
And we're also going to have trays of "old fashioned" type cookies like Choco chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin and sugar cookies instead of doing all those fancy little iced/stuffed cookies.

Just have what the two of you like! It's your day, your dinner....have your menu reflect you guys...that's what we're doing.
Congrats and Have fun!!! ;-)

Answer 2

If people are not actually sitting down to eat and mostly moving around the room to socialize, you want to minimize the effort involved with eating, so yes, finger foods are the best idea. Avoid anything that will require a guest to use a fork/spoon/knife. Veggie trays and wings etc that you already suggested are pretty low budget to put together and popular. Mini quiches are easy to make too, despite that they maybe sound otherwise. You can either buy a big stack of pre made tartlet shells at a big grocery store, or make your own. Not sure how much time or inclination you have to do that. A stack of 30ish will only set you back a couple of dollars. Because they are mini, the amount of ingredients you need to make 2 or 3 different kinds is really minimal (say like ham and cheese is one, and cherry tomato and basil is another). The reason these are also recommended is they can be made/cooked well in advance and frozen and just popped in the oven to warm through or served room temp day of. A couple types of sushi go over well with lots of people, but it depends where you live how accessible your ingredients are whether you want to undertake that or not (nori and wasabi and pickled ginger for instance are quite cheap here and sold in regular grocery stores in the Asian section). You didn't mention how many are going to your reception. But if it's not a sit-down dinner, just cocktail hour type meal, then allow for about 3-4 hors d'oeuvres per person. And yes, most of all, have fun!

Answer 3

It really depends on the time of your wedding and reception. Is it an afternoon wedding? Then you will want to serve lunch. You can do something light like all salads. Not just your regular everyday salad but a variety of gourmet type salads. Pasta salads, Bean salads, Fruit salads, etc. served along with some nice bread sticks or rolls or maybe even some finger sandwiches. If your wedding is toward the evening then you will want to go for more of a heartier meal - Do either a heavier appetizers and drinks or a meal. Pastas go along way, chicken is relatively inexpensive. Or if you are getting married later in the evening do a dessert only reception with your wedding cake and other desserts. Check out the link below for some appetizer options. Also look for some recipes on Food Network.com. Check out Sandra Lee (Semi Homemade). She has some great recipes that are fast and elegant without being too expensive.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Gosh. There are all kinds of variables here - how many guests, what kind of meal/food you would like to serve, how big your kitchen is - including oven, refrigerator and counter space, how large your house and back yard are... and above all, what your budget is.

Have someone else bake your cake - either a bakery or an experienced friend. You'll thank me later.

A good set of books for this would be Julia Child and Company - plus Julia Child and More Company - for ideas.

Let's say you have 25 guests and you want tid-bit cocktail-type food. Plan on 2-6 oz of meat/cheese per guest. You want to go for lighter fare - rather than a large, sit down meal.

Choose some or all or none -

A smoked salmon fillet from Sam's or Costco will serve 10-15 easily - so plan on maybe 2 of these - with loaves of little pumpernickel breads - serve with sour cream mixed with LOTS of fresh dill and unsalted butter.

A Deli tray of imported meats and cheeses from a really good gourmet shop (not necessarily the grocery store) is easy and fast.

Cut up vegetables with savory dip
Cut up fruit with a sweet dip - chocolate or vanilla or both

Quiches - any kind - a 9-inch quiche will serve 8 nicely - and can be meatless.

Good rolls/breads from a bakery with softened butter

A beef roast - roasted to medium and sliced thin - with horseradish sauce.

Answer 5

You'll want things that you can prepare before hand and serve, so that you aren't trying to get the food ready after the wedding. A very simple, yet elegant idea is to have 2 kinds of pasta noodles, and a red and white sauce, guests can mix and match their favorites. Add salad, corn or green beans, and garlic bread, and you're set. Any casserole type dishes, like lasagna, with salad, veggies, and bread are easy and just have to be heated up. Also, enchiladas, beans, rice, tortillas, or brisket, potatos, beans, rolls. You can also order meat and cheese trays to serve with different kinds of bread fo sandwiches, or even pick up a subway tray or fried chicken. Best wishes!

Answer 6

You can't go wrong with some tasty Italian entres, a huge salad, lots of bread, and some veggie and non-veggie sides.

Another idea is to design your menu around the special dishes of your family members, like Grandma's 7 layer dip and Uncle Tom's lasagna. That way, you know people will like the food and you will have expert advice, if not direct help in making it.

Answer 7

Have some kind of vegetable tray with dip. People love that and will fill up on it, requiring less entree type foods. Everyone loves chicken. It sounds cheap but my friends had a catering platter of chicken nuggets and strips from Chick-fil-A. The restaurant puts it on a nice black platter and serve it with all of the different sauces in bowls. It was the hit of the party. They ran out and someone had to go get more. We do it all of our parties now and people can't get enough.

Answer 8

It is all going to depend on how many people are there. Are you looking to have a casual, semi-formal or formal reception? If it is going to be casual you could make it a BBQ and have hamburgers, hot dogs, fried or bbq chicken, cole slaw, potato salad. If you are going semi-formal or formal you can have stuffed chicken breast, filet mignon, even a fish dish, you could even make a whole turkey or chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes, a veggie.

Are any of your friends or family members famous for a certain dish they make? Have them make something. Get some family recipes from family members and friends and incorporate them into the reception.

Good luck!

Answer 9

I think since its your wedding you should have you and your husbands favorites they will just eat what they like most people never stay too long anyways at a reception unless you have alcohol there.

Answer 10

well for my menu, me & my fiancees family will be making the meal. we plan on having, shredded chicken, and roast beef(to make sandwiches), red potatoes cut up and mixed with butter,and some sort of seasonng(not exactly sure whats in it, but my mom makes them) a veggie(corn, green beans etc.) a veggie plate w/ dip. crackers w/ cheese and sausage, fruit, potato salad, egg salad,and deviled eggs.

just make something that you know you like, for a main meat, you could have ham instead of roast beef, just make it something, that you and your fiancee like, and try having a variety of different foods, so that people can choose what they want.

good luck and congrats on the wedding. :)