Boy time is flying it is time to book my venue

Posted Saturday, June 20, 2009 2:03 PM

10 days before I book my venue that's when they accept bookings for next year and oh boy am I excited.  Honestly I am not sure if I want an afternoon lunch reception or an evening one.  Honestly there are a lot of children that will be in our wedding so I am thinking lunch and then an after party or gathering for the grown up later lol.  I love the children in my life so they are a must and although the day I guess is all about the bride, which I think is funny, but that means I get to choose right.  I have a few days to gather my options and then book. 

So here are something I have gathered

 1) Cocktail Reception

A cocktail event can begin as early as 4pm, but no later than 6 pm.  Hors d’oeuvres are passed by tray, served buffet-style or some combination of both. Typically, the event wraps up around 7:30, when most guests begin to think about dinner.
For this type of reception, you could do small finger foods and appetizers. Here are some suggestions:

Mini ham and cheese croissants
Franks in a blanket
Chicken salad sandwiches cut in fours
Fried chicken fingers with honey mustard and barbeque dipping sauce
Cheese puffs
Mini quesadillas
Cheese and crackers

For beverages you could have several stations set up:

Iced tea (both sweetened and unsweetened)
Flavored punch
Flavored water
Champagne and wine

Couples may offer a traditional bar, with an assortment of hard liquor, mixers, wine, champagne and soft drinks, serve a signature cocktail—like Blue Moon  or cosmopolitan—or choose a favorite drink like a martini or margarita, and give guests their choice of sweet or savory variations.

2) Brunch Reception

Morning receptions usually begin after 11 am, closely following a morning ceremony.

You have many menu options with a brunch reception. Typically, brunch receptions have “stations” with different types of foods made at each station. Here are some suggestions for different stations to have:

Egg and omelette station
Pancake, waffle and french toast station
Bagel, bialy and english muffin station
Fresh fruit station
Pastry and muffin station
Slicing meats—turkey, ham, roast beef

For beverages, you could serve a variety of fresh fruit juices, coffee, tea, water and champagne (great with orange juice as a mimosa). Typically, champagne is the only alcoholic beverage served at a brunch reception.

3. Lunch Reception

Luncheon receptions usually commence between 12 pm and 2 pm

Traditional luncheon menus include an array of mouth-watering salads, hot and cold pastas, gourmet sandwiches, chilled shellfish, carved meats, and artisan breads and cheeses.  

As with brunch receptions, guests don’t necessarily expect alcohol to play a major role in the celebration. A soft bar that offers wine and champagne, as well as non-alcoholic selections is an elegant choice, though you may choose to offer beer, hard liquors, and mixers.

A luncheon reception is generally less costly than a dinner reception and presents a great choice for couples with mid-sized budgets, falling somewhere in the range of $30 to $60 per guest.

 4.)

An Afternoon Tea

Following an afternoon ceremony, a tea wedding reception usually begins no later than 3:30 pm and ends in the early evening, giving guests ample time to rouse their appetites for dinner.

Traditional menus include classic tea sandwiches with a variety of delectable fillings, bakery-fresh scones with preserves and clotted cream, fresh fruit, pastries, assorted hors d’oeuvres, and, of course, wedding cake. In addition to an assortment of fine loose teas and coffee, couples may choose to offer their guests wine and champagne.

Depending on the menu and whether or not alcohol is served, tea receptions usually cost anywhere from $15 to $40 a guest.

5) Dessert Reception/Champagne and Cake

Thoughtfully timed between meals, champagne and cake and dessert receptions presume that guests will not come—or leave—hungry. For that reason, these celebrations generally take place immediately after a late afternoon or late evening ceremony and are almost always served buffet style.

For a dessert reception, one of the obvious choices for the menu is bride’s cake and groom’s cake. Bride’s cake is usually a white cake and the groom’s cake is typically chocolate. In addition, you could serve the following:

Assorted cookies
Assorted pastries
Cheesecake
Ice Cream with different toppings (you can set this up as a do-it-yourself table)
Jello and pudding

For beverages, you could serve coffee, tea, water and carbonated beverages (cola, seltzer).

4) Formal Reception
For a formal reception, the menu possibilities are endless. It is common to have a cocktail hour before the actual reception, where you could serve a smaller version of a cocktail reception. For the actual reception, several courses would be served. Here are the courses and some suggestions for food for your sit down dinner:

Appetizer: Tomato and mozzarella with garlic and oil

Pasta: Penne with marinara sauce

Salad: You could go with a simple tossed salad or a Cesar salad

Main course: Generally there is a choice of at least three dishes. The choices usually consist of chicken, beef and fish. You could serve prime rib, roast duck, baked filet of fish, etc. The main course is usually served with a vegetable and potato or rice.

After the main course, wedding cake and coffee is served.

For other beverages, formal receptions usually have a wide array of choices from colas and water to an open bar with alcoholic beverages. This is really an option that is up to the couple planning the wedding.