I am getting married next June. June 11, 2011 to be exact. We were thinking of having the wedding at 11:00 A.M. to go along with the 11 theme just to be fun.
My problem is food. If I have the wedding at 11, people expect lunch. It is an outdoor reception and I was thinking picnic style food (hotdogs, salads, fruits, veggies, etc.), but I just want to know if this is practical. I am inviting around 150 people (and expecting about 100 or less). If anyone has any other ideas that is not a caterer please let me know. I would love to hear it.
By Lasair from St. Paul, MN
You could save a lot of extra work by not having to ask someone to cook hot dogs and hamburgers during the reception.
You can buy the small loaves of bread from a bakery or a large supermarket chain, such as white, wheat, pumpernickel, rye, etc. and make small bite-size sandwiches such as tuna, egg-salad, meat spreads, etc.
Along with that you could serve cold salads, hot dishes, fruit tray, vegetable tray + pickles and olives with dip, bowls of potato chips, and pretzels. For beverages you can provide coffee, tea, fruit punch, and soda/pop for the children.
For more suggestions read Archives at bottom of page.
I hope that I helped you out. (07/06/2010)
By Marjorie
Sounds good to me, and keep in mind you can grill the hotdogs the day before and warm them in a large crock pot with a little beef broth at the bottom for moisture.
The meat salads are a good idea, too. Bake a chicken or two without any seasonings and then cut up the white meat in bite sized chunks for chicken salad. I like the recipe for this, that uses white grapes and celery and is served on a cracker. You will have left over dark meat to make a dish for your supper the next day. Meat salads all contain the same type of ingredients so that will be cost effective too, because you can buy the larger jars.
Also, don't be afraid to set your menu now and buy during holiday sales! A turkey baked up and pulled for dinner roll sandwiches would work, too. Key to this idea is to think light lunch and everyone's picnic idea is different. (07/06/2010)
By dede smith
For a picnic type reception, you could also make it a pot luck. Ask for a couple people to volunteer to do the grilling if you want it done the same day. I have heard of several pot luck receptions and graduation parties. (07/06/2010)
By Joan
Congratulations!
As to food for an outside party, my son and his wife got married on the beach and rented the pavilion there. I believe they had between 80-100 people there. They had BBQ beef (which we made in 2 large crock pots the day before) served on buns, hot dogs on buns (which his brother did at the wedding on the grill) with mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish, potato salad, watermelon cut up, chips, and veggies (small carrots and celery sticks).
Have a wonderful wedding day!
PS: A warning: Depending on where the outside party is, my son's was in Florida in the afternoon so it was quite warm, but had lovely breezes, I would avoid too much food with mayonnaise, but especially food with chicken and turkey. We had the potato salad in a large bowl set in an container of ice. Chicken and turkey salad, especially if they are in tiny sandwiches and laid out would have a tendency to get salmonella. I went to a wedding where many people ended up with food poisoning about 2:00am after the wedding. (07/07/2010)
I would have the invitations say "Picnic Reception", that would surely alert the guests that this wasn't going to be a formal affair! But, I'm afraid that I'm "old school" and do not agree with the suggestions to have the reception be "pot luck". If family members offer to help and bring something, that's different. But to ask guests to bring a dish and a gift, I can't get used to that! (07/08/2010)
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