I need Buffet food Ideas (Reception Food Advice Needed)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am getting married this July on the 26th and I still have no idea what to serve my guests for food at our reception. The reception will be taking place around 4:00pm outside at the local Moose Picnic Grounds (the food will be placed in the Moose picnic building away from the heat and bugs and whatnot).

I know that I would like to have a buffet of some sort, but I am at a lost at what to serve. Everyone will still be dressed up nice in their formal clothes so I can’t serve messy food such as barbequed pig (my step dad wants to roast a hog) or chicken, anything with runny sauce is out of question. My mother wants to serve deli meat and finger food such as vegatables and fruit, but since the reception is late I think we need some food with substance. I don’t want everyone to be hungry, but I don’t want to spend an arm and leg in feeding everyone.

So in all, what are good types of food to serve in a buffet style reception? Both hot and cold suggestions will be appreciated :slight_smile:

2

Well, we had a Cajun buffet at ours. Of course, we got married in New Orleans and had the reception at a restaurant.

Four in the afternoon is kind of early for eating an honest-to-goodness meal, in my book, but depending on a lot of other factors people might be fairly hungry. Your best bet is probably for a mix of finger foods and heavier fare. Fruits, veggies, cheeses, little sandwiches (maybe ham, or chicken salad), and some pasta dishes that can act as entrees. Surely people can eat pasta (like maybe a nice broccoli alfredo) without making messes of themselves.

How long do you figure the reception will last, how many folks are you having, and what kind of budget are you working with? If we have a few more details, we can probably get you better suggestions.

3

We did the food for our wedding last July 27. We had roast beef, roast pork, salad, rolls, cheese and onion enchiladas, vegetarian lasagne, and fruit. I can’t remember, but I think there was some kind of starch there too.

We went to the local party store and picked up a couple of those warming trays with the sterno underneath. It worked out really well.

Congratulations!

4

My mom and I did all of the food for my wedding two years ago. We were married in the middle of the afternoon, so our food consisted of fruit & veggie trays, mixed nuts, mints, and some tortilla roll-up thingies. I think we had a cheese and crackers tray, too. (The tortilla thingies were SO GOOD!! My mom flavored the cream cheese in each kind to go with the meat - roast beef had some horseradish, ham had some mustard, chicken had some lemon and chives.) All very neat, clean food - no risks of dripping, and no heat needed. The only thing that even remotely could have dripped was the marinated mushrooms.

5

How about crêpes? Make a whole bunch of them, and then roll up something into them. My SO and I like to put in a slice of ham (lunchmeat is good enough for us - you might want to go with thicker slices) with a strip or two of Camembert or Brie cheese and an asparagus spear or two. These can be prepared ahead of time (precook the asparagus!) and just heated up to melt the cheese a little right before serving. A decent heat lamp or hotplate should be good enough for most people. This is great in that it can be modified very easily for vegetarians, although vegans might have to find an alternate meal!

I have also seen crêpes done with mushrooms inside, or spinach, or pretty much anything you like. Two per person is a good amount. If this is a large reception, though, plan ahead, since it might take a lot of time to prepare enough batter and crêpes for everyone! The ingredients are fairly inexpensive - eggs, milk, flour, vanilla, sugar, and then whatever additional cost for fillings. On the upside, though, accompanying them with a simple salad is usally enough, and then provide fruit and cheeses on the side for those who want to.

One way to make it into an interesting buffet for a smaller group would be to provide the premade crêpes but set out a choice of fillings and let people make their own - although that might be for a more casual event than for a wedding. It might be worth considering if there will be a lot of children at your reception, since kids love having something to do themselves at events like these.

All of this is, of course, assuming that this will be in a location where sitting down is a possibility - otherwise go with h’ors d’oeuvres and finger-foods!

Congrats on the wedding - I hope its a perfect day for you!

6

Publix Deli Platters. They “catered” my reception, everyone loved it. Right guys?

7

Heloise and I catered my wedding earlier this month. My reception was at 6:30, so it was a full dinner buffet. We served ham, lemon-thyme chicken, roasted vegetable pasta salad, mixed rice pilaf, maple glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, bread, and a fruit platter. Oh, and I made my cake, but I wouldn’t recommend that if at all possible.

Then again, we cook for a living and are graduates of culinary school, so this was managable for us to do.

I think your mom has a good idea with the deli trays (or little sandwiches), veggies, and fruit. I think adding something along the lines of some pasta salad (that doesn’t require being kept hot) and green salad would be good. If you want something finger-foody that is a little heavier, why not serve some meat skewers? You can thread chicken and/or beef onto bamboo skewers and roast them off, serving them with some dipping sauces on the side. You can also serve the little chicken wings–not too messy, easy to do.

How many people are you expecting to the reception?

Upon preview: I realize that in the beginning, I made it sound like Heloise and me got married. As adorable as she is, I married someone else. :slight_smile:

8

Here are some things for you, many that can be purchased in bulk!

Nuts on every table.

Make your own veggie trays…just get a bunch of the standards in bulk and fix them your self. Just don’t forget the enormous bottle of ranch dressing. The same goes with cheese. It is insane how much stores charge for cutting cheese into cubes! You can really make it nice by making cute tags for the cheeses. Go crazy and buy cheese that you wouldn’t normally see. Serve - surround the plate with crackers or crusty bread. People go mad for brie!

You can make different dips at every table with crusty bread or bagel chips. My favorite is cream cheese, sour cream, roasted garlic and chives…the possiblities are endless.

Go to epicurious.com they have great idea as well.

Chicken skewers are also great, beef works as well. Consider buying finger foods in bulk, frozen, if you have a place to cook them, You can do mini-quiches…

Feta and marinated nicoise olives (olive oil, feta, oregano, basil, garlic) in a nice bowl with pita wedges (grilled?) makes a nice dish. Can be placed in the table.

Tea sandwiches were a big hit at my birthday party. Very elegant and very economical. I made turkey with arugala? mayo, cheddar and chutney, beef with cream cheese…

Mini-meatballs are great…anything you can grab with a toothpick.

I find that fruit does not “sell-well” but if you have a unique idea, like chocolate covered bananas or carmel apple bites, people really eat them up (pun intended).

Get a shrimp platter. Always a hit.

Take a plate and place sliced mozzerella cheese topped with tomato and fresh basil, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They can spoon it over bread or just eat off the plate.

People also like “fixin’ bars” Bring baked potatoes wrapped in foil and provide the sour cream, green onions, bacon bits, cheese, brocolli, butter…etc

Pasta and sauce is always good as well. Can you tell I’m Italian with all the olive oil and garlic?
Hope this helps.

9

I forgot about wraps! No mess, finger food. Prepare ahead!

SHREDDED-CHICKEN WRAPS WITH AVOCADO, CUCUMBER, AND CILANTRO from epicurious!

Or you can do the traditional roll-ups with turkey, beef, cheese, and then serve the mustard, mayo etc on the side.

Meat trays don’t go over well. People want to grab food, not make their own. These would be very easy to make as well.

10

Devil’d eggs

Sandwiches/wraps: Turkey/stuffing/cream cheese and cranberry sauce.

Pickle plates

Pasta salads-add chicken and there is a nice light meal.

Having a lot of different “little” dishes that come out when the party is going on is a nice touch.

11

Wraps are good. Easy to make and they go a long way. Look for Armenian “lavosh” (or lavash) flatbread or use really big (15" diameter) flour tortillas.

Crudité platters* are nice served with ranch dressing. You can thicken the dressing with sour cream so it isn’t too runny.

(* Cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, cucumber chunks, celery ribs, scallion paint brushes, jicama sticks, radishes, broccoli crowns, cauliflower florettes, etc.)

Massive quantities of cocktail sausages with and w/o BBQ sauce.

Anti-pasto plates of pepperoncini, pickles, cherry peppers, pickled garden mix with ham and salami cubes.

Large diameter slices of beef salami rolled into cones and stuffed with garlic and herbed cream cheese that is blended with cottage cheese. This works with ham wrapped around sticks of Cheddar cheese, turkey with Jack or roast beef and Provolone.

Celery sticks stuffed with blue cheese or herbed cream cheese.

Hummus and wedges of pita bread.

Sliced sausage platters with a variety of mustards.

Tabouleh with pita wedges.

Chips and dip.

Corn chips and salsa or seven layer dip.

Please post what your own preferences and budget are so I can get a better idea of what is good. I’ll happily help you develop recipes for the event.

12

Huh? BBQ pork or lamb or beef is absolutely terrific for a wedding feast. By the time people get to the reception (the eating-bit) they don’t give a toss what their clothes look like…they’ve already done their ‘impression-bit’ so all they want to do is eat and drink…lots!!

We had a lamb on a spit and dolmades and pastitso with lots of salads and lots of pita bread and lots of dips and Wedding Cake and chocolate mud cake and the Evil Trifle my Auntie Nancy made…(which resulted in everybody being severely intoxicated before the party even began…heh!!..Onya Aunty Nance!!)

In other words, serve up what you would like to eat yourself…don’t worry about what decorum prescribes!!