One of the things that guests remember from any wedding is the food. Was there enough, was it good, were there food options? Deciding on your wedding reception is an essential part of wedding planning.

The most fun part of this process is the tasting! Make sure you plan to taste your reception’s food options a few months before your actual wedding, giving you plenty of time to make any tweaks that you need to.

But before we get to tastings, there are few decisions that need to be made in terms of style of wedding and what style of reception will be appropriate, then there are the caterers, the actual options and all the finer details. Below is a comprehensive list to help you plan the most perfect wedding reception.

How To Plan A Wedding Reception Menu

Budget

This has to be a top priority when planning any wedding. Aspects of the wedding reception add up quickly when everything is multiplied by the number of guests you have. A cute dessert table with fancy desserts doesn’t seem too expensive, but if you have a lot of guests and they all need to get a few desserts (not including the wedding cake of course), it adds up. Adding a champagne cocktail on arrival or during cocktail hour might not seem like a large cost, but if you’re having a large reception it can quickly snowball into one. That being said, this is the time when you and your guests are coming together, the families breaking bread together. You’re relaxing and celebrating being husband and wife, so you need to ensure you celebrate in style!

Alfresco

This part of your special day will be a long one, so make sure you have a plan, no matter the weather. Planning for outside? Make sure there is some shade or an emergency option if the skies darken. Discuss with your venue as they will have done this all before and have ideas on how to make your day special without losing the beauty of the venue you’ve selected.

Caterers

Depending on your reception venue, you may have to select from a set list of caterers. Make sure that you consider this when selecting your venue. You may love the space but have a certain caterer that you specifically want to use that isn’t able to provide food in that particular venue. It can be overwhelming to think about all facets of your wedding at once, but you do need to consider certain factors that are interconnected at the same time.

Tastings

It’s a good idea to have a proper tasting with your caterer to see if you like the way they prepare certain dishes. Even those that you know and love can be made in surprising ways and you want to ensure you’re happy with what gets served up to your hungry guests on the day. Many people only do wedding cake tastings, but you should definitely taste all of the food - the savory dishes, the food for the dessert table, the wedding cake, the appetizers, all of it.

Vegetarian guests

No matter what your eating preferences are, you need to ensure all your guests are catered for. When you ask your guests to RSVP for your wedding, it’s a good idea to ask them about things like whether they need a vegetarian meal (or if they have any other dietary restrictions). Once you know how many you have, you can then make a plan to ensure they’re adequately catered for. This can be by adding extra options to the menu, having a separate vegetarian buffet table or making one of the options vegetarian. Vegans, those who do not eat any animal products, may also need to be catered for and you don’t want to leave them with just a green salad so plan in advance.

Dietary requests

Other forms of dietary requests and dietary restrictions are becoming more common as well. Some of these are based on religious grounds and need to be honored very specifically. Sometimes a vegetarian option will allow you to meet many religious requirements, such as certain types of meat not being eaten or the meat needing to have been prepared in a certain way specific to a faith such as halal meat in Islam. So, make sure you have food options for your guests with dietary restrictions.

Allergies

Allergies are on the rise as well as various dietary preferences. Other allergies and dietary preferences can be harder to deal with, especially if people include preferences, such as gluten free, alongside people who have medical conditions, such as celiac. Being specific in the way you phrase the questions in your RSVP or simply discussing with your guests can clear up confusion well before the actual day and ensure everything runs smoothly.

Wedding style

You need to ensure that your reception menu aligns with the overall feel of your wedding. If you’re getting married in a beautiful old church and reception venue, a food truck is going to feel strange at such a traditional wedding. Similarly, if you’re getting married in a forest under a teepee, you’re guests aren’t going to want a three-course sit down dinner. The rule of thumb is that the wedding food suits the whole day and goes with the theme.

There are many different wedding styles - family style weddings, fancy weddings, outdoor weddings, party style weddings, etc. So, as we said, your food options should match the overall style of the wedding.

Wedding Reception Styles

Sit-Down Dinner

This is often the preferred dining style for weddings, but it is often the most expensive. A plated dinner for 100 or more diners can add significant cost to your wedding. Your guests will be able to enjoy dinner without queuing, food will be served hot to their tables and plated beautifully. Think about what is important to you on your wedding day as this may be an important aspect of the wedding and worth spending the money on. You can serve certain types of food in this way that don’t work with other options, such a steak or fish fillets, so it can be a joy to plan a wedding menu for a sit down dinner.

Buffet

A buffet can bring down the cost of your wedding, as the caterers do not have to do as much work to plate all of the food. Some guests prefer food done in this way as they can select more or less of different options, depending on their preferences. Love potatoes but hate broccoli? Totally fine, just build your plate as you like. Remember to make a plan about how the MC will call tables up so you don’t end up with very long queues for the buffet tables. This is more of a family style dinner.

Standing Party

Building on the idea of hors d'oeuvres, a standing party makes sure all the food is made to be eaten while standing. No knives required. You need to ensure you have sufficient places for people to balance a drink if you’re choosing a walk and fork option, similar to a noodle box style. Otherwise, if you’re serving bite-size portions, make sure the wait staff are getting around everyone. This is great for cocktail hour as well.

Casual Dining

A casual dining option can provide you with a lot of flexibility. If you are outdoors, you can look at food trucks. You can offer a single meal in a sit-down fashion, but without set table arrangements. A casual dining option can be scaled up or down to suit your budget, and it fits a family-style wedding.