It's no secret that wedding receptions are expensive. In fact, the Wedding Report says that the average couple spends around $20,400 on their wedding. With those prices, it's no wonder that brides and grooms everywhere are cutting down on costs. One of the best ways to save money is by serving finger foods at your wedding reception.
Cold Finger Foods
Serve fruit and veggie trays with dips. Cubed and soft cheeses with crackers, cold cut deli mini sandwiches, tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, bruschetta and sushi also make tasty finger foods for any wedding reception.
Hot Finger Foods
Hot finger foods tend to be heartier than cold finger foods, so if you want to make sure that no guest goes home hungry, offer a selection of hot finger foods. Some popular choices include meat and vegetable kabobs, wings, popcorn chicken or shrimp, meatballs, bite-sized meats with sauce and meats wrapped in bacon.
Dessert
Most couples have a wedding cake for dessert, but cake isn't really a finger food. To keep the menu strictly finger food, go for wedding cupcakes instead of cake. You can also include other dessert finger foods such as mini pastries, cookies, fudge, a chocolate fountain and an assortment of candies.
Additional Tips
Keep in mind the time of day of your reception. If you are having your wedding reception around lunchtime, you can get away with serving mostly cold finger foods, like mini sandwiches. If your wedding reception happens to be in the evening, you'll probably want to include a large variety of hot and cold finger foods for your guests.
The key to serving finger foods is the presentation. You can have the finger food either passed around by servers on trays or laid out on a buffet. Either way, make sure that the plates are elegant, the table for the buffet is decorated and the food itself looks decorative.
Even though you are serving finger foods, it is helpful to offer utensils. Some guests won't want to get their hands dirty and will prefer to use utensils.
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