Wedding Reception Recipes and Ideas

MelandBoysKitchen

Well hello again!

I have been missing from here for a little while and I have missed you!  I hope you had a wonderful summer!  Can you believe that summer is over for so many now with kids back in school!  Crazy how quick it zipped by this year.  I think for me, it was due to this wedding I was working on.  Time flies when you are busy!

My oldest son Connor and his new bride Makinlee were married in May but we had an Open House here in Tennessee in August. I waited to have it in August because my second son, Tanner was supposed to be home from his mission on August 8th.  We planned the reception for the 10th, thinking it how wonderful it would be to have everyone in our family there BUT he was asked to stay an additional 6 weeks, so that is what he did. We missed him at the reception, but we know he is doing important work and we are happy that he is doing it so willingly.

But back to the reception…it was my first one and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I did my best.  I ended up with SO much extra food. We probably had enough food for another reception!  Haha!!  At least the leftovers are yummy!  I thought I would share with you what I served in case you are ever needing ideas for a big party!

I was going for finger food that was beautiful, simple and tasty.  I decided that some different kinds of cheese, crackers, dips, fruit, cookies, sweet bread, and salami would be perfect.  So here is the breakdown what I served and the recipes that I used:

Cheese/ Meat:

Sharp and Colby Jack cheese cubed (I wanted to provide some kid friendly cheese)
Brie with pepper jelly (or buy one at Trader Joes–also Costco has some)
Blue Cheese (I got a really good gorgonzola at Costco)
Smoked Gouda rounds (sliced them up and left a couple whole to show what it was)
Different salamis sliced

Dips:

Hummus (use this recipe or pick some up at Costco)
Pimento Cheese (this was almost gone, while there was plenty of hummus left)

Crackers/ Bread:

Ritz type crackers (whole wheat and vegetable garlic)
Club Crackers
Multi Grain Chips (Food Should Taste Good brand from Costco)
Pretzel honey wheat twists
Breadstick crackers (from Trader Joes for variety and a fun look)
Baguettes (sliced but not toasted–perfect for the dips)

Fruit:

Strawberries (left whole)
Grapes (red and green cut into little bunches)
Melon (cubed and sliced watermelon, cubed cantaloup)
Sliced oranges (mostly for a bright and pretty garnish)

Sweets:

Zucchini bread
Coconut Bread (I skipped the glaze this time and it was still great)
Lemon Bread
Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Cookies   (I used this recipe though and added pretzels and caramel bits)
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
*all cookies were mini sized using this small cookie scoop.  I baked them for about 10 minutes, until barely browned. Once they cooled I put them in my freezer. I ended up making about 500 mini cookies!

I ordered these small square plates, these napkins, and cups from Amazon.   It was so nice to have them delivered!

I put toothpicks in little crystal candle holders (worked perfectly to hold them) and I bought these rose gold tongs for people to easily serve themselves.

Most of the serving pieces used were ones that I already had or picked up at Home Goods.  I did buy the 3 tiered rectangular serving piece for the cookies on Amazon here. It was a great price and I know that I will use that again for parties and holidays.  My friend had a the tiered tray that the melon was in. She got it at Sams Club years ago and I could not find anything like it. Let me know if you ever see one similar. I would really like to buy one for myself!

Here are a few other pictures of our reception.  We had it at this old Southern mansion called the ‘Heritage House’.  It is located in a park close to where we live so it was very convenient for our friends.

My Momma and I did the flowers and we used Magnolia and greens from my yard, along with roses from Costco.  My sweet Momma created this arrangement and I love how it turned out.

I 

I ordered the table clothes, chair covers and burlap runners from Tableclothsfactory.com. Their prices can not be beat and I was very happy with them. It was actually cheaper to buy them here, instead of renting them locally. 

I went with a Southern theme and used real magnolia tree clippings, fresh peaches, roses (from Costco with these to keep them fresh), these gold votives, battery powered candles and an artificial eucalyptus garland from Hobby Lobby on the tables.  I also blew up poster sized pictures from their wedding to hang on the wall. They were a great price (under $10 each) on Costco.com and I backed them with styrofoam boards from the dollar store.   I used spray adhesive which was a very bad idea–it warped the styrofoam. Learn from mistake and use double stick tape!

The Bride and Groom…Connor and Makinlee!  It was such a fun night and I am SO happy to finally have a daughter in our family!!  She is dream come true!

I hope this helps anyone trying to put on a wedding open house for the first time. It was overwhelming at first, but in the end it was pretty fun!

I have some fun new recipes for you!  I am happy to be back to blogging again!  Do you follow me on Instagram?  Lets connect!

xoxoxo

Melanie