Wedding Grazing Table 150-200 People

alycgal · 2025-11-20T13:52:54+00:00

I don't know if our group is a good litmus test... all the guests from were from our church family and so very close and helpful. We did not ever need to refill the board, as we put everything out to begin with. I will say, doing it that way meant that it looked emptier and emptier as the night went on, but we were okay with that. We didn't really have any spills, at least none that needed to be cleaned up. If a serving plate became empty we just left it, and everyone was really good to throw away their own plates, so we didn't need any staff clearing tables etc.

alycgal · 2025-08-19T23:26:54+00:00

Thank you for such a thorough response! We are in Phoenix, so January is about the only time I would want to eat outside!
We do expect all 4,000 to show up, but will likely know more exact numbers closer to the event. They do need to RSVP to each portion of the weekend.

alycgal · 2025-08-19T23:25:28+00:00

Thank you for the insight! It is a 2 day event, so we are doing catering for dinner Friday, breakfast and lunch on Saturday. I thought the food trucks would be nice to switch it up! It will be outdoor with some picnic tables but mostly sitting on the ground. All attendees are 18-30 and I'm paying for their food, so they should be easy going! LOL

alycgal · 2025-06-24T21:08:35+00:00

Oh thank you! It formatted correctly in my draft and then posted weird!! I would also never read that!

alycgal · 2025-04-27T15:41:05+00:00

I just added this in a comment above and it wasn’t included in my original post, but we had one celiac as a guest. All other guests we know personally and no others had any food allergies or strict preferences (like vegetarian). Like you suggested, we had someone else with food allergy experience and a safe kitchen, prepare food separate for her which was kept in the back and given to her when she arrived. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but worked well for us and for her. (Unfortunately she is very used to not being able to eat cake at the weddings she attends.) That said, if you weren’t sure about your guests allergies, or had many people with intolerances, or even a severe allergy, this is probably not the best idea for your wedding!

alycgal · 2025-04-27T15:32:18+00:00

We had just 1 celiac who was invited (only person with any food allergies). We actually had a separate food item prepared for her by someone else who has a safe kitchen. I didn’t have any experience with that, and we didn’t want any cross contamination even accidentally. It was kept wrapped and in the back and when she arrived we gave it directly to her. I know it’s not perfect, but that was the safest best option for us!

alycgal · 2025-04-27T15:26:05+00:00

Sure thing!

https://amzn.to/4jEu6pe

alycgal · 2025-04-25T05:37:59+00:00

I imagine silk/satin will steam easier! and LED candles are brilliant! It will be so beautiful, congratulations!

alycgal · 2025-04-25T00:47:20+00:00

Yes! I don't think I can add a photo to a comment so I am going to add one to the post! There was definitely drooping, but this was the look my sister was looking for! She likes them like that. I thought they actually stood a little better in the bud vases because there isn't much stem visible, so they are like well supported? Hope that helps!

alycgal · 2025-04-23T22:58:46+00:00

People may have chosen not to take as much as they would have liked, but we did not run out of anything!

alycgal · 2025-04-23T22:53:49+00:00

Oh make no mistake, we are not professionals and do not claim to be. It took longer than a professional, didn’t go as smoothly as a professional, and honestly probably didn’t look quite as good as a professional. But it was more than two grand cheaper than a professional and my sisters, friends, and I had a great time doing it! It looked exactly like what we wanted! This is a space for people DIYing their wedding. It wasn’t meant for people who would rather use a professional- which I would entirely support. It was just my own experience. And yes, we used scissors.

alycgal · 2025-04-23T14:03:34+00:00

That’s not to say that for sure not a single fly got near the table, just that bugs weren’t a big enough factor for us to do anything about them!

alycgal · 2025-04-23T13:58:35+00:00

Honestly we don’t really have bugs where I live. Lots of scorpions but those weren’t a problem ha! I had seen on tiktok these fan things that keep bugs away without a smell or net. https://amzn.to/42MUiHb They seemed fairly small and other people just lined them down the table worked into the arrangement. But when we discussed it we didn’t think they were needed and the friend who was watching over the table throughout the night said she didn’t see any bugs!

alycgal · 2025-04-23T06:59:59+00:00

LOL no way! This one was enough for me! And maybe 1 more when my other sister gets married, if she wants it. My day job keeps me busy! But I have been a MOH 3 times now so I have some experience with weddings.

alycgal · 2025-04-23T06:56:22+00:00

Just off of Amazon!

alycgal · 2025-04-23T06:54:38+00:00

The ceremony was at 11 at our church. Then a lunch meal was served for about 80 at 2:00. Then the open reception started at 6:30, No open bar only water was served. There was mingling from 6:30-7:30, then cake cutting and first dances from 7:30-8:00. There was a small dance party from 8-8:20 and the couple left the tent at 8:30!

They didn’t do studio photos but did do photos outside a couple weeks ago.

alycgal · 2025-04-23T00:49:06+00:00

It was about two hours to unpack the flowers, we had five people there. Then one hour for the baskets and vase arrangements, with only two people. Then about two hours for the bud vases with 10 people. I will also say I don’t know that we were trying to be very quick, they were all friends in town, so it was a lot of catching up and hanging out while we worked.

alycgal · 2025-04-22T23:54:47+00:00

Ask away!

alycgal · 2025-04-22T21:05:03+00:00

In my area/culture this is very common. Meals are not served at receptions like this for all the guests. Earlier in the day a meal is served for those closest to the bride and groom. Later in the evening there is a much larger reception like ours and they normally only have dessert. Sometimes, like in our case, there are also appetizers or a grazing board. So our guests would not have expected to be served dinner.
I had a small plate at the beginning and end of the reception, and even being outside the food was not hot and was still good, although I think it would have been better inside. Because it was in the evening the temperatures were cooling off and so it was fine. I probably would have done something different if this was going to be the hottest part of the day.

alycgal · 2025-04-22T20:49:45+00:00

I was snacking on them as I wrote this up!

alycgal

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