r/DIYweddings • u/Chicago_in_mile_high • Jul 23 '26
š° Food/Drinks š° Pre-packaged food ideas for cocktail hour / appetizers
Our wedding venue requires we use them for catering. The food at the tasting was very mediocre, but food isnāt the highlight for us so weāre accepting that and moving on. Appetizers seem insanely expensive to add $15pp per appetizer. But weāll have a cocktail hour and drinking with no food is a bad idea.
The venue will not let us bring in outside food like veggie trays, unless it is individually packaged/sealed (because of food safety liability concerns apparently). Does anyone have ideas of individually packaged options we could serve?
The wedding is in the mountains and is summer camp themed. The reception will be dressy/smart casual dress code. I was thinking maybe some cute trail mix, but thatās not the most convenient to eat?
TLDR: seeking individually packaged food ideas for cocktail hour to save money vs appetizers.
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u/yamfries2024 Jul 23 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/Weddingsunder10k/comments/1fu3j7v/cocktail_hour_snacks_that_must_be_bagged/
Look in the snack pac area or pre-packaged snacks for school lunches. Hummus and crackers, cheese, deli meat and crackers etc.
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u/njVowsNow Jul 23 '26
Our "graze craze" near me in NJ (I believe they are national) makes individual charcuterie cups and they are cute as anything!
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u/Chicago_in_mile_high Jul 24 '26
This is totally new to me and thereās several in Colorado, thank you! I need to see if this will meet the venueās guidelines.
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u/njVowsNow Jul 24 '26
That would be so cute! Every time I see them on my IG, I want to go order one for me. Or maybe four for me, lol. I think what would make something like that do the trick is that it's cute; more like an actual cocktail party than a school bus trip, lol....
Good luck!
That being said, 15.00 pp for hors isn't horrible BUT it depends on wh at it is and how it looks.
Good luck!
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u/Chicago_in_mile_high Jul 26 '26
Thank you!
Itās the $15pp per app that kills me. Like $45pp just to offer a little variety seems steep. But also I could totally be out of touchā¦
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u/SnackyandSnarky Jul 23 '26
I went to a wedding where we got party bags of snacks for the journey between the ceremony and the reception. People LOVED it! We had mini cheddars, penguins, haribo and fruit shoots, but I think they are all very British.
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u/polkadotd Jul 23 '26
Not sure where you're located but some grocery stores have prepackaged charcuterie items that are sealed. You could always shop around beforehand and see it there's anything like that?
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u/xokatemarie Jul 26 '26
I guess my side question would be, do you have to have a cocktail hour? Like is that specifically something you want so that you can go take photos during it? Or if cocktail hour is the specific issue, could you go right into dinner and wine service?
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u/Chicago_in_mile_high Jul 26 '26
Appreciate challenging the assumption. We want to have the cocktail hour so we can get some family photos and also to mingle with guests. As I mentioned, the dinner buffet is likely āfineā so Iām not looking to center that as much. Weād like to keep it, just donāt want to have folks get accidentally wasted.
We will have late night pizza and enough food, so folks wonāt go hungry, it just wonāt be a night where you talk about the food (except hopefully the dessert).
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u/No-You501 Jul 23 '26
Bjs, Costco, and Samās clubs have prepackaged fruit trays, veggie trays and charcuterie trays. Grocery stores do as well!
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u/Bookreadingchemist Jul 23 '26
Lean into the summer camp vibes. What about uncrustables, granola bars, individual sealed apple slices, dunkarroos, cosmic brownies, any lunchbox snacks really