04.12.2014 {{The Dinner}}

7.16.2014

When it came to food for our wedding I knew that I didn't want a buffet style dinner, but I also didn't want a stuffy sit down dinner either. After brainstorming options with my mom and wedding coordinator, we decided on doing dinner family style. I immediately fell in love with the idea of family style because it was both casual and intimate as well as a unique option.

We didn't do a formal seating chart for guests. Steven and I both have large, southern families and outgoing friends who could carry on a conversation with anyone and everyone, so we knew that our guests would be perfectly comfortable finding his or her own seat without us needing to reserve a specific one for them, and we were right.



Cocktail hour was complete with hors d'oeurves (including cheese straws and mini BLTs with a fried green tomato among other options), beer, wine, and our specialty cocktail, Mason Dixon. After cocktail hour, guests made their way towards their seat for dinner. As our guests sat down they were greeted with a feta coleslaw salad, cornbread and muffins, and jelly.

As guests made their way to their seat for dinner, Steven and I entered the reception area. At this point, we did not do a formal  introduction. Instead, we walked table to table and hugged our guests as well as thanked them for coming out to celebrate with us. This was actually one of my favorite parts of the evening. I loved that I knew without a doubt in my mind that I spoke to and thanked each of the 220 people there.

This was also the only unplanned thing of the day. As Steven and I made our way into the reception area we happened to stop at the first table to say hello to guests. That led to us making our way to the next table, then the next, and eventually to each and every table. Like I said, I loved that I was able to walk around and speak to each guests while they enjoyed the delicious dinner.

Speaking of the delicious dinner, I mentioned that it was served family style. What exactly does that mean? Imagine sitting down for dinner around the dining room table with your family. The entree and sides are placed in the middle of the table, and each family member passes the dish around serving a small amount of food to themselves before passing it on. This is exactly what we had at our wedding. 

The serving staff served large platted dishes to each individual table. Our guests then served themselves from the platters at their individual table. Guests had an option of roast beef or pecan crusted chicken for the entree (or both.. because, family style!), and sides included stuffed peppers, carrots, potatoes, and corn cakes. It doesn't get any more southern than that!

The idea was for our guests to feel like they were back at grandmother's house for Sunday dinner, except this was one of those special occasions when Grandma brings out the fine china. 
As you probably figured out by now, no, Steven and I did not eat dinner at our wedding reception. We were way too excited and emotional to eat anyway. Our amazing caterer, however, packed us two massive plates to take back to the hotel room as well as huge portions of our wedding cake. We enjoyed leftovers in bed at 2:00am that night (after a few hours at the bar with our guests... still in my wedding dress). We also enjoyed them again the next day while packing for our honeymoon. The food was mouthwatering delicious the next day, so I can only imagine how spectacular it was during the reception.

 Venue || The Oaks Plantation
Flowers || Hot House Studio
Dress || Lazaro 
Photographer || Armosa Studios
Catering || Kathy G. & Company

Be sure to check out the rest of our wedding day recap:

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23 comments:

  1. Megan, your reception was so lovely!!

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    1. Thank you so much, Michele! The whole day was a dream come true.

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  2. SO jealous you didn't make a seating chart! It was almost the death of me!

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  3. How fun! I love the idea of a family style dinner at a southern wedding...perfection!

    Brianna
    xobriannaleigh.com

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  4. I hope my wedding is half as pretty as yours was! Wow! I have loved everything I've seen/read so far!!

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  5. So... is it too late to hire you as my wedding planner? You have amazing taste. All of your wedding posts are simply stunning, as are you.

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  6. awesome awesome awesome. what a genius idea!!

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  7. What a great compromise between stuffy and formal and guests having to stand in line. LOVE it!

    -Heather
    I do what I want.

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  8. it was PERFECT!! cathy

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    1. Thank you so much!! I loved every bit of it! :)

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  9. And I'm jealous! I totally planned to do family style, but with it requiring less space for decor on the table and the extra expense of renting more dishes, I had to opt out. LOVE this idea though! So happy it worked for you!

    I also love that you took time to thank each and every guest. I have every intention of eating at our wedding, so hopefully the thank yous can come later ;)

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  10. I love the idea of family style!!! Very unique! The table settings were just simply beautiful and the food looks great!

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  11. Your food is making me hungry right now! Love that you were able to do family style because it really kept with your southern theme. And again, your pictures are great! :)

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    1. Thank you so much!! The food pictures were making me so hungry when I was writing this too! haha

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  12. so so SO pretty & the food looks so good ;)

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  13. Everything about it was beautiful and a dream come true I know. What a great way to thank your guest. :D

    http://nightowlventing02.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-hump-day-blog-hop.html

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  14. I love this idea. Everything looks so delicious! I can only imagine the amount of work you put into all of the little details.

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  15. DUDE! you are seriously one of the most gorgeous brides EVER! I'm not even saying that because I'm your new blogging friend :) seriously! Your smile is just so contagious, I love it! By the way, I just found your blog from the Tory Burch giveaway! I know it hasn't gone live yet, but I went "in" on a couple of links and I wanted to sneak around and meet some of the bloggers before it went live. haha. I'm excited to be following your blog now! I can tell I'm gonna love it!

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  16. Looks amazing! Great idea to do family style! I love your centerpieces, too.

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  17. Yummm the food looks delicious! I LOVE the idea of a family style meal! I don't know how you did it without eating...I was starving at my reception and totally ate a whole plate of food. I do love that you went around to each table to talk to everyone though, I wish we would have done something like that. I hated feeling like I missed talking to people.

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  18. Your reception was beautiful! I've never heard of doing the dinner "family style," but I LOVE that idea!!!

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  19. If I ever get married again - I want your dinner. Period. Sounds fantastic!!!

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