Impressing your wedding guests is easier than it seems.
You can ditch the flowers, the spotlights, the fancy tablecloths and even the elaborate, 10-piece band costing you a semester's worth of grad-school tuition.
If you really want them to have a good time at the celebration of your lifetime, focus on their stomachs.
You can go with a traditional caterer, who will give you the choice of picking out what kind of surf and turf you'd like them to serve, or you can think outside of the box.
If you want BBQ as your main course, do it. Different kinds of pizza? No problem. It's your wedding, and the menu you feature something that'll satisfy your guests and the standards you have as a highly-acclaimed Instagram foodie.
But if you really want to keep your guests talking about your wedding for weeks (and even use it as a reference for when they tie the knot in the future), give them lots of food options and make sure there are snacks on snacks on snacks.
Here's how to feed your guests at your wedding like they have a major case of the munchies:
1. Cocktails before the ceremony
There's no rule in the imaginary book of wedding planning that says you absolutely must have cocktail hour only after your ceremony is complete.
Most of your guests will arrive at your wedding starving, either because they traveled quite a bit to get there, they spent all morning getting ready and forgot to grab a bite to eat or simply because they like to fill up fast so they don't find themselves hangry at your celebration.
If you're not into the idea of doing a full-fledged cocktail hour before your vows, try offering quick, grab-and-go snacks that guests can munch on before taking a seat at the main event.
2. Open bar of food
The only thing your guests will love more than an all-night open bar is an open bar of food right next to it.
Sure, you're already feeding them a three-course meal and a giant slice of cake, but that doesn't mean they won't be dancing off so many calories that their body is craving a bag of potato chips and a chocolate bar.
Unlimited snacks next to unlimited alcohol could make you the wedding planners of the century in your guests' eyes.
3. Bathroom vending
When your guests are retreating to the bathroom for touch-ups or to escape from all the music, impress them with a bathroom vending machine.
Whether it's a venue-made shelf of food or an actual vending machine you rent and stock with your favorite snacks, it's a great way to satisfy people's hunger in a place they'd least expect to see more food options.
4. Welcome-goodbye food trucks
As your guests arrive and as they leave, have a couple of your favorite food trucks parked outside the venue. Greeting people and sending them off with food in their hands is one the greatest ways to say, “Thank you for coming to our wedding.”
5. Late-night snacks
If you're on a tight budget, but still want to make sure your guests don't leave your wedding feeling like they have to pick up some fast food, send them off with a late-night snack.
You can go for an inexpensive option, like ordering pizza, or get a little more creative with mini cups of coffee and donuts or a midnight milkshake bar.
