Need help with my cocktail reception menu!

heather, i have a question for you...

my FI and i are thinking of doing a cocktail reception as well. however we'd like to do it at the AI which happens to be RIU Negril. what was the price differnce for you? how much is it costing you to do a cocktail party at a differnt venue as oppossed to it being at the resort? which RIU are you staying at.

It's definitely more expensive to do it at a place other than the resort. Our open bar alone is almost $100 per person for 5 hours! If you want to save money, for sure stick at the AI. But doing a cocktail reception as opposed to the full meal is saving us some money for sure.

We're staying at the Riu Palace in Cabo. We're doing our wedding at an off-site venue because we really wanted the privacy and we wanted control over which vendors we could use.

I agree with Carly, Abbie, and Tlseege, that unless the apps are of a substantial nature, you'll want to consider supplementing your cocktail reception. I understand your concern that folks might get tired of eating the same type of food for the week, but you want to make sure people have enough to fill up on. I was thinking about empanadas or tamales that can be hand-held if they are not too big. Hopefully your guests will remember that they are in Mexico and can expect to eat Mexican food. Besides, it's been my experience with AI that they serve a variety of food to cater to a diverse and international clientele. Who knows, your AI might even have sushi.

Good Luck!

I'd have to agree with all the others that I think you need a little more food of substance included in the menu that can more easily replace dinner for people who did not get a chance to eat.

The main reason why I think this is because you are holding guests from 4:30-10:30 - this includes peak dinner hours, so even if they have been stuffing their faces all week at the AI, they would probably appreciate having heavier appetizers that can more easily substitute for dinner. I've been to parties that have overlapped dinner hours where just snacks were served - inevitably, people start leaving early so that can have a "real" meal.

This is just me, but I get hungry and cranky if I don't have regular meals. I would be pretty annoyed if someone held me from 4:30-10:30 PM (a long time!) without feeding me something that came close to resembling a meal.

i'm in agreement with most of the others in thinking you may need to beef it up a bit to keep folks from getting too drunk.

if you don't like the taco/fajita bar options because folks will be having them all week, is there any chance you could add a pasta bar or mac n cheese shooters or something like that? pasta is very filling and would likely be the only addition you'd need to make to keep everything on an even keel.

another option could be to just add lots of breads and rolls to the cheese display (instead of just crackers) since 9 out of 10 times bread will do the trick. adding some flavored olive oil and balsamic with dipping dishes might also be a nice touch.

just a thought. i know costs are overwhelming, but you def don't want drunkards on your hands too early in the night and you don't want folks to be cranky because they're still hungry.

I'm actually OK with people drinking a lot! Haha. We're paying a lot for our open bar so I want to make sure we get our money's worth

I'll take all of your comments into consideration. Our apps are definitely going to be substantial and there are breads included on the cheese tray. I'm surprised how many people are opposed to this idea - I guess it's just me, but when I'm out drinking, I'm usually not hungry because the alcohol fills me up so much...foods to nibble on are usually all I want anyway. But if you think about it, 6 different types of appetizers is actually a lot - if we get 2 per person that's like 12 apps per person, plus the cheese and fruit and dessert. I think that's actually a lot! Maybe I'm just convincing myself, haha.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Heather, I think that you would be ok with just the apps. But something you need to consider is the length of time they will serve the apps. Are they just going to leave them out for an hour or two? If thats the case than I think you might have an issue. But if you are going to have the apps going all night long, you will be ok. That way people can drink and snack all night.

Good point Stacey. We'll probably do rounds so that they'll circulate most of the night, or at least until the s'mores and desserts come out. And the fruit, cheese, and guac/chips will be there all night...

Everytime I see the word smore's, I salivate just a little bit.