Post # 1

Member
79 posts
Worker bee
So. Fiance and I have decided that we really want pizza as the main event for the late night table! Other than that we will probably have shrimp cocktail, veggies and dip, cold cuts and cheese/crackers.
Do you think this is enough? Do you have any other good late night options (not too $$)? – mind you, we are having apps during cocktail hour, buffet dinner with three protein coices, AND desert table inlcuding our cake, pies, cookies, and squares. -open bar
My fiance is Portuguese and his family seems to really be pushing hard for more “portuguese” options…if ayone knows what these sorts of things might be (not too $$$), please let me know! I don’t want to exclude them, but if I can find something cheap and still tasty for my other guests then why not? But I’m not going to go out of my way… I have NO food from my background, and we really didn’t want to be culture specific.
What are you doing for your late night table?
Post # 3

Member
525 posts
Busy bee
We’re doing a retro malt shop. Burgers, fries, onion rings, coleslaw, pickles, malts and shakes.
Post # 4

Member
308 posts
Helper bee
Wow! That’s a lot of food! We are only having pizzas and dessert bars for our late night apps. Personally, what you have currently sounds pretty good to me ๐
How big is your guest list? How late are you having your late night table?
Post # 5

Member
9129 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
- Wedding: November 2013 - St. Augustine Beach, FL
FH wants hot wings and a nacho bar (with a cheese fountain!)
Post # 6

Member
558 posts
Busy bee
@indecisivebride89: I’m Portuguese. Are they Brazilian or Azorean or mainlanders? That will determine what food they might be thinking of. If you want to include a Portuguese twist to the pizza, see if anywhere will do linguiça on the pizza. It’s a Portuguese sausage, a little spicy, very tasty. Chorizo is also something we eat, but the Portuguese version is a hard, smoked sausage instead of the loose Mexican crumbles, so that’s one to watch out for. Grilled sardines are really popular with my family, we eat them a lot at parties, and there’s also a thing called bifanas, which is basically roasted pork loin on Portuguese rolls. Really tasty, if you eat pig (which I don’t, but my cousins fight over these things). Portuguese food, especially Azorean food, tends not to be too expensive, since the Azores are not the wealthiest part of Portugual. But the emphasis on seafood can be rough for American budgets.
Post # 7

Member
960 posts
Busy bee
@indecisivebride89: Portuguese Midnight Seafood Buffet Normall Includes:
Baby Lobster, Crab, Muscles, Shrimp, Calimari, Cod and Shrimp croquettes.
OBVIOUSLY thats $$$ so I would suggest just adding the Cod and Shrimp croquettes. This would keep your Fiance family happy and you’d know theres lots of food and be good with it ๐
These are the more traditional shape of them, but basically they’re cod or shrimp cakes instead of things like a crab cake. (ignore the food in the middle)

Post # 8

Member
9129 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
- Wedding: November 2013 - St. Augustine Beach, FL
Apparently, having a massive amount of delicious food is traditional for Portuguese weddings. Here’s one of the menus I found:
Portuguese Late-Night Buffet
An Assortment of Portuguese Pastries, Decorated Fruit Displays, Ice Carvings and array of Seafood including shelled shrimps with spicy pimento sauce, chilled Baby Lobsters, Dungeness Crab, Mussels and Oysters, Sole, Squid, as well as an assortment of Hot Seafood and Portuguese Rice, Relish Platter, European Sweet Table and Wedding Cake Service, Authentic Oven Baked Pizza, Coffee and Tea
Post # 9

Member
1729 posts
Bumble bee
@indecisivebride89: Can’t you ask your Future Mother-In-Law what she means by “Portuguese options”? Maybe they can provide them, in fact?
Post # 11

Member
79 posts
Worker bee
Thanks bees!
I have heard them all talking about huge seafood buffets. They are azorean and I get that seafood is big for them…but my parents are the main funders of the event and are really against paying so much for a late night table (they haven’t offered to chip in for food as of yet).
htepolt: we are HOPING for less than 160. Fiance and I said no more than 160 would be invited…but his parent’s list alone has hit 80ish people, without HIS guests. My parents have around 50. Kind of dreading to have THAT conversation…I don’t really thing it’s right that my parents pay for the wedding and have LESS guests than them…
dessert will follow dinner within the half hour mark…(at this point I don’t have an exact itinerary) so probably around 7:30-8, and then the late night table will be around 11:30
Elky: I have eaten these before! This is a good idea. I will ask the caterer about it.
thegreeneyedkri: mmmm….I wish. For some reason though, fiance has said no to things like fries…haven’t mentioned the burger thing yet though
phillybride61513: hahaha I know I will have to, but I need to see what I’m getting into beforehand…as you can see there are already a couple of things we don’t see eye to eye with….so I’m dreading this conversation.
Post # 12

Member
25 posts
Newbee
the portuguese rotisserie chicken place across from my house makes these amazing sort of doughy dumpling things with delicous chicken inside that are deep fried. no idea what they’re called but they’d make amazing late-night finger food!
you could also always add custard tarts either to your dessert table or as something sweet on your late-night table. portuguese custard tarts are a classic and popular portuguese item and DELICIOUS, not pricey, andcould be purchased from a bakery a day in advance and just be brought out and put on the table at the key moment. I’m sure you could get a couple dozen for under twenty bucks.
I think a lot of portuguese food is salty and a little greasy in a delicious comfort-food kind of way — perfect for late night drinking snacks! I’d be super excited about this if i was at your wedding. i have no portuguese heritage but i do live in a portuguese immigrant neighbourhood which comes with some tasty perks.
Post # 13

Member
278 posts
Helper bee
That sounds awesome! Our late night table will only be coffee and pastries… but we have to be out of the venue at 11 anyway, so we don’t want people getting TOO comfortable. ๐
Post # 14

Member
41 posts
Newbee
We are having a build your own taco bar. I am super excited ๐
Post # 15

Member
2085 posts
Buzzing bee
I want to have a poutine bar – sweet potato and regular fries and varieties of toppings…. fmil isnt keen on it…but we’ll make our own decision this summer
Post # 16

Member
1234 posts
Bumble bee
@indecisivebride89: For our late night table we brought out cocktail sandwiches (roast beef and ham) chips and dip, pretzels, and the venue actually brought out the left over appetizers (they reorganized them so they didn’t look picked over) again which was very nice! Not sure what to suggest for Portuguese foods but it sounds like your menu is delicious already!