Slushies, food trucks, and brunch: 10 delicious ways to make your wedding food fun

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We recently listed 13 ways to make your reception more fun, but the REAL way to your guests' hearts is through their stomachs, right?

Here are 10 of our favorite ways to make your wedding food fun and entertaining, including food trucks, slushies, candy buffets, finger foods, signature mocktails, and brunch for dinner. Let's get our foodie hats on to bring the catering game up to eleven.

Get creative with food

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You can forgo a sit-down dinner entirely and embrace a passed appetizer or finger food menu to make the food more interactive. Opt for a baked potato bar with all the fixin's, cake pops shaped like golden snitches, mini pies, a s'mores bar, cotton candy, a grilled cheese station with lots of toppings… you get the idea.

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Keep the food fun, and guests will keep the hangry at bay.

Alternately, you can always consider food trucks for your main catering (or a later-night snack!). They're built-in fun in a transportable package.

Choose a punch-and-pie wedding for retro whimsy (and save some cash)

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Want to know how to pull off this money-saving and totally awesome retro concept of cake (or pie) and punch wedding? Here's a guide on how to make it happen.

Amp up your drink game

There are lots of reasons to keep drinking to a minimum, but making the drinks fun can be a real boost to the fun factor.

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Signature cocktails or mocktails, a shot station where guests can concoct their own whipped-creamed shot masterpiece, root beer floats, a smoothie bar, a slush dispenser (as seen above), or a wine/liquor flight/tasting can give everyone a little booze or sugar boost.

Match your food and drink to your theme

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• Having a Jane Austen-themed wedding? Try a British tea party theme.

• Having a Harry Potter wedding? Check out this Harry Potter treats table of delicious joy.

• Hosting a Halloween-themed spooky bash? We've got TONS of ideas for amazing Halloween-themed food and the most fabulous treat table ideas ever.

Embrace your theme in your food, and we'll all heart you forever.

Brunch for dinner? It's a thing, and it's delish

Why serve plain chicken when you could serve chicken and waffles?! Brunch and breakfast-for-dinner is absolutely a delicious option (and can even be a cheaper option). Check out our whole brunch archive for lots of ideas like waffles, mini breakfast appetizers, and more.

Go a little wild with your cake

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If there's ever a place where a more traditional wedding can sneak in some offbeatness, it's in the cake. And we've seen some doozies…

• Fantasy fandom cakes
• cakes showered in confetti
• Rice Krispie cakes
• s'mores cakes (DEAR GLOB)
• Star Wars cakes
• absolutely gorgeous octopus cakes
• Adventure Time cakes
• and anatomical heart cakes

Plan a delicious surprise for everyone later in the evening

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Bring out something unexpected later on in the evening to keep guests from bailing early and their energy higher after all the dancing and merriment. We've seen a fire-breathing, glitter-sneezing unicorn, Storm trooper cupcakes, dipped rainbow Oreos, quesadillas, or “walking tacos” as a late night snack. Or the guaranteed winner…

When in doubt: PIZZA

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Don't let your guests get hungry near the end of the night and start leaving for late-night food. Order some pizzas, or even make some s'mores by a bonfire. Speaking of bonfires, you can wring out some late-night fun with a big bonfire and sing-along if your venue is set up for one.

Make something fun and easy for the kiddos

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It's amazing how a little goes a long way in keeping children entertained. Consider having a kid-friendly dish to serve for any kids (or pickier adults!) like these heart-shaped PB&Js.

Serve up your booze in a canoe

You know why I love Offbeat Bride readers? Because it's completely NOT uncommon for y'all to fill up an entire boat with booze. Even one of our own staffers did this at her wedding.

Are you doing anything different with your wedding catering? Let us know about it in the comments!

About the Author: Catherine Clark

@enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits

Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.