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Wedding food & drink

Service styles, bar packages, dietary planning and Ontario alcohol rules for weddings.

Weddings

Weddings

Service style decides timing, staffing and cost more than the menu does.

Narrated walkthrough · 1-minute video
Read the transcript

Wedding food and drink.

Service style decides timing, staffing and cost more than the menu does.

Service styles.

Plated: 60 to 75 minutes for three courses; most formal; needs final counts and a seating chart with dietary codes.

Family style: 15 percent more food, warmer room, larger tables.

Bar.

Licensed venue: open bar per person (35 to 75 dollars) or consumption bar.

Unlicensed venue: you need an AGCO Special Occasion Permit, Smart Serve-certified bartenders, and no self-serve. Use the bar calculator.

Dietary planning.

Collect dietary needs on the RSVP, not the week of.

Code them on the seating chart (V, VG, GF, H, K, NUT) and give the caterer the chart, not a list.

The full guide, with tables and checklists, continues below this video.

Service styles

  • Plated: 60–75 minutes for three courses; most formal; needs final counts and a seating chart with dietary codes.
  • Family style: 15% more food, warmer room, larger tables.
  • Buffet or stations: flexible for cultural menus and mixed diets; add 20% more floor space.
  • Cocktail-only reception: 12–15 pieces per guest if it replaces dinner.

Bar

Bartender pouring pre-batched signature cocktails at a wedding bar in a loft
  • Licensed venue: open bar per person ($35–$75) or consumption bar. Expect 18% gratuity.
  • Unlicensed venue: you need an AGCO Special Occasion Permit, Smart Serve-certified bartenders, and no self-serve. Use the bar calculator.
  • Signature cocktails: two, named, pre-batched.

Dietary planning

Collect dietary needs on the RSVP, not the week of. Code them on the seating chart (V, VG, GF, H, K, NUT) and give the caterer the chart, not a list.

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