How to Plan a Pizza Wedding Reception: From Setup to Recipes!

DIY Ideas For a Wedding Pizza Reception

Food stations are such a huge hit at weddings these days. So, we thought we’d explore one type that could actually replace your entire traditional sit-down dinner: a Pizza Wedding Reception! Imagine, you can serve up pizza variants for a full meal—from bite-size appetizer pizzas, to an assortment of savory choices, to sweet dessert pizzas. Plus, the style of serving stations can range from elegant to rustic to casual. Grab some slices of inspiration below, along with mouthwatering pizza recipes to choose from.

Pizza Serving Stations: Styling Ideas

Pizza serving stations at a pizza wedding reception.

A pizza reception lends itself best to an outdoor setting. The open space allows you to treat guests to pizzas hot and fresh from an actual mobile brick oven (3) or to even have them rolled, hand-tossed and baked while they wait (4).

For displaying the pizza selection, a self-serve station (1) can be laid with wooden slabs, marble or tile trays, or rustic wood slices. If you’d like a more elegant buffet table (2), you can display bottles of wine in iron buckets and serving cruets of olive oil and balsamic vinegar alongside the pizza choices. Pots of greenery or herbs are a nice touch, too!

If yours is an indoor reception venue, a more modern pizza station (5) can be set up on an industrial style buffet table. Wooden cheese trays or chopping boards can be used to present the tempting pizza array.

Image credits: 1 – The Pizza Project / 2 – WeddingWire / 3 – Boston Globe / 4 – Em for Marvelous / 5 – Pizza Party Co. UK

Pizza Recipes From Savory to Sweet

Pizza recipes for a pizza wedding reception.

If you’ve never thought of pizzas as appetizers, entrees and desserts, you’ll be amazed at this sampling of recipes we discovered!

Just click on the links for full ingredients, prep steps, all the way baking and serving.

1 – Easy Mini Pepperoni Pizzas – These personal-sized pizzas would make ideal appetizes and take-home favors, too! Follow the recipe from Averie Cooks.

2 – Heart-shaped Pizza – Wear your heart on your…plate! This Pillsbury recipe was meant for Valentine’s but is perfect for a wedding, too.

3 – Shrimp Pesto Pizza – Serve up something sophisticated, yet simple to make—thanks to My Recipes.

4 – Grilled Chicken Pizza – No worries about carb overload in this recipe from Paleo Leap. Thin chicken breast meat takes the place of the pizza crust!

5 – Blackberry Basil Ricotta Pizza – Now this is one pretty pizza! The Stay at Home Chef shows how berries, veggies and cheese come together in this recipe.

6 – Chocolate Pizza – Pizza for dessert? Why not! Surprise guests with this chocolate creation by Giada de Laurentiis, featured on Food Network.

Pizza Station Signs + Take-out Packaging

Since you’ll be offering up an assortment of pizzas, it’s best to prepare themed signs, menu cards, and buffet labels to let guests know what they’ll be enjoying. And plan on offering pizza favors, prettily packaged, too!

Pizza Station Signs and Take-out Packaging

Part of the fun with a pizza wedding reception is the signage! You get to play with words, as in a tabletop sign saying “I love you with every pizza my heart” (4). You can have a hand-written chalkboard style menu (3) or a framed menu sign (5) that lists the varieties guests can choose from. And alongside each serving plate, you can have small buffet tent cards (6)—perhaps identifying the “groom’s choice” and “bride’s choice” of pizza among them all!

Then, for giving pizza-to-go as wedding favors, prepare single slice boxes (1) or mini replicas of pizza boxes (2) for personal-size pies.

Image credits: 1 – Something Turquoise / 2 – Jackie Fogartie / 3 – One Love Photography, via The Knot / 4 – Palm Event Center in the Vineyard / 5 – via Pinterest / 6 – Heather Brulez Photography, via B. Lovely Events

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.