As a wedding guest which would you prefer?

kitschkitty

I was thinking a teeny bit differently, but I had thought of the chips idea (the funfair always used to do THE best chips)! and a loo break for the oldies lol

morning get ready
12.30 wedding
by 1.30 at the wedding breakfast (afternoon tea)
by 3 or 4 will have had loads of time to talk to 30 guests and eat lunch
4pm till 7.30/8pm get bored and hungry
8pm(ish) disco loud music and heavy drinking starts!
midnight say goodbyes retire to bed

maggie111 wrote: »

I love the idea of a gap to be honest. The way I imagine the wedding going:

Busy morning getting ready, but mainly drumming my fingers waiting to get married.
Getting married
5 minutes after getting married to neck champagne and say a quick "hi!" to everyone
dragged off for photos
dragged back for wedding breakfast, which will be mainly spent separated from a lot of guests
quiet time - i get to walk round everyone and talk to them properly
disco, loud music and heavy drinking starts.

Although, if it were me I'd really consider the bus - and when you stop off at the seafront, I would have arranged a time with a chippy for your guests to stop in and grab a bag of chips! Got to be a pound each and you could have it by the sea!! To be honest, that sounds awesome and now I'm jealous!! And you could keep your buffet small because evening guests etc could fill themselves up then!!

nozzy6

Well after hearing what you're entertainment would be I might have to change my mind a bit! Sounds awesome! So far removed from the usual "wedding entertainment". The only thing I would say though is that it would depend on the evening guests getting there on time, and if some couldn't make it at the earlier start time they might get to the venue while you are all off on the bus trip, and be left at a bit of a loose end.

As good as the bus trip sounds I think it might leave the evening guests out of the loop a bit, and the day guests might end up feeling a little frazzled as they're rushed off on to the bus trip then back in for the DJ and buffet.

kitschkitty

so hard to balance it up isn't it! The bus tour would be 1.5 hours so I wanted 4pm to 5.30 if biasing it towards day guests, which would seem the way I'd probably have to go with it. I'm not sure if planning it for the evening guests is a good angle. I was just thinking that I could invite them as an extra if you see what I mean.

I guess I've really been struggling with whether an evening buffet is an "essential" anyway IF we can have some sort of decent evening food for the day guests.

It doesn't help that I don't do bored or hungry - I get very tetchy!!!!

Going to speak to our mums as soon as we can get hold of them - they always give honest (and differing) answers whether it's what we want to hear or not!

tamarto

I think that 12.00 until you leave is a very long time to only have afternoon tea and a teeny buffet, i'd imagine you would be hungry.

Also 4pm till you leave with only a teeny buffet isn't great either.

You would have to warn people about the lack of food imo.

Edited to add: I'd say an evening buffet is pretty much essential if you are getting wed at 12.30, againg unless you tell your guests they need to fend for themselves re the food.

jenhug

can you find a way to incorporate a stop at a chippy in that? it would be novel, a cheap way of feeding them, and might be easier to work it that way some how.

kitschkitty

I do agree, I've been posting/asking about it in lotsa forums - just haven't come up with an answer I'm happy with yet!!!!

I'm thinking if we have all day guests (entertained) then we need an evening meal of some sort and then the little buffet. Just evening guests could then either just drink and disco, or if they do come for the ride, I think we'd all need at least chips after it, before the disco!

I'm wondering what other food arrangements I could make if we do decide to go that route as I'm not sure all our guests are chips people!

I thought of lots of ideas, but not any practical solution to actually implement them, (where to buy or eat etc).

jenhug

ok, wedding, quick drink and a few canapes. bus trip, fish and chips, back for a party with a cheese board and dessert table.

Thats what i'd do.

kitschkitty

Are you training to be a bit of a mind reader?

Our wedding breakfast is actually "afternoon tea" and rather the theme of our wedding.

For the buffet, we had thought that we would serve our wedding cake and cupcakes (yum) but also have a "cake of cheeses", I don't like the cake of cheeses that much (can't imagine cutting one of those rather than a real cake) but in addition to our "real" cake and with it being a main part of the buffet I thought it could be a good idea!

Served with fruit platter and lots of rolls/crackers/biscuits. Also some lovely chutneys, & pickled onions etc from the farmers market. I was wondering if that would be enough/what other savory food would go with it. My mum suggested pate, which I think would be good.

Trying to balance providing as much of it as we can ourselves without falling foul of the hotel, and getting them to provide the rest at a decent price! I have to confirm, but I don't think they allow you to arrange your own catering (so have to be careful/sneaky/inventive)!

Also trying to think of any other alternatives to chips - we have a city full of over 350 food places, but most of them would be no good for our needs or alternatively our guests wouldn't eat it!

Do need to find out the bus tour companies policies on food, drink, and stops, though, and consider what will it be like if it tips it down!

Bride2be24

At the end of the day it's the happy couples choice and they should just do what they want! - do what you want hun its not for anyone else, its both your special day and thats all that matters x

ellielou_2

I got married on 31st July & I have to say the gap between the meal & the evening do was time that we spent together, just to chill and take in the day so far. The day is so exhausting and you get little time to spend together, we were really glad we didn't arrange anything further, despite worrying about the gap between the day & night. It also gave the 'all day' guests time to freshen up & have a break. The day is really tiring & you'll probably appreciate the break - we did!

We also found that many of the guests turned up at 7pm, which was the time we put on the invitations - however, people starting leaving around 12ish despite us having the bar till 1am. It's maybe something to bear in mind - don't tire everyone out so you only have a handful of guests left at the end.

If you want to cut costs could the hotel do a BBQ for you instead?

But at the end of the day, do what you want to do, it's your day so do what makes you happy, you'll enjoy it whatever you do because it's marrying the man you love with your family and friends around you that makes the day - not the entertainment - enjoy every minute, it goes so fast.

Good luck x