Canapes?

MissGG

Hello all,

I was looking for some advice/opinions on our day and food choices.
We are getting married at 3pm and then out into the gardens (weather permitting) from around 3.30-5pm for drinks etc. The guests will then be treated to a three course meal at 5pm and a buffet and wedding cake will be available to all from around 8/8.30pm.

My question is - if you were an all day guest at a 3pm wedding would you expect to be fed before the formal sit down meal at around 5pm or would you just have a big brekkie/late lunch and expect to stick it out. We will be serving Pimms and soft drinks outside after the ceremony and we have the option of having some canapes going round at this time too - do you think we should?

Alternatively, we could have some crisps and nuts out instead of proper canapes or we could do nothing and expect guests to wait until 5 for their dinner.

Any views would be welcome - it's been such a long time since I attended a wedding as an all day guest that I'm not sure how best to arrange it all.

Thank you

PrincessDonna2009

personally if I was waiting around for around 2 hours until the sit down meal, I would want at least something to eat whether it would be canapes, sandwiches or nibbles, as people will start to feel hungry. Don't forget most people would have not ate at lunch, only had their breakfast..

We was going to serve canapes but decided on shorting the waiting around. Is there a reason why you cannot let everyone have the sit down meal straight after your ceremony?

Hollie84

Wont u be having photo's taken in that time your waiting around if you are then people will be far to busy to be thinking about eating.also if i was at a 3pm wedding i would have eaten around 12/1pm anyway soi wouldnt be fussed.if your doing order of servie which will state the time u eat then surely people would eat a little something before they leave home

Hadley1

Guess it depends where your guests are coming from and also how much booze is available.

If they have travelled along way to get to the ceremony at 3 they may not have had chance to eat anything since their breakfast.

Also if you have a bar or something open, people may well have a couple of drinks and canapes/nuts etc would be useful to soak some of it up. (speaking from experience on that one:o)

Nic_Noc_Noo

Hi there - I'm also getting married at 3pm and I'm not planning on having canapes for the reason the OP above noted - photo time! We will be having our wedding breakfast at around 5pm/5.30pm (3 course carvery) then thinking of serving "coffee and cake" (wedding cake) around 8.30/9pm for everyone. not having anything additional, food-wise, as we have no additional guests coming for just the evening plus i figure most people will still be pretty full after a big 3 course meal to want a buffet on top...i know I would be.

HTH

fawny

Hiya,

If I was attending a wedding at that time I would have had my breakfast & lunch so would not expect anything until 5pm. If you are serving a buffet at 8pm as well then i'd say there was plenty of food.

If you did decide to offer anything i'd jsut go with nuts, crisps, olives that sort of thing, which personally I think are but but thats personal views.

MissGG

Thanks everyone.

Yes 3.30-5pm is 'photo time' apparently the venue suggests you set this amount of time aside for this? I was just thinking of where we could save money but the last thing I would want is everyone complaining how hungry they are.

Noone is coming from too far afield with the exception of my aunty who is coming from Scotland but will be staying at the venue the night before the wedding too so will hopefully be well rested and fed and watered that morning.

I may discuss with the parents, bridesmaids and OH and see what they think - crisps, nuts, olives etc may be the way forward as I think, like you have said, that I prob would have had a bit of lunch or a big brekkie if I was attending as a guest at 3pm.

Hollie84

I would be suprsied if u would even need nuts etc,once the photographer gets hold of everyone u dont get chance for much else.even having nuts/crisps will fill a few up,especially kids and u dont want the money u spent on a 3course meal to be wasted because people have got carried away with nuts etc.i really wouldnt bother.im getting married at 11.30,by the time the church ceremony is over,pics at the church and to the venue it will be 1o'clock then there will be more pics before we eat at around 2/3 im not having anything else as we will be to busy with pics,i luckily have FIL who is a photographer so if people are moaning there hungry we can finish pics after the food

emz118

I asked this same question recently, but about a 2.30pm wedding. There was no definite answer, people had varied opinions. Personally I would have eaten at lunchtime, but if canapes were offered I would eat them.
I need to speak to my catering man again and find out if he will let his waitresses hand out tins of sweets instead, just so people have something to nibble.

becca0417

Hi dress buddy!
We are getting married at 1pm and wedding breakfast is 4:30/5 ish. We are putting on our info leaflets the timings so people can make their own decisions about whether to eat beforehand. Having said that we will also be serving canapes in my mum and dads garden whilst the photos are being done as it is next door to the church!

Kittendreich

I wouldn't expect to be fed between a 3pm wedding and a late afternoon meal. If you are in a hotel then if people have forgotten to eat before they come and are starving they will be able to go to the bar and buy a bag of crisps to keep them going... Different if it is an early wedding meaning lunch is unlikely (e.g. 12.30) or a late meal (e.g. after 7) - but most people would expect to manage a couple of hours without eating! Canapes are usually very expensive for very little actual food so wouldn't really help anyone who was actually hungry - but will be eaten by most people if provided!

I only remeber one wedding where I got hungry - we were asked to come at around 5.30 to join them to celebrate after a very small ceremony with immediate family only. Having a near 2 hour drive we hadn't eaten since lunch and had expected there to be a buffet of some sort given the early arrival time... kept waiting for the sandwiches to come out..and we waited....and waited...before they served cups of tea at around 8pm with a small plate of biscuits which only the 1st few up got...eventually had to make an early exit about 11 pm and nipped into a chippy on the way home - looked very odd getting fish suppers in our wedding finery!