Just having ceremony and reception... no sit down meal. Anyone done this?

melicalica

We had Indian style wedding and we got married at three and had sandwich at six and after that had hot buffet at nine. It was all in the same place and it's not unusual now a days.

lilly81

My friend had a cold homemade buffet after the ceromony, then in the evening they had 2 big pots of curry and 1 of rice from the local take away
Was a fantastic change from the usual stuffy affair

Hutchch0920

My plan is to have our wedding blessing at around 4pm, photos/drinks at 5pm then wood fired pizza from 6-8pm which guests can take at their leisure.

I think we may also supplement it with some extra bits like cold meat and salads.

I wanted quite an informal wedding so both the cost and the idea of a 3 course meal really didn't appeal to me.

ERICS_MUM

Evil_Olive wrote: »

We did:
Ceremony at 4pm, light cream tea at 5pm, cold buffet at 8-9pm.
We made it clear on the info sheet sent with the invitations what food would be served and when so that people knew to have their own lunch beforehand.
The cream tea was just to fill in time and make sure people didn't get hungry before the evening buffet.
My stepsister was so taken with how it all went that she is changing her own wedding plans for next year to pinch the idea

We went with venues that were happy to let us use their kitchen facilities and provide our own food (village hall and pub function room). We had about 120 people daytime and 150 evening.

We bought all the scones/jam/cream/teabags etc from Asda and loads of frozen fresh cream cakes/eclairs from Iceland.

We spent about £100 on the cream tea and another £100 on one welcome drink and one glass of fizz per person for toasting. We did also spend about £120 on hiring some pretty crockery/cutlery/glasses though to make it look 'posh' but we could have used paper plates etc if we'd had to.
We gave two of my sisters friends, who weren't invited to the wedding, £50 each to prepare/lay everything out and serve it.

For the evening buffet we took up offers from good friends and close relatives who are decent cooks to make things for us instead of a wedding present. We ended up with loads of home made pies, quiches, pasta dishes, salads, cheesecakes, a pavlova, and - the piece de resistance - a whole poached salmon complete with the full 70s style aspic, langoustine and olive garnishes from an elderly relative who used to be a chef in a London hotel
plus we spent about £50 on extra bits like bread rolls, dips, picky bits and paper/plastic plates & cutlery.
Our evening venue had a paying bar, so that cost us nothing.

There was more than enough food - we lived off the leftovers between the wedding and honeymoon so that we didn't have to go food shopping (our wedding was at the end of the month)

A lot of people told us it was one of the best weddings they'd ever been to, so it didn't seem like people missed the formal sitdown meal.....

What a brilliant idea, I bet your guests will always remember the occasion.

pathtofreedom

I went to a wedding once where it was a registry office, then a working man pub type place after. I can't remember the timings but for the buffet as part of the wedding invite there was a website for people to register what food they would bring for it, so some people did that as their present if that makes sense. The reason they had the website was so they didn't end up will a million fairy/cup cakes and no sarnies etc, and nothing for veggies or whoever. I think in the end people went a bit mad worrying about the veggies so it was probably 60/40 for them on the day, but there was soo much food brought the couple ended up taking loads home and freezing it and it still lasted from the afternoon until midnight or so.

paddyrg

For that cream tea on arrival, make sure there's plenty of sandwiches for those who need them - served prettily, but basically so those who need a boost can have one

matt1987

We have just booked our wedding after 5 years of engagement! We have a fairly small budget so we decided to have a late ceremony at 4pm - and we also want a very informal affair, none of this table plan rubbish to think about!

Straight after ceremony we are putting on half beers and half prosecco as a welcome drink, along with Pizza which is being provided by the venue. At this point, we are also going to buy some Krispy Kreme's and putting on a Tea & Coffee station which will be manned by the venue.

Then at 7pm we have decided to have a Hog Roast for 70 people which means everyone who comes to the evening will get fed - for fairly cheap too.

webitha

we are getting married next year and hate fuss and faff ie chaircovers etc, so we have booked a 4pm wedding with canapes then onto the local catholic club for a massive party with hotpot and cheese and potatopie for the veggies, wedding cake as the pudding... as long as guests have somewhere to sit and music, not one gives a jot about wedding breakfasts centre pieces etc, everyone has said that its going to be so relaxed.... that it is definitely US

sillyvixen

We were married at 3 pm, as we are members of the church we married in, we knew most of the congregation would turn up for the cerameny, so a general invite was issued to congregation and friends was issued for refreshments and cake in the church hall. I had planned to make all the cake myself, but thankfully lots of people offered home made cake as well (I had a freezer full of cake and nothing else, my mum had 1/2 a freezer of cake and no more room, and still we needed more cake).

We had a hot buffet at the reception (chicken curry, mushroom stroganof, chilli all served with rice . Casserole with boiled potatoes, and sausage and chips for some of the younger guests), And a range of deserts . All very informal and help yourselves. Later in the evening (when my workmates and a few other friends turned up) we had a cheese board, chips and dips and wedding cake for anyone new or still hungry. It was all very informal but enjoyed by all involved.

Fuzzy_Duck

We had our wedding ceremony at 3pm with just a few people who hopefully had their lunch beforehand! Our evening do started at 6pm with a hog roast and jacket potatoes served at 7pm. I don't know how much the hog roast was as the in-laws paid for it, but their local butcher did it so I expect it was cheaper than a catering company. The jacket potatoes were really cheap at £4 a head.


What I learned is you don't need as much food as you think you do. I think most catering companies suggest catering for 70% of the guests if you've having a buffet (maybe even less if you've got kids coming as they'll eat less). Annoyingly most of our friends didn't RSVP so we catered for 70 guests and probably only had about 50 turn up. Thankfully some people did go back for seconds but the caterers ended up having a plate of each other's food as well to try and reduce the waste.


If you're having a cake you also don't need as much as you think, as not everyone will have a slice. We had a wedding cake, a cheese tower and a huge jar of sweets. They were popular, but again loads were left over. What I wish I'd been told is to cut the bottom tier first as once the smaller top tier was gone my guests didn't feel they could cut the bottom one. If you can get the catering staff to cut and serve the cake as well that would be ideal.