What would you expect after funeral scheduled for 1pm

[astranna]

I am in the process of helping to organise a funeral and was just beginning to wonder about refreshments afterwards.

Funeral will be tradaitional Church of England followed by burial. Its starting at 1 so would be over 2-2:15ish. We're then going on to local comunity hall for refreshments.

Obviously there will be tea and coffee and something else but should that be sandwiches/sausage roll/ crisps type buffet or concentrate more on cakes?

Especially if they have travelled any distance to be there. Finger food and drinks.

Some people having to travel won't have had any lunch so will be hungry. Others may not feel like eating before a funeral. My Mum had her church service at 1.15 followed by private burial at local cemetery. Afterwards we had a catered buffet. We have a large family. We had sausage rolls, quiche Lorraine, pasties, ham, chicken and salmon sandwiches, crisps, chicken goujons, and for vegetarians cheese and onion Quiche, cheese straws, egg and cress and cheese sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, green salad, rice salad and pringles. I arranged the buffet and Mum had told me what she wanted. There were lots of people there as my Mum had belonged to the Woman's Institute for many years and various church groups including the church crèche and we were surprised how many young mums came with their babies. Mum would have loved that. I was very glad I had ordered plenty of food. When Mum told me what she wanted I thought it sounded rather a lot but most of it got eaten. I also ordered a large fruit cake and sponge cake. Only less than half of Fruit cake got eaten but my sister took it home.

I'd expect a buffet (including wine) at that kind of time of day.

I had the buffet in the room provided by the funeral directors and they provided the buffet, it was all the things that you mentioned with a good variety of sandwiches in case people were hungry

Maybe a few supermarket ready-made sandwich platters, but mainly tea and cake, I'd say.

Finger buffet. 5 savoury items pp; 3 sweet ones. Cocktail sausages, 4 times the no of people attending (they always go), finger sandwiches (cucumber, ham, smoked salmon, cream cheese) 2 fingers per head, mini quiches, chicken skewers, mozzarella, tomato, Avo, black olive skewers. Mini viccy sponges, mini brownies, cheesecake bites. Plus crisps and a few biscuits. IME funeral food either gets inhaled (young congregation) or left (older congregation).

I appreciate many people don't approve of alcohol after a funeral but I don't think a sherry or glass of wine goes amiss.

A fruit platter also goes well. Sliced melon of different types, pineapple, bananas can be halved with the ends dipped in lemon. Strawberries, mandarines peeled and broken into chunks, bunches of grapes snipped smaller.

A crudite plate of carrot, celery, small tomatoes, olives etc.

I would also do a regular buffet and plenty of tea and coffee.

Sorry to read of your loss and I hope the funeral remembers all the good things about the deceased and their life.

Sandwiches, cake and tea/coffee.

Bit OTT for a funeral I think, who wants to be bothered sorting that out.

I'd get a couple of sandwich platters from M&S and a few tubs of their savoury things like mini pork pies etc, some crisps and a couple of sweet options. Nothing too fancy

And sorry for your loss OP

@CaloundraBlues Well, I can only speak from experience. We had a large platter of fruit at my mothers wake and it was empty within an hour.

I can still see my oldest friend and her mother in the kitchen putting it together.

I'm inclined to agree with @CaloundraBlues

It does not have to be anything fancy or complicated, but I do think you need sandwiches and cake, as people won't have had chance to have lunch (allowing even for local travel and making sure you arrive on time) before a 1pm funeral.

Not just cake. Some people can't eat sweet stuff like that without making themselves unwell. Sandwiches with wholemeal bread not just white.

In my part of Scotland, the funeral tea is usually sandwiches, sausage rolls, maybe some other savoury things, cakes and scones, as well as tea and coffee. Sometimes also soup to start with.

Hi OP. We had exactly the same 3 weeks ago for my gran (except we had a short private cremation after the mass just family and the rest of the funeral attendees went on to the wake ahead of us).
We served tea, coffee, and 'afternoon tea' so sandwiches, cakes, scones etc. No alcohol but there was a bar where people could buy it (hardly anyone did). As PP say, some will have travelled a way, but will probably have eaten lunch before the funeral. We did have a lot left over and were eating cakes for days.
Big hug to your family and sorry for your loss. As an aside expect the grief to hit hard after the funeral. I am finding it way harder now the 'formalities' are over.

We had a carvery for my dad. You only pay for those attending, the funeral director arranged the tickets and we paid the undertaker. It was cheaper than a buffet and everyone was well fed

Having managed quite a lot of wakes, a full buffet would be the way to go. With fresh tea,coffee, water and juice. You do not need to offer a free bar but maybe the first drink.

I am sorry for your loss and hope you are ok ( or have someone close to look after you x)

You're a good friend🙂

What everyone's said. Like an afternoon tea basically

Some alcohol too

It will be towards 3pm before guests are asssembled afterwards, so I'd provide substantial afternoon tea - ie. Different kinds of cake, maybe scones and some sandwiches.

Not really a full savoury buffet with chicken drumsticks, quiche etc as it's not lunchtime, but you need to provide some savoury food for those who didn't eat lunch. Sandwiches fit the brief for both lunch and tea.

If I was going to a funeral at 1pm personally I would eat something before I went as my tummy is prone to rumbling when it's empty! But I'd still eat a couple of sandwiches and some sweet stuff by 3pm.

Sorry for your loss.

Depending on how far people have traveled I'd offer somewhere between a selection of savoury snacks and cakes and a light buffet, but would keep it simple and not put too much pressure on yourself.

Proper food: sandwiches, sausages, samosas, as well as cake/scone type stuff. People will have travelled and be hungry – I’ve never known the “people don’t eat much at funerals” line to be true at all. My MIL absolutely scrimped on FIL’s funeral and people were climbing the walls hangry, a deposition left early to get fish and chips!

A lot of funerals are held at 1 pm where I live, and I can assure you many people will not have had lunch. Sandwiches, savouries and cake would be my suggestion. Here it is common for the undertakers to organise the refreshments, and that is generally what they provide.

Never been to a funeral without alcohol. Even if just whiskey and sherry