Do we need Canapes?

[Coffeeebean]

Hi all,

I am after some advice.

I am getting married next year and looking at options.

I havent been to a wedding as an adult and so dont really remember what went on.

We are looking at having about 85 guests for both ceremony and reception and will be providing both a 3 course wedding breakdast and evening food. The ceremony will be at 1pm

Do we also need to be providing canapes after the reception?

We are hoping to be outside for the post ceremony drinks with garden games etc.

Is it reasonable to expect people to wait until the meal or do i need to be saving up for canapes on top?

What would you recommend?

I think it depends what time people are sitting down to eat? If the ceremony is at 1pm, people will have had an early lunch. If they are not eating until 5pm then I think you need to serve something with the drinks. If you’re eating at about 3pm, people can probably wait. Canapés with a drink outside after the service are lovely though.

It depends on how long until food but whenever I've been to a wedding without canapés, people end up getting horrendously drunk very early on especially if it's hot and everyone is outside.

what time are you eating? I think people will be looking for something if you have alcohol Guest won't have had lunch.

A lot depends on your timings. We once went to a 1pm wedding and the meal was served approx 6.15 we were all starving as had been getting ready and rushing about so hadn't eaten since breakfast and all missed lunch. If ceremony is 3 and meal at 6 or whatever then it's fine.

Canapés I’d say. It’s a long wait for guests after the ceremony and before wedding breakfast while you have photos. Also some guests will definitely need something to soak up the alcohol!

Yes yes yes

Think about 1pm ceremony, female guests will be doing hair/makeup travelling etc.

You will be in your bubble and that's totally fine but feed your guests. The last one I worked someone went to a spar (city centre venue) and bought a 24 pack of crisps to share round.

Get the canapés. I work in weddings so not trying to be horrible but just from a staff on the day perspective

This. The best thing to do with weddings is prioritise the guests experience. You can skimp on things like decor (any elements that only you& the groom would care about), but spend a lot on looking after guests with plentiful good food and booze and everyone will remember your wedding fondly

How far is your venue from where people live/are staying? If they have to drive an hour to get there, they'll be leaving at 11.30, so will basically have had a mid-morning snack. What time are you thinking of having the wedding breakfast? A few people will have had a drink at the bar on arrival, most will pile into the drink after the ceremony... if there's no food available your guests will be sloshed and v hungry. (Can you tell I'm still scarred by the memory of a wedding where it was 7 hours between arrival of guests and arrival of food?)

Short answer: Yes given the timings you really should provide canapés.
if you don’t your guests will be hungry

I think you definitely need something but a friend of mine got married on a budget recently and she just put out a table of sone different breads and nice dips( with little wooden knives for the dips so no double dipping😂) and that was lovely and went down well.

As others have said, it depends on the meal time, and to think about them between the ceremony and wedding breakfast rather than after the evening food.

I went to a 1pm ceremony a few years ago. You didn't find out the meal wasn't till 5 till you arrived. I don't think anyone had had lunch beforehand. Lucky for me my b&B did me a late breakfast at 11am, but most people had theirs at 8 or 9 latest. People were so hungry they were ordering full burger and chips type bar meals by 2-3pm.

The best thing to do with weddings is prioritise the guests experience.

This ^^

We had a 3pm wedding so that people had time to travel and have lunch beforehand. I suspect guests at a 1pm ceremony will be very hungry if they have had to travel on the day. TBH a lunchtime ceremony is probably the least practical time of day to get married for guests.

@Hollyhocksarenotmessy I've been to a wedding like this there was so long between things guests were leaving the venue to go to the shops for food !

I’ve always been clear on food timings on invites. So I’d put on my wedding invite ceremony 1pm, wedding breakfast 3.30pm and evening buffet 7pm. Then people know what to expect. Personally I’d have a big breakfast before a wedding like yours!

You need canapés during the after wedding photos bit. It's boring otherwise

Thank you for the replies

Noted. Canapes it is!

Now off to find another £1500 😂

It's very very normal to have canapés. I went to many weddings in late 20s/early 30s and only one didn't have them. Lack of canapés is the first thing (and one of the only things) I remember about that wedding 10 years on! We were really hungry and it was just a bit rubbish not having something to nibble with champagne.

we did canapés but only a 2 course meal (main + pud). We knew we would have some big drinkers and wanted to get some food out early, but didn't want to spend money on over-catering.

edit: this worked well, and we had evening food and cake later on

We had 2pm ceremony and 4.30pm sat down for meal...we still had Canapés for the drinks reception. I think people expect it tbh

Glad you’ve decided on canapes. A 1pm ceremony means people will be having lunch by 12 at the latest so will need something to eat before the evening. Our ceremony was at 2pm, canapes at 3.30pm, dinner at 6 and pizza/crepes at 9pm. Billed as the best wedding ever 😆 Prioritise your guests and you can’t go wrong. Nothing worse than sitting around starving for hours whilst the bride and groom are away posing for photos!

This this this.

Guests will not remember any spectacle you put on if they're hungry, footsore or thirsty. Best case scenario they quietly grumble, the worst I've seen is a bride having a full on meltdown when she realised just how badly the catering was going. It took a whole bunch of us lying through our teeth that of course it was fine that people who hadn't eaten for five hours were still waiting for their turn at the food van.