To think I'm not starving my wedding guests.

[MBlaze]

Helpful Mumsnetters, please let me know if this is enough food for a wedding. I think it's more than enough, but DP thinks we need to add more food!

Timings are approximate...

2pm - Ceremony
3pm-5pm - Crepe or ice cream van, canapes (3 each) and drinks
6pm - 3 Course dinner (Vegan and Gluten-free options so nobody should go hungry.)
7ish? - Cake after dinner
9pm - Cheese board with bread, crackers, grapes, figs etc

Surely that's enough food considering the ceremony is at 2 and people can have breakfast beforehand?

DP thinks we should provide more than a cheeseboard after dinner and should hire a fish and chip/burrito van or ask the caterers for something more substantial. We aren't having any evening only guests, so I really don't think people will need another meal 3 hours after a 3 course meal.

What do you think?

I think it sounds lovely, but I would make sure that people understand the timings and that the main meal will be served at 6pm especially if you have any younger guests. If most of your guests are local, then they will probably have eaten lunch but anyone travelling further may not have done. You can never have too much food at a wedding

Please do the speeches between courses or afterwards as well. At a recent wedding after hanging around for several hours with no food we were seated and they did the speeches before starters were served. Everyone was just hoping they'd hurry up and get finished so we could eat!

If you are having crepes I’d probably do away with canapés as 3 isn’t enough and they are expensive yet not filling. Make sure they are easy to eat though. Use the saved money to upgrade the cheeseboard to fish and chips (good for soaking up alcohol) and serve cake then too (people won’t eat it an hour after a 3 course meal).
Sounds lovely.

Dinner onwards looks fine but I'd be famished with only 3 canapes I'd also be standing by the kitchen door hoovering them up as they appeared

You say ice cream or crepes. Sweet or savoury crepes? Either way I'd go with that over ice cream as they've more substance.

Even with a ceremony not until 2 that still means being there at 1.30 ish. Even if people aren't coming far they've got to get ready first and might not have time for a big lunch.

Whatever you decide definitely set expectaions in the invite so people know.

I'd get rid of the crepe van and do mini fish & chip cones at 3pm as that will soak up the alcohol.

Then at 6:30pm I'd serve dinner

9:30pm cheese board, 3 canapes and cake

I went to a wedding exactly like this and the cheeseboard at 9pm was fab as nobody was hungry for another meal.. just peckish. You need a decent amount though. I’d also serve your cake then.
I agree there is more of a gap in the afternoon. Personally I’d ditch the crepes and go with 6/7 canapés each

Marylennox - we have catered for all dietary requirements. Vegan and gluten free crepes, vegan and gluten free canapes, sorbet as well as ice cream, vegan and gluten free mains, gluten and dairy free cake.

The cheeseboard is the only bit that's not great for everyone. I can't eat it myself unless we specify for only gluten free bread and crackers.

I think you need more canapés than 3 each!

I went to a wedding with a 1pm ceremony and similar timings otherwise, we were miserable and hungry in the afternoon, then the cheese board went uneaten as it was so soon after the 3 course dinner.

The journey times to reach the ceremony meant it was hard to fit lunch in beforehand, and I wouldn't want to stuff myself at breakfast as would feel bloated. We presumed lunch would be at around 3 or 4pm. Dinner was scheduled for 6 but was pushed back till 7 as wedding photographs overran. Canapes were bought round but disappeared from the serving plates in seconds! The cheese board was on display but groomsmen said it was for later, so we could only salivate at it. There was tonnes of booze and we ended up feeling quite ill.

When dinner finally came it was hard to enjoy it as we were ravenous and wolfed everything down. Then an hour after we finished dinner the huge cheese board table was unveiled, we had a bit was the cheese was fantastic, then again felt quite ill with indigestion! It was a lovely wedding overall, but sadly my overriding memory is of feeling unwell the whole time.

I wouldn't bother with three canapes each, they will just make people feel frustrated and be a waste of money. The van sounds good but can they serve something savoury (are crepes sweet?). If you have an unlimited food van that people can eat plenty from that will be fine (eg if hungry hard to fill up on ice cream!).

I think a cheese board later is fine, but make sure it isn't at the expense of having enough food earlier.

Although you can tell people to have lunch before, if they don't live round the corner many won't fit it in along with getting ready, travel and arriving early.

I would really dislike crepes - too much potential for fillings running out the bottom into outfits. I think it’s a weird choice - I’d be hungry but find them too filling before a 3 course meal.

I’d scrap the crepes, up the canapé count to 6 each and then do bacon or sausage (vegetarian ones also) at around 9pm.

I agree that’s it’s plenty of food! We told guests the timings of food in our information sheet that went with the invite -those with kids and those travelling a longer distance found it useful to know so they could plan their day. What about changing the order of things? We had a 2pm ceremony and then had everyone sitting down for a meal at 4.30-5ish after drinks, plenty of canapés and some activities (our wedding was at a museum so there was stuff to do). We had lots of kids at ours so needed to make sure the meal was at a child friendly time. We did our three course meal then, cake available after that, then crepes (sweet and savory) and hot drinks as our evening food from 7.30. It seemed to work well.

Mblaze I think you have quite a long time between the ceremony and sitting down to dinner (2pm to 6pm), and even then by the time your guests get the main course it will be more like 7pm. That's a very long time since lunch, especially as many people may have only had a hasty sandwich en route. The afternoon sounds fun with the reception and lawn games, but drinking, chatting and messing about outside will make people hungry. REALLY HUNGRY! And drunk. If Ive only had a light lunch I will either be plastered or starving by 5pm (or both!!) Canapes are expensive, fiddly to eat and never really satisfying to eat (they don't fill you up, and you need loads to soak up booze). I don't think crepes will hit the mark for a similar reason. If i were you I'd either bring your meal forward an hour to 5pm, or consider something like an afternoon tea? Sandwiches, scones, that sort of thing? That goes with your lawn games theme and is much more substantial, and will be cheaper than canapés I'd bet my life on it.
We had a party for my husbands 50th which ended with a cheeseboard late-ish - it got absolutely demolished! I would suggest putting on much more than you think you need and maybe adding something like crusty baguettes for those men that just need to refuel.
Have a wonderful day you sound like a lovely, thoughtful bride!!

If I was going to a wedding at 2 I’d eat lunch first- of travelling I’d stop for a sandwich at a garage half hour before I got there. I think most people would tbh. Wedding at 2, meal at 6ish with snack first seems normal and totally reasonable to me.

Perhaps fish and chip cones or similar at 9.30 - 10ish if you want the party to go on til 11.30-1ish but otherwise I’d say cheese is fine.

Id do mini fish and chip cones and ice cream cones at 3pm. Bit seasidey isnt it.

Evening meal 3 courses 6pm will probably run until 7.30pm.

9pm cut and serve wedding cake with tea and coffee, along with some finger sandwiches and cold cuts?

Last wedding I went to had similar timings to yours. We were travelling and running late so skipped lunch.

They served us nibbles and canapés at 3 before 3 course meal at 6.

They then served us lots and lots of champagne 4 to 6. We were absolutely hammered come the toast.

It’s your wedding feed people how you see fit, it’s your choice. You might want to throw a bit of stodge in there if you’re having a drinks reception for them, just a suggestion

I have a problem with the three hours between the ceremony and the meal - it's just too bloody long! I hate those hours as a guest. They really drag.

We aren't drinkers, don't sit around having drinks with people and if you don't actually know many other people there then it can be even worse. To be fair, a lot of hotels aren't set up with sufficient seating for all guests to be able to comfortably mingle either.

I'd probably like a crepe van, but DH wouldn't touch a crepe or an ice cream or canapes in lieu of lunch and he'd be starving come 6pm

I think your idea of crepes is fab. With the meal at 6 and then cake I also think it's fine to go for the cheese or cheese on toast option for the evening. It sounds a lovely spread.

I would do the cheeseboard or some other cold nibbly things at the drinks reception, being the meal forward to 5pm and then do the fish and chips later on.

I was at a wedding with crepes and they were a massive hit. I also LOVE crepes and they are incredibly filling. I'd love this wedding! I know you can't please everyone but in general at fairs there's always a healthy queue for the crepes!
I also love afternoon tea. If people skip lunch they could have 2 crepes to fill them. And if they skip lunch and don't like crepes you can only do so much. They can pop off somewhere for something else.

Hmm advise them the timings, I cant at crepes and 3 canapés would have me starving as a 6pm meal would be much later by the time we got food.

2pm to 9pm is a long time. I would probably have gone home by them!

We had a wedding cake of cheese (not cake fans) which formed the main part of our evening buffet - four kinds of cheeses, breads, biscuits, chutneys, grape and apple etc.

Everyone loved it when drunk. Comments are right about people needing to sit down to eat it, but people basically stopped dancing for a bit and then went back afterwards. It was great soaking up booze and minimising hangovers too!

I kniw the ticket. Ask for pita falafel. GF puta bread with falafel, cabbage, eggplant etc. Think of the falafel shops in the marais. You know the ones on the road with the Jewish bakery that's really good.

I think it's fine and can't understand why people wouldn't eat lunch before a 2pm ceremony? And if they don't that's their own stupid fault surely?

If it was me, I'd do afternoon tea at 4 then push the evening meal a bit later and not worry about anything other than wedding cake to serve later than the meal.

Also three hours of drinks/ lawn games/ photos is far too long. It can get really really boring. I'd say one hour ideally, 1.5 hours max. Guests want to get onto the meal, not play croquet. (Not just for the food but also because that's the second big part of the wedding, you can really feel like you're hanging around for ages)

If you want a long staged photo shoot I'd do it before the wedding (is a thing in US). If you want staged photos after the ceremony I'd have fewer and get to the meal quicker.