Should we be providing an evening meal?

[spiritofadventure]

My DP and I are getting married in a few months - it will be a low key affair, with 20 of our closest friends as guests.

Sunday wedding in a hotel in York - bacon sandwiches & bucks fizz on arrival (asking guests to be there 1 hour before ceremony for photographs), champagne and canapés for 1 hour after ceremony then a 4 course Sunday Lunch.

After this, guests are free to go home or join us for drinks in the city.

We're paying for hotel rooms for anyone who wants to stay the night.

Should we be organising food for the evening for those that stay? Was thinking we could just grab setching whilst out having drinks or order room service at the hotel??

What a lovely wedding! You sound as though you are getting it all right.

You could look for somewhere that does sharing platters/tapas and lay on nibbles later say, 9pm, if everyone’s getting a bit pissed, but it doesn’t appear necessary. You sound like a fantastic host!

Have a lovely day 😊

Treat them all to a kebab or maybe sausage and chips

Your wedding sounds amazing!!! I would be very proud to be invited to a wedding like yours. I would suggest maybe find out how many folk plan to hang about and book a table in a restaurant, there will be other folk in there, so it wont feel intimate and just say we have booked a table for dinner, if you were planing to eat out (at said restaurant) your more than welcome to join us? that way they will assume they will be paying for there own meal, but they will be sharing a table with you both, the reason they are there! I know I'd jump at the chance if the offer was open to me!

We went to a lovely wedding about 30 years ago, where the wedding party went back to the bride and groom's house for afternoon tea, then the B& G went off to do their own thing (at the Ritz) and guests were recommended to carry on the party at their house (Muswell Hill, biggish place) and in the invite was a complete timetable of the day which started at Kings Road register office, then went on a boat trip for the wedding breakfast, then a pub, before heading to their house -
and on the back a list of recommended foodie places to suit every taste - we did Greek with half a dozen other guests we'd never met before, we had a great time. So all the party go-ers dispersed and went to different places to eat and gradually drifted back to the house and carried on celebrating till the small hours, some slept over. I can't actually remember what we did!
But you can list it all on or with a sheet in the invite, including your recommendations of where is better to eat than the hotel and whether booking is advisable etc, that way everyone's expectations will be clear.
I also like the idea of the bacon sandwiches, but do hope you have an offering for veggies/vegans or non pork eaters

We went to a lovely wedding about 30 years ago, where the wedding party went back to the bride and groom's house for afternoon tea, then the B& G went off to do their own thing (at the Ritz) and guests were recommended to carry on the party at their house

The B&G went off to "do their own thing"?