to have an afternoon tea wedding reception?

[pinknight]

We're planning on a small wedding, under 20 people including us. The ceremony will be at a registry office

Reception venues seem to want minimum 50 guests and insist on us paying for things like DJs which we definitely don't want (the guests will mainly be over 50).

Then if you have sit downs you have to pick the same starter, main and dessert which isn't ideal.

I've found a hotel nearby that does afternoon tea receptions which sounds nice, but I'm thinking, will it be enough food? It says sandwichers, cakes, champagyne, tea etc are included.

What would you think if you went to something like this, and do you think it's enough to fill people up?

We had more guests but had afternoon tea and later a hot buffet and band.
We paid extra to have strawberries and cream.

The advantage was that once we got to the dining room the tea was served straight away. None of tge waiting for a chicken dinner. It was great for kids, older people, hungry people. Relaxed. Just hiw we wanted it.
Good luck

As a guest I would LOVE this. I've been to so, so, so many weddings now, and they are quite gruelling. I would actually look forward to attending yours.

I think it sound really lovely and I would prefer that to some of the weddings I have been to.

I would ask exactly what food is included and if you don't feel it would be enough or not enough savoury items ask if the set things could be added to or changed.

My mum did this for her wedding to my stepded. Hotel was amazing, it was fantastic food and very well catered - once a stand was empty, it was quickly refilled. They did an equal mix of savoury and sweet, with champage tea or coffee.

It was lovely and informal too, even with nicely laid tables etc. I really enjoyed the day. Far nicer than waiting around for photos and starchy traditional receptions. Yawn!

Sounds completely fine. My sister is getting married later this year, and doing exactly this.

Watch the episode of Escape to the Chateau where Angel and Dick prepare an afternoon tea wedding reception.

It’s what we did. People said they enjoyed it as it wasn’t hours and hours and hours of wedding reception! Our taxi was booked for 5.30pm to take us to the airport, so there was a fixed ‘end’, but if people wanted to stay and pay for more food/drink then they could. So my parents and my aunt/uncle went out for dinner afterwards.

No set seating plan, so everyone mingled far more which was nice.

Mmmmmm. afternoon tea. Where do we sign up?

Sounds lovely. I wish more people would do this rather than the formal route which now seems to cost more than a deposit for a house.

If you're looking at having a smaller wedding, how about booking a room a restaurant? Lots by us have rooms and separate areas for similar sized wedding parties to yours. We had a similar issue, wanted a small wedding and every venue told us they couldn't make enough money from our sized wedding.

Sounds lovely, speaking as a vegetarian I would be much happier with a luscious afternoon tea than staring glumly at yet another red onion and goats cheese tartlet with that particularly grim packet salad with not enough dressing they always dish up at the side.........

I love afternoon tea, but it's not really a substantial meal unless there are plenty of savoury options and a substantial amount of food. A round of sandwiches, a scone and a fairy cake would not fill people up.

You'd need to have a mid-afternoon ceremony, so that guests could eat a decent lunch beforehand. Anyone travelling long-distance would need to be pre-warned to eat on the way, as there is no main meal at the wedding.

What time are you expecting the wedding reception to finish? If you want anyone to stay beyond say 6pm you'd need to provide another meal, as everyone will want to head home for the dinner otherwise.

Nobody really cares too much about the detail of other people's weddings, but they do get grumpy if they're hungry.

I think it sounds fabulous, as a guest, it would be my preference.🌸

So long as you make it clear on the invitations then afternoon tea will be fine. Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

It sounds absolutely perfect. I love afternoon tea and always find them over generous. We went to a wedding not long ago where the ceremony was at 1pm and there was no food until 6pm, some guests actually went to Sainsbury's for sandwiches - I think we'd all have preferred a lovely afternoon tea.

I think it sounds delightful. Just make sure you know what quantity and kind of food the hotel will offer (particularly if they'll do enough savoury stuff), and make sure guests know it's afternoon tea, so if anyone thinks they need to they can fill up beforehand.

Sounds perfect.

Sounds lovely, especially for the number of people you are inviting. For some of them it may save the expense of a hotel for the night as well, which they may be secretly grateful for.

Sounds great! You can always talk to the afternoon tea venue and see if they’ll bring out extra sandwiches etc as lots of places do! I’d probably want more than 2 triangles of savoury things

Sounds wonderful! I had a small wedding too and we went for a meal in a lovely local restaurant, ceremony at 2 then food, chat, mingling, a few wines from 3-6pm ish then everyone headed off home for a relaxing evening of their choice!

No massive bill, no overnight stays needed, no dull over cooked chicken, no hanging around hours for photos ... everyone who came said it was the most relaxed, fun wedding and they really enjoyed it.

Do it! Just check the venue won't be stingy with refills and it will be lovely I'm sure.

As long as your clear thats fine. We went to one spoilt the day to be honest starving the bar didn't even have crisps and no where near to get anything. If we would of know we would of made sure we had something before 1/2 a sandwich and 2 fairy cakes since breakfast .Night time food was bacon butties and chips served at 8.30 never seen so many pissed people in the afternoon.

Sounds incredibly charming and lovely. I would consider adding a few savoury options for those that are not keen on sugar. Maybe a cheese platter afterwards. Beautiful idea with champagne, very civilised. You could add beautiful flowers and table settings and really enjoy decorating too.
Look at the Berkeley hotel in London for inspiration, the ambience there was fantastic and the seasonal floral displays (you could do yourself)

The perfect wedding for me (as a guest) sorry now.... is a short ceremony followed by afternoon tea, and then to be able to scarper off!

Personally I don't like all day/evening events. I'm usually either knackered or half pissed waiting for the formal "wedding meal".

So..... if you were not having an evening buffet (why?) and just having a small number of guests I think afternoon tea would be perfect. With plenty of refills and a decent harmony between savoury and sweet.

Then maybe a drink on the house or champagne or something, a little speech and bye bye!

Sounds lovely and much more relaxed than sitting down a big meal.

If you have people that can help you could hire a private room and buy M & S finger food, sandwiches etc etc and know that you're going to get great quality at a reasonable price.

That sounds lovely. I would be more than happy as a guest to have afternoon tea.