Do people expect food after dinner at wedding?

[Budka]

Ceremony is at 1:45 pm. We are serving very filling canapés and cocktails at 3:30pm and dinner at 5:30pm. There will be the actual cake, a homemade cake table, hydration station and a snack table. The wedding ends at midnight. The meal itself is A LOT, we are doing a sit down buffet (think Las Vegas buffet).

I've seen trends where a pizza/burger van turns up as guests are leaving.

Would you as a guest expect more food after dinner?

I personally wouldn’t. I do feel people get weird at weddings re good where they almost expect to be fed and watered on the hour, every hour. But in everyday life you would probably be happy with eating far less (I do appreciate dancing, drinking causes hunger).

But would you expect to be given more food after dinner and cake?

My sister thinks we should order a load of pizza to send people away with.

i dunno i find the idea a bit ott. We are serving a lot of food. People are not those bottomless pits! But I obviously wouldn’t want people to actually be hungry.

I’d be really hungry by 10pm if drinking and dancing and not eaten since 5:30. In fact I might want to leave by 11 to get cheesy chips rather than staying until the end. I’ve never been to a wedding where they had no evening food, it’s expected. I’m in my 30s in the uk. Also wedding buffets - 50% did not have enough food, the good ones overcater. I’ve been to some where the buffet was half gone by the time I have queued up and could barely eat anything.

If you’re doing a buffet rather than 3 course meal you definitely need evening food.

I can’t change any of the timings. It’s all locked in. I can add stuff like one of those posh food trucks coming. Our venue is really strict. It’s a massive pain.

They’re giving it a really stupid name so they can charge you more for it. If they told you it was two jars of water and some glasses, they’d have to knock a zero off the bill.

Yes you need more food later

It’s going to be samosas, falafel, fruit, cheeseboard, cheese twists that sort of thing

Wait, nearly four hours just for pictures? Or am I misunderstanding because that would be insane. It does seem like a very long time either way but I much prefer short and sweet weddings myself.

How far are your guests travelling? Are they likely to have had lunch?

I'd be starving by 10-11pm after a sit down meal at 5:30pm. I usually eat my main meal around 8-9pm and get hungry then even if I've eaten earlier in the day.

Even just some snacky finger foods and crisps/nuts around would help people keep going.

At my mums wedding she had mini cones of chips with a fish goujon in it passed around about 9pm to help soak up some alcohol and keep people dancing until midnight. At my cousins wedding they did evening bacon butties

i just mean they’re not your typical delicate blini, vol au vent thing. It’s a more substantial. Think chicken skewers, onion bhaji etc.

Hmm I think you should probably err on the side of caution and have some food around 10pm. 5:30 is a bit of an inbetween time for the main meal. I’ve either been to weddings were the main meal has been more like 2-4pm, ie a buffet is definitely needed in the evening…or the sit down meal has been more like 7pm (usually after a late afternoon ceremony) and therefore food beyond cake isn’t required.

I think you should put food on in the evening, especially if people are drinking and dancing. 5.30 is a very early dinner (in normal terms) and I guess people would also have had a very early lunch too, or no lunch at all.

Thinking of the weddings I've been too, there's always been food in the evening to see people though.

I'd do something carby and simple like pizza, samosas or topped fries etc.

Our timings were ceremony at 4pm, canapes etc while photos being done, then full sit down meal at 6.30pm. We did the cake at 9pm and by 10.15pm everyone who wasn't staying had left. With your timings I'd be looking for food at about 9 or 10pm again, especially if you've got evening entertainment.

I would too. Otherwise guests will be either pissed or bored rigid by the time they sit down to eat and no one will want to listen to speeches by that point. It could get messy. People generally like a gap after eating for them to mingle before the party bit starts.

Okay I think I will look into a burger van coming at 9 or so thanks.

Thing is, for your 1.45 ceremony most guest will have to have missed lunch to travel and be STARVING.

What are the canapés exactly?

My advice is to give guests a timetable beforehand so they know when to expect food. If they've missed lunch and worried dinner isn't until 7, they'll be eating their hands.

There’s a long time between your ceremony and dinner, and tbh it’s not typical of weddings I’ve been to to only be served once when the wedding is so early in the day.

My wedding ceremony was at the same time and we had canapés straight after the ceremony, then the wedding breakfast, then a barbecue in the evening. The barbecue was definitely needed.

Every wedding I’ve been to has had a drinks reception after the ceremony. I don’t really want to cut that tbh as there is a beautiful terrace with a gives we want to take advantage of

This length gap before food also means more potential for people to end up very tipsy!!

We had similar to you although our main meal was a bbq at 5.30pm. We then had them put out the leftovers and a bit extra, sandwiches, sausages rolls etc and it got absolutely inhaled! There wasn’t a single bit left so I’m glad we did get the extra as people were clearly hungry

Not the point but people will be hankering for the canapés...3.30 seems a bit late when people will have presumably been arriving from 1 and probably not had lunch? How long is the ceremony?

Since this is what's planned for the snack table, then providing you've ordered plenty I honestly wouldn't worry about providing more - especially as you're not having separate evening guests

Not sure what this "ordering food to send people away with" is about though?
I realise weddings can get crazy, but this sounds a bit much

What happens if it rains? My friend had a summer wedding in a venue with the most incredible terrace. Cue the worst wind and rain in about 4 years../

If you don’t have any guests that are only evening guests then I think eating at 5.30pm will most likely take at least an hour so people will still be eating at 6.30pm - 7pm. I don’t think there’s a need to serve anything else personally if there’s cake / cookies etc whilst dancing and socialising. The hardest part at a wedding is between the ceremony and wedding breakfast I think, you have to chase waiting staff around for a canapé and it’s all a bit cringe I think. If you think of the timing of your wedding ceremony 1.45pm? People will arrive by 1.30pm and most wedding guests put a lot of effort into hair / make up / outfits and would spend at least an hour getting ready, then the travelling to the venue. Basically, they will not have had lunch and will be famished by the time your canapés are served, if anything this is the time to make sure there’s lots of food. If cost is an issue would things like nuts / crisps etc be a good option? I know you can make anything look nice these days depending on how you display it. I need to know what the canapés are really to know if it’s sufficient in my opinion 😂 my BIL law got married last year and the canapés were tiny but did sound delicious and filling so I can see why they thought there would be enough but I genuinely had two kids moaning they were starving (I take full responsibility for not carrying a snack on my person) and had to accost the waiter to get enough food to keep them going until the wedding breakfast, I made sure I didn’t eat any myself to make up for the fact that my kids had a few. We were all really hungry but then the wedding breakfast was huge and delicious so worth the wait.

Every wedding I’ve been to has had a drinks reception after the ceremony. I don’t really want to cut that tbh as there is a beautiful terrace with a gives we want to take advantage of

I think it’s an adapted version of cocktail hour in the US and I agree it can be lovely for guests to mingle and relax. Don’t rely on canapés being enough to feed people though.