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.

You normally get far too much food at weddings! Your plan sounds perfect, I really like the idea of the cocktails and canapés then not having dinner until a bit later. That time to mill around and socialise after the ceremony is the best time I think. With the snack table and the cakes that will be plenty of food. What time will the snack table come out, at dinner time or later? I’d suggest later, to have gaps between when all the food is available.

An evening buffet is an absolute must. Spoken as someone who works in a wedding venue, those not drinking will be hungry, and those who have overdone it will appreciate lining their stomachs before the end of the evening.

Only one question - it sounds fabulous, can I come 😉!

It's funny because on a thread a few months ago about a birthday party the OP was hammered by posters for not wanting to provide food at a party which was 8-12, and here you are being told it's fine not to feed people!

Personally I think people will fill up on your canapes because they will have had to eat brunch rather than lunch to get to the ceremony, then they won't eat so much at dinner. And dinner is VERY early at 5.30 so people will definitely be hungry again after drinking all afternoon and evening.

However your snack table sounds more like a buffet so that should be ok. Just make sure it's catering enough food.

As an aside, sitting on picnic blankets with only "lawn games" for entertainment sounds utterly shit and I would be bored senseless. I would definitely try to make that bit shorter.

Your wedding sounds lovely btw, I would probably have the burger van a bit later, maybe arrive 10.30 and serving until 11.30.

Yes, I’d do something extra as people get hungry when they’ve been drinking alcohol. I think your timings are all off though if I’m being honest and I think your guests might get a bit bored with such a large gap. Your after ceremony canapés and drinks would normally be served straight away and then seated for the wedding breakfast around 4pm. Yes, you’ll be busy having photographs but after the guests have been in a few group shots, there’s not really much else for them to do. I’d reconsider if you can.

So it's not canapés it's snacks you are serving, so that will keep people going while hanging around for so long while the pictures are taken.

Buffet table should keep people going in the evening as long as it doesn't run short and you will be amazed at how much people can eat at an event like this, hope all goes well for you and you have a great time!

I'd skip the canapés as too close to dinner, bring dinner earlier and have canapés mid evening

I don’t know why you have asked as you seem very dismissive of the comments suggesting that evening food is a common part of a wedding reception.

Its your wedding so do you but I know if the guests at my wedding had the choice of a table of samosas and cheese or a table of burgers/pizza/rolls and bacon, well let’s just say there would be a lot of samosas left over

Dinner is at 5.30 and it finishes at 12? You need to provide some food around 9-10pm, or people will leave early to get something to eat. A wedding isn't a normal day, it's draining and people get hungry. And wedding food is never as plentiful or filling as the bride thinks it will be.

I hope there are some chairs for those less able to sit on the ground....

And the problem with both canapés and buffets is that the greedy types grab most the food, too often I've been to "posh" wedding buffets and there is insufficient food, as in half the amount needed, only the people who jump up as soon as the buffet line opens get much, with canapés only those close to the server entry point get food.

There’s also a word class attraction to explore that people pay money to visit. It’s an adult only wedding with free booze and food. And then a disco. Not a theme park.

Jeez.

I think when people are drinking and dancing all evening they do tend to get peckish. I don’t think it needs to be a full buffet but perhaps some sausage rolls, crisps, cheese and crackers etc.

Not really. I have conceded and said I will look into food in the form of pizzas/burgers/bacon baps coming out at around 10pm.

my wedding timeline was similar to yours. I also provided a drinks reception. food was served at half 10 band too a break and we served fish chips and mini burgers it was all eaten. people always remember when not enough find is served. you need it for soakage. band started at 10 to 11 again and went on till 2am. provide as much food as you can

Can I come?
It really does sound lovely, and including a timeline with the invitations was an excellent idea - if more did this it could solve a lot of issues

As said, with no separate evening guests, plentiful food including a generous snack table and folk who know when the food's coming I'd honestly not bother with any more. You'll never please some whose jaws apparently have to be moving all the time, but surely a point comes where you've done enough

We had bacon butties at 10pm for all which went down a treat.

Well I'm sure your guests will be impressed, and probably a lot less drunk later! Having a decent bit of protein early on is what stops you getting so drunk, apparently!

Even so, that wedding still had a bit of a buffet on later in the evening. Hotdogs and sliders, etc.

What's on your snack bar btw?

I think it will be nice for guests to have a bite to eat with champagne/cocktails/mocktails on a sunny terrace with a pretty view after a church ceremony. And that time allows people to play lawn games if they want or have a wander around the world class attraction where the wedding is being held. Or sit in the corner and be miserable starving to death

The wedding breakfast feels late - our ceremony was 1pm, canapés served straight after at the drinks reception from around 2pm - 3:45pm, while we got pictures taken. Then speeches 4pm ish and wedding breakfast served 4:30pm-6:30pm. We then had coffees and chocolates during ‘chill time’ and cake cut at 7:30pm, straight into first dance. Evening food (hot sandwiches and sides) and wedding cake served around 9:30pm.

At the moment your meal seems a bit late to allow for evening food at a reasonable time, which means people will probably get hungry at 10:30/11:00pm?

Friend had a late wedding with dinner at around 6pm and she had cake and cheese boards at 10pm ish.

Chessboard- that’s an original move! Will that last all knight?

of course they did, they are the onews making money!

Yes, both my grandpas will need one

At DD’s we provided a ‘cheesecake’, i.e. tiers of round cheeses, with grapes, etc., baguettes, butter and chutney, in the evening.