Please help me create a wedding snack table

[Plack]

I have decided I want to create a snack table for our evening reception. Which will get put out a 2/3 hours after dinner. We asked our caterer if they could do a late night snack, they said they could unit it would cost £1500 for burgers and chips as they would have to hang around.

So we are having no evening only guests. Everyone will have had dinner

Dinner is going to be a VERY luxurious buffet. We did a food tasting and people said it was incredibly filling. But I still want people to have something to eat after drinking (free bar). So I’ve decided on a snack table.

The food has to be non-refrigerated. And it can’t be anything homemade as the caterer is liable. So sealed packets. My thoughts:

cheese straws
olives
pretzels
m and ms
Selection of crisps
Nuts
Bombay mix
breads (hard cheese doesn’t need to be kept cool does it?)
fruit
doughnuts
cupcakes
crudite with dips that don’t need refrigeration

Our wedding cake will be shared as well

(I’m half Indian so ideally would love to touch on that slightly ie with poppadoms maybe but I don’t want it to be JUST Indian food)

thanks!

Cheeses are best at room temperature.

Pakora, bhajees, samosas…

I think that all sounds fine. Nobody really cares what they’re eating after they’ve had a few drinks in the evening and a big dinner, they just want some bits to pick at and will be grateful they’re there, so I wouldn’t go overboard with anything too fancy. Just try and make sure things are separated for e.g. allergies: tipsy people aren’t necessarily the best at keeping crumbs out of the dips or using the right knife to cut something.

A wedding i was at set out the makings of crisp sandwiches at 11pm. It was inspired.

Do these not need to be kept refrigerated? Im opting for food you can buy on the non chilled food aisles in a supermarket

Also dumb question. Say I have 70 people coming. Do I buy 70 doughnuts? Ie one for everyone?

Really like that!

We had fruit cake and lots and lots of cheese crackers grapes and celery

I'd just get a fuck load of pizzas delivered from a half-decent local takeaway.
70 people will need 35 pizzas. At £10 a pop, that's £350.

The venue and caterer are weird about this. I think because of liability. No one wants to get blamed. We’ve chosen a famous location and they are a bit overly dictatorial.

It would be my preferred option. As it keeps it simple but don’t think it’s possible.

Not if they are vegetarian. They’ll be fine.

Blamed for what?

I think your suggestions sound very dry and unappetising. You will definitely need stuff that requires refrigeratorating.

It depends how much else you are serving!

Honestly just do crisps pretzels etc like you are doing maybe some Indian sweets ?

Yeah it’s a public liability thing but I would ask the venue & caterers if they would be willing if the pizza place was able to provide their insurance details/food hygiene certs etc. When I worked in a venue as long as we had copies of all the certificates we were pretty relaxed about it - I’m obviously not saying that applies everywhere but worth a punt.

Id just do a massive cheeseboard, cheese, crackers, baguettes, chutneys and grapes

We did this!

I bought lantern vases from Ikea and filled them with various popcorn flavours, pretzels (we had regular, white choc and milk choc) smaller versions with M&Ms, gummy sweets, cookies, a basket with packets of crisps, party rings, marshmallows, cheesy crackers( the mini shaped ones) Bombay mix, we also have little sweet pastries which are native to my home country. we provided little paper bags for people to fill and they could then walk about eating without balancing pates.

M&S cheese straws.
If you are going to have bread then leave it uncut and do the hotel thing of having a napkin so people can cut and it won't have dried up.
Alternatively would the caterers let you get somewhere local deliver some food?

Agreeing that crisp sandwiches were the best evening reception food I ever got
Especially after having a gorgeous dinner. But the drinks and dancing made us all peckish....not hungry, just an alcohol infused want.

Those and some sweets and chocolate

Like a great school tuckshop

What’s in your dinner buffet? I’d probably keep the evening food simple and do a big cheese board with fruit, crackers and chutneys

Well we just can’t serve anything that requires refrigeration unfortunately. The caterer was explicit with that. I don’t want to screw anyone around

I’m liking the idea of this, but would crisps sarnies work with no butter?

sounds great, pls may I ask how much you spent roughly?

im doing the maths and tbh its starting to add up

I think it sounds absolutely fine if it's just as a snack to soak up some alcohol!

The way it was done at the wedding i was at, 2 slices of bread, a pat of butter and a packet of crisps were all packaged together in a colourful lunch bag (like an american brown lunch bag but in bright colours) and then had a sticker with the bride and grooms face on them which was a fun touch.

It was in Northern Ireland so of course they were all Tayto cheese and onion crisps. But you could write the flavour of crisps on the bag if you had a variety.

The butter was fine. I leave butter out on my counter in a butter dish for a week or more until its used up and it never goes rancid.

I suppose you could ask if the sandwich packs could be kept in the fridge until the catering company leave. Or keep them in a cool box?