Would you expect some sort of wedding cake if you'd already had afternoon tea?

[NibbyNibs]

We're having an early afternoon ceremony followed by afternoon tea and then an evening pizza buffet. We're contemplating not having a wedding cake. We're not bothered about the pictures and our original plan was to maybe do desserts alongside the pizza. However, I don't know if that's too much in the way of desserts given the afternoon tea and we're also trying to trim down the budget. Would you expect some sort of cake in the evening of a wedding if you'd already had afternoon tea? I appreciate the evening guests won't have had afternoon tea but they will be getting pizza.

Expectations yes as it's tradition. I would also expect to see flowers, a photographer, music, toasts, first dances etc because that's what happens at traditional English weddings.

But I also wouldn't be fussed if you didn't do those things at a non-traditional wedding

I think your all day/evening guests will get hungry. Afternoon tea is lovely but actually not that filling so it will be a long day without a substantial meal. I would definitely over order on the pizzas and add in brownies or cupcakes.

Why don't you have a piece of simple iced fruitcake as part of the afternoon tea. You could also provide slices of the same at the buffet. It will be a nod to tradition and people won't notice.

I am old and very traditional. I never notice the wedding cake at a wedding. Many people don't particularly like it.

We served wedding cake as dessert- it was a chocolate cake and we also had some extra cupcakes made up as well. Could this be an option?

Oh really? Whenever I've had afternoon tea I've always felt absolutely stuffed and taking lots home. Happy to accept it's just me though and sounds like we'll have to provide something with the pizza.

Afternoon tea isn't really a proper meal, it's quite picky and depending what's served it might not be to everyone's tastes - a few finger sandwiches and a small pasty with a scone doesn't really replace the usual 3 course meal at most weddings. If it's a long day + alcohol is available it would be worth having something extra substantial in the evening to help soak it up for people.

I think most people would expect some sort of cake in the evenings like most weddings, although if it's not a traditional style wedding maybe not?

If you need to trim your budget, trim your guest list and feed them well…food or lack of it is something people WILL remember about your wedding!

i’ve felt stuffed after afternoon tea as well.

I would expect a wedding cake as well, maybe as the dessert after the pizza.

I’m going to go against the grain and say, based on the timing of your wedding and the afternoon tea, that a cake is unnecessary. I usually find afternoon tea very filling - yes, it’s usually a few sandwiches, a scone and some cakes. But that’s quite a lot! If the ceremony is at 2ish then I would guess afternoon tea is sometime between 3 and 4? So if that’s over by between 4 and 5, and the pizza buffet starts before 8 I can’t see the need for more cake. Maybe fruit after / alongside the pizza instead of more carbs, but that’s just me. I’m sure it’ll be amazing either way :)

My favourite wedding cake was cheese tiers with crackers and chutney. Super filling.

We didn’t have a traditional wedding cake we had a huge pile of profiteroles a bit like the image below
Mainly because we thought most people would prefer it.
It did have to be kept cold though. We had it with evening bread and cheese.

Pizza and profiteroles would be lovely

Your guests will be starving! Don’t forget people will be travelling/getting ready before you get married so will likely miss lunch.

One of the best meals I've ever at a wedding was an afternoon tea. Even my husband was stuffed and that takes doing. It all depends on the quality of the afternoon tea.

I wouldn't care about a specific 'wedding cake' ie a tiered, decorative expensive feature with a ceremonial cutting.
I'd feel a bit sad if there was no cake or dessert at all though!
Will the afternoon tea include cake/sweet things? If so then you are covered there, you just need something for the evening meal.
I'd get some big sheet cakes or tray bakes in different flavours if it was me.
Far more economical than a proper wedding cake and a more satisfactory dessert imo than a sliver of highly priced and iced wedding cake.

It really all depends on what you call an afternoon tea, portions and variety can be as varied as you make it.
You might mean a single ham sandwich and a sausage roll person, or you might be serving mountains of different sandwiches, baked goods, cakes etc. We don't have enough information to judge but I still think you need a dessert for the evening.

I’ve never finished an afternoon tea always have things left over so I’d be fine with that

We had afternoon tea and it was very filling. It depends on the afternoon tea but ours has a lot of sandwiches, 2 scones each and 7 cakey bits each.

Then a BBQ in the evening.

We did have a cake, 4 tiers of different flavours.

I wouldn't personally have thought of omitting the cake - I love cake (hence afternoon tea).

I guess you could always go for one of those cheese towers

Just a thought, if you are planning afternoon tea, that's lovely but then more bread in the form of pizza would be a real problem for many people who can eat some gluten but too much is an issue. The cake in the evening is neither here nor there. I'd definitely look at including non gluten items in the evening eg chicken pieces, wedges and salad (nothing particularly posh, but more filling)

I've never known anyone bother with the wedding cake

DD2 had this at her evening reception, so she and her groom could cut the "cake" and give brief speeches for the evening -only guests. They had home made fruit cake among the buffet dishes, too.

Surely it depends if people have the opportunity to have lunch before the wedding.

and it also depends on how generous the afternoon tea is
how many sandwiches per person, are scones included, what and how many delicate cakes etc.

if someone had had cereal at 8am then many people will be hungry by afternoon tea time

a lot of carbs i.e. sandwiches . scones ? cakes
then pizza
not a lot of protein nor veg / fruit

Have you thought about cupcakes on a tiered stand to look
like a cake for the evening plus the cheese version. This is your dessert for the buffet sorted.

Just make sure there is enough afternoon tea. A cousin had this we got 3 small sandwiches and a bun each. Everyone was absolutely hammered, there was sick and a crying best man

At my wedding everyone ate all the cake and I didn't get a single piece! Apparently it was delicious!

I've been to a wedding with an afternoon tea and although filling at the time, it's not sustainable for a whole day. By the evening, everyone was ransacking the pizzas and chip stand as they were clearly as hungry as we were!