Critique my catering plan

[PermanentTemporary]

Give me your most viperish take - I’ve got 18 months to sort this.

Plan: early June. 2pm ceremony, 2.45/3pm reception. Gorgeous huge local garden, marquee/stretch tent for cover as needed. Seats and occasional tables scattered about. Circulating staff facilitating the food. Vintage china (hired). Buffet food tables/tablecloths.

Fizz on arrival (cremant de Loire) or sparkling elderflower. Jugs of water available.

Cocktail bar making jugs of 4 different cocktails for the staff to circulate- likely Pimm’s, a gin cocktail and 2 nonalcoholic ones.

Vegetarian sandwiches from local sandwich place: cheddar and chutney, Brie and grape, roasted veg &hummus, cucumber.

Crudites and 2 dips, probably tsatziki and hummus again.

Cake: 2 mini scones per guest with clotted cream and jam (300 scones). Choice of rich chocolate cake, lemon drizzle, Victoria sponge with strawberries and cream. Additional gluten free and vegan option depending on numbers needing this.

Wedding cake bought from local
cake maker: fruit cake layer, gluten free layer, vegan layer.

Also plain strawberries with/without cream on offer (the venue is a farm that does pick your own strawberries).

Big question: is it crazy to think I could make the scones and basic cakes myself and freeze them over the months, and hire someone to defrost them over the previous 24 hours, ice them and manage them on the day? Money isn’t necessarily the issue so much as preferring my own baking. 300 mini scones, 10 each of the large cakes above.

@PermanentTemporary definitely think of having sufficient shelter for everyone.

I suspect a third party will be unwilling to ice cakes someone else has made for fear of food poisoning type issues and who’d get blamed.

There seem to be several overeaters on this thread who can't survive without a meat and two veg meal.

@ChicaWowWow if you think that two rounds of sandwiches per person, plus dips and crudites, plus pizza, plus scones with jam and cream, plus cake is not enough food then you have a problem. It is loads of food.

I don’t think there is enough savoury food.
If I was attending a wedding at 2pm I would not have time to eat lunch. Most people will be getting ready from 12, unless you expect them to turn up in jeans and a t-shirt.
If you want honest opinions I would not drink any of the drinks as I don’t like Pimm’s or gin. However, I’d be happy to buy my own drinks if that is an option. Otherwise I’d be on soft drinks but again, if I’m having pop then I want it to be calorie free and not laden with sugar.
If you are having a professional photographer then realistically nobody will be eating until 3pm so keep that in mind.
Absolutely fine to have a 2pm wedding but offer more food.
As for baking the scones yourself, if you can manage it then that sounds fine.
Make sure there is plenty of seating and toilets. Undercover to avoid the weather and in the open air so people can soak up the sun ( hopefully.)
Congratulations on your wedding by the way.

No separate photo session, we will ask dp’s son to take a couple of shots outside the church and then ask everyone to take pics as able during the reception but I am quite bossy about photos as I loathe hanging about. We might offer boats up the river from the church to the farm. Hmm, now imagining doing the fizz on the boats…

The food is absolutely perfect for a 4 hour long party. Everybody can then go home and eat their dinner or go to a local pub and get some food. Pizza is a good idea if it’s going to be served hot. If it’ll be cold, I’d sack that off and just have cold cheese and onion pastry rolls.

We had our reception 4pm till 10:30pm with a three course meal served straight away and no evening food due to it being late in the day - several people complained in the run up that there would be no evening food offering like at ‘traditional weddings’. I couldn’t get my head round people wanting an evening buffet after finishing a three course meal only a few hours earlier so I panic-bought a load of cheese and accompaniments. When I say literally five people out of sixty guests actually ate some of it, I mean literally five! Don’t over cater for the sake of it, just because people hear the word ‘wedding’ and expect some abundance. If you invited people for a birthday afternoon tea 2pm - 6pm they would be perfectly happy with your offering - people just hear ‘wedding’ and go mental!

Your wedding plans sound lovely OP. I agree to focus on the shelter and the seating.

This
Also is it just a local party? I wouldn't expect anyone to travel. I mean you don't have to finish too late if you don't want but at 6 the party should start, run to 9 or 10.

I don't see the point of rolling out the big garden party and tent for the odd drink, minuscule amount of food and then everyone bugger off home.

I would at least cater a buffet. Pizza is a good call

I feel that the "not enough savoury" food posters haven't read the OP's updates.

@PermanentTemporary will there be tea and coffee?

So the plan is wedding. Afternoon tea while mingling with music, then everyone bugger off home by dinner time? Sounds amazing, it's the first wedding I've heard of that I wouldn't mind going to 🤣
And I love the range of non alcoholic drinks you are offering, sounds awesome.

I would say make it clear in the invitations somehow that is the plan so noone is expecting an evening meal/party.

Menu wise I think you are heavy on cake and light on savoury variety.
If you are leaving in to the afternoon tea theme then what about adding things like mini quiches, sausage rolls? Both can be veggie of course.
But if the venue does pizza then adding that would be simple.

I don't think anyone professional would ice and serve cakes they hadn't made.

Are you or any of your immediate family gluten free? If not I would make sure there is a GF option in the regular cakes and not have a GF layer. If anyone is truly celiac they won't eat it if it's been touching the other layers, and GF cake is generally disappointing so no one who doesn't have to will eat any and you'll be stuck with it leftover.

It sounds nice for a casual afternoon only gathering. I agree with others that it’s not enough food, but I don’t think pizzas go with sandwiches and a cream tea. I’d do things like mini quiches and amuse bouche.

Also agree you need to make the timings/style clear on the invitations.

Yes make it clear that it is an afternoon tea.
I also agree about the GF issue.
Keep it separate from the non GF.

The food sound lovely. However if you guys are partying into the evening, you’ll need some more substantial later.
also personally I hate sparkling elderflower. Would lemonade not be more universal? .

Absolutely yes to tea and coffee @RampantIvy but it’s interesting that I hadn’t mentioned that - logistically quite tricky so it’s important I think about that.

Hmm yes I get that this is still a bit ‘fur coat and no knickers’ re food/ presentation balance.

To be fair afternoon teas are always cake heavy, which is what your meal plan is. So if you are sticking to your choices just make guests aware.
Do many people eat fruit cake? I don’t. I also wouldn’t touch the GF cake. Most people tend to go for a sponge cake rather than fruit cake.
GF isn’t appealing to people who don’t have to eat it either.

Oh good, that was going to be my next point, given the age bracket it sounds like your guests are going for then I'd definitely want tea and coffee with my cake 🤣
Are you planning on cutting and serving the wedding cake? As well as the regular cake options and the scones?
I have a massive sweet tooth, but personally If I had enjoyed a variety of savoury options and scones with jam and cream even I would struggle to get through proper cake as well, especially in the 3 hour window given. I mean, I would DO it, would hate to offend 🤣, but most definitely wouldn't be getting through multiple cake options imo.

Sounds lovely. I agree about having the gluten free separate. I am celiac so need to be quite careful eating foods that have touched foods with gluten.

The sandwiches are all “wet”. Chutney, brie, hummus 🤢. Dips are obviously wet. Clotted cream, no.

@openthewindoweveryday the thing is most people expect at least one meal when going to a wedding. So most people wouldn’t eat lunch beforehand, and if you are travelling a distance to the wedding for 2pm start you won’t have time to have lunch. And if you are staying in hotel or popping into cafe beforehand to have lunch, you will be clocking watching to ensure you can get to the venue and dressed in your finery before the start.

OP is now offering a better split of savoury/sweet.

The similar wedding I went to only offered sweet, and much as I love cake there is only so much you can eat for lunch, with nothing else on offer.

Ooh good spot Fends. I like all my food wet but lots of people don’t.

I agree that for me I would like more savory options because I personally am not a big sweet eater so I would probably only have 1 out of all your sweet options, rather than multiple. I also don't think pizza goes with the afternoon tea vibe. I think someone else above mentioned quiches and the like, which I agree is probably a better option for people who won't want scones plus cakes plus strawberries and cream, etc.

Vegetarian sausage rolls, could they be an option, maybe as a replacement for a round of sandwiches?

Scones stale notoriously quickly and if you freeze them then you'd ideally need to rebake/heat before serving in order for them to resemble freshly made scones.
Edited for a series of typos

I would add some more savoury food into the mix.

Yes the quiche and sausage rolls would increase the options for dry feeders as well so might be a great option. Pizza was mainly because the venue cook it fresh on the premises - it’s great pizza but tbh no harm in having all of them.

I think this sounds absolutely lovely and people were only confused as the timings weren’t in your OP. I would definitely have lunch before a 2pm wedding with an afternoon tea. It’s all about being clear on the invitation.

One of the best weddings I have been too was when we were all young, in their backyard, and we were asked to bring a plate instead of a present, best meal ever.