Critique my catering plan

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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.

I think the invite is fine the only thing I would make clear is that the whole affair ends at 6 not just the food. Iyswim.

Big question... is there actually tea/coffee available as well as cocktails? And perrhaps bottles of beer/cider?

Half an hour walk from church to reception for active people in normal shoes. Which is not realistic for guests at a wedding. A few people will cycle or walk I think but we will allocate older guests to people driving. I’m genuinely thinking about boats to do the trip for some of us, but not 150 - will probably just be the wedding party of ten or so.

this sounds great, just a couple of comments

for the 3-6pm part, will there be any form of schedule? speeches at 4pm or cake cuttings at 3:30pm or something? And it might be good to have some 'event' to finish the day off - old fashioned weddings would have 'departure of the happy couple in a fancy car' and everyone waves them off. Plan something to give the event a definite 'end' so people know when to leave and don't just hang around. And then write down the schedule on menu cards to put on the tables so that people know what to expect.

I agree some non sandwich savouries are a good idea, and that pizza doesn't really go with the pretty vintage afternoon tea look.

Quiches and pastries would be good I think.

Ooh! What about vol-au-vents!? Love a vol-au-vent!

Do you really want everyone to go by 5/6? Fine obviously if you do, but it's the sort of thing I think and then realise I've only managed to speak to half the people and everyone is still having a lovely time.

You could perhaps extend it a bit later, say 9pm, and have the lovely pizzas in the evening?

If your ceremony starts at 2, an hour fir all churchy things, at least 30mins for transport... you need to push your reception back.

Not pizza. You could have something else savoury, however like mini quiches or small wraps/samosas?
Tea and coffee is a good suggestion.
I think it sounds lovely. Just make sure there are plenty of tables so that people aren't balancing crockery awkwardly.

That’s a lot of walking - in potentially any sort of weather with any sort of level of fitness. Is it possible to put on transport? Are there buses?

I think you’ve painted a beautiful picture of what you want, and with the follow up info on timings, what your proposing works well. The wording of afternoon tea and cocktails 3-6 is spot on for the avoidance of confusion and to allow people to plan appropriately.

I do agree with pp that you need something more than just sandwiches, and pizzas would be ok, but they don’t really fit. Far better to have something like butternut squash and onion rolls (like a sausage roll but veggie), mini tartlets, quiches anything along those lines.

You need a big enough marquee/shelter for everyone to be able to take cover from either rain or blazing sunshine at that time of year. And enough for everyone to sit down. Nothing worse than being forced to stand and much as people might mingle and bit, more than likely they’ll retain a ‘base’ seat.

I cater events for such as this. 4 quaters per person will be ample- not keen on your choice of filling but thats up to you. too much cheese IMO.Fish of some sort? or are we talking vegan?

Rather than pizza,have quiche.

Crudites and dips= olives

Swap out some cake for a cheese board with crackers
fresh fruit platter

Dont forget to consider that at EVERY event, as well as GF, you almost always have a dairy intollerent, a nut free, and a vegan- do keep these very seperate from main food

I'd add some sushi. and small egg and bacon quiches and oninon tomato tarts..
Sandwiches are brilliant - you can have many varieties.
You have enough sweet items.
I would depend on the scones and the strawberries and cream and have fewer cakes plus the wedding cake.

I understand that it is finger food - a continual supply.

Ooh, on the gluten free, I would strongly suggest you have it on a seperate table, away from the other food (so people don't sweep along the whole lot and the leave the GF people with nothing) and have the caterers physically serve people their choices onto a clean plate rather than risk glutently fingers and utensils getting in across it all.

People will be very very drunk from my experience. Without a hot meal, people drink more and eat a lot less.

@Jessbow fish is not vegetarian!

In that case you need to be very clear in the invites that the event finishes at a certain time. I’m afraid it all sounds a little underwhelming to me.
I once went to a wedding in someone’s garden - admittedly it was a huge garden! The food was amazing - each table had a picnic basket that had huge loaves of bread, pots of butter, hand carved ham, a cheese board, a cooked chicken cut into portions, a seafood platter, jars of olives, chutney and pickles plus there were huge bowls of lots of different salads that people could help themselves from (these were sourced from a local deli and delivered on the morning of the wedding). For dessert there were bowls of mixed berries, cream, lots of home made cakes (all the guests who could bake were asked to provide a cake instead of a gift). The wedding cake was a simple 5 tier Victoria sponge decorated with flowers.
In the evening, we had huge vats of different curries, rice, sides and naan bread again provided for from the local curry house and delivered piping hot. It was the best catering I’ve ever had at a wedding.

As long as there is plenty of everything, it sounds perfect. Fantastic, too, to chuck everyone out at 6pm, because evening "dos" are usually pretty grim, and drag things out for far too long. I'm sure the guests can make their own arrangements for the evening, if they wish.

I think it's fine having an afternoon reception, I've been to quite a few, back in the day. Especially before people could afford the whole day+evening event.
The bride and groom would go to get changed, then we'd go outside to wave them off, usually decorating the vehicle in a humorous way! That was the signal for everyone to leave.
You could do that?

Are there any young children on the guest list? Pizza is good, but I might add some mini lunchboxes for the kids containing a simple sandwich (plain grated cheddar cheese), a packet of crisps and a fruit shoot drink together with a game or toy

@jessbow ooh thank you - what other veggie filings do you like? We will want some vegan options but pure veggie is fine

Ive just realised I haven’t added egg mayo which is one of dp and my favourite fillings! Maybe egg and cress too.

She's literally said she's providing transport for those who need it by allocating drivers. In the same post you've quoted.

And the walk will be fine for some. Again it just comes down to clarity. If the info with the invitation says that it's a nice 30 minute walk but if anyone needs a lift to let her know then that's all sorted.

That's what we did. Walking wasn't an option but when RSVPing I asked everyone to indicate if they were either in need of a lift or driving and had spaces and fitted the former to the latter. With ushers instructed to be last to leave the church with numbers of taxi firms and a wodge of cash to cover anyone left behind. Which there wasn't.

RTFT it’s vegetarian

I would maybe add in a savoury non-carb based option that is more substantial than crudites as some people struggle with too much bread. Perhaps a cheese board or some retro devilled eggs. But that said, so long as the invitation is clear that this is an afternoon tea so no one turns up starving anticipating a huge dinner I think you're fine

I woudn't bother with crudites and dips. They are annoying at buffet style things. I would consider mini quiches or vol au vents instead, or maybe crostini with blue cheese, pear and walnut, or cannelini beans, tapennade or whatever. I think egg sandwiches would be a good addition, or coronation chickpea, just so it is not too cheesey.
Pizza doesn't entirey fit, but who cares? Most people eat it, it is tasty, fits the fingerfood bill and sounds easy to arrange. The easier the better!

My two penneth purely on the food, I would drop the pizza and add additional savouries, perhaps cheese and onion rolls and mushroom vol au vents? I think it would be more in keeping with your theme.

i would also add a non-cake sweet option, perhaps little strawberry and cream pots or lemon mousse / syllabub in glasses.

The invite wording is really clear what food to expect, and in your information sheet you could perhaps include a couple of suggested places for brunch / breakfast beforehand.

I think your savoury suggestions are good. Vol-au-vents are definitely with the vibe.
Do the guests need information on breakfast or brunch, though? I would assume they're coming from home, or if staying in an hotel, have breakfast there?