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Evening wedding reception

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Would be grateful for a few opinions. My DD is getting married next year and we are having a wedding breakfast for about 60 followed by an evening party which will probably have around 200 people (maybe more). We have a band and there will be a bar.

 

My question is, if you were invited to an evening party for a wedding (knowing that the wedding breakfast had already taken place) would you be expecting any food to be provided?

 

The wedding breakfast is a buffet so any leftovers will be taken to the evening do and I imagine that there will be wedding cake as I dont suppose we will eat it in the afternoon. Don't want to be inhospitable but providing even a decent sandwich for 2-300 people will cost a fortune. I could get a bulk load of crisps and snacks etc - would that be enough? We are paying for the entire wedding by the way (ex OH, DD's dad not putting his hand in his pocket, DD & BF have no money and BF parents have already paid for 2 daughters' weddings and have another daughter) so we are working to quite a strict budget

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When my brother-in-law got married last year they had a wedding cake that wasn't made from cake, it was three or four tiers of different cheeses. At the evening reception it was cut up and used in a buffet with other cheeses, cold meats, crackers, chutneys etc etc along with a few cold pasta salads, crisps and things. It was lovely, infact much better than the expensive wedding breakfast!

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Tough one. But it might be in your interest to provide something to soak up alcohol... And people might leave early if they are hungry, having expected a buffet of some sort.

 

The rule that the hotel had when we had our wedding, was only plan to cater for 75% of the number you are expecting for an evening buffet after the main breakfast. Not because some won't turn up (although that will always be the case) but that some won't eat. And I think we told a few white lies and catered only for 60% and that seemed fine.

 

Goodluck with the whole event! My mantra for our day was as long as there was a Bride (preferably me), a Groom (hopefully my OH - although had Brad Pitt come along....), a Vicar and a local Pub - everything else was an optional extra!

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Think we are all doing very well in not getting stressed (so far). Main things are done - dress is ordered, church, reception, caterers, cars, photographer, florist all booked. Determined to enjoy the whole thing rather than worrying about it but I do want to get it right (without getting ridiculously fixated on minor things like colours of tablecloths or any other minor detail that other families can almost come to blows over)

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Hi

 

I would defintely expect some snacky things, like the sound of the cheese wedding cake.What a good idea.

 

keep it simple, wouldnt do sandwiches just finger foods. Just go to the supermarket and buy a load of ready made nibbles that can be tipped out.

 

Good luck Donald

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I'd certainly expect a buffet.

 

Went to a really good wedding recently. There was a hog roast which went down very well. That was the only food provided as there was no separation between daytime and evening do's.

 

There was an entertainer provided for the children while waiting for the food and they had a bouncy castle etc. That was money extremely well spent as it meant, as a parent, I could relax and enjoy the day.

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Thanks for the input. Think I will go down the supermarket platter route for the evening. I do suffer from the "it's no good unless I've made it myself" syndrome, but as I am making the wedding cake I know that doing the food for the evening would put far too much pressure on me and I do want to enjoy the day and the run up to it. I will probably make a huge batch of decorated mini fairy cakes and then at least I can think I have made a contribution!

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Thanks for the input. Think I will go down the supermarket platter route for the evening. I do suffer from the "it's no good unless I've made it myself" syndrome, but as I am making the wedding cake I know that doing the food for the evening would put far too much pressure on me and I do want to enjoy the day and the run up to it. I will probably make a huge batch of decorated mini fairy cakes and then at least I can think I have made a contribution!

 

 

Sounds like a great compromise!

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Again, I think some food is essential - I was once invited to a wedding and evening do a long way from home, but not the afternoon meal and several of us had shelled out quite a lot for travel and pressies, were not dressed for McDonalds and certainly would have been pretty fed up (excuse the pun) if there had been absolutely nothing to eat in the evening. That said, basic snacks are absolutely fine,I can't remember if you said the time of year, but if it's likely to be cold, a few bowl of chips go down well with cheese , ham and french bread for people to sort themselves out. Please don't totally overlook vegetarians/those of other faiths if you go down the hog roast route. Hope this helps.

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My DD2 got married earlier this month, we had 75 to the day for which we had canapes, Hog Roast, Dessert which was all done by caterers. For the evening (120 guests) I provided a rustic buffet, cheeses (set out as a wedding cake) pates, cold meats, crackers, different rustic loaves (left whole for people to slice & butter themselves) pickles and chutneys. For desserts I ordered cupcakes, gateauxs and fruit pies from a family friend who was invited to the eveining anyway so she bought them along with her. It was a lovely buffet and everyone enjoyed it however.....

Logistics wise providing the buffet was abit of a nightmare and I certainly wouldn't do it again. I had to order fridges in from a catering company to keep the food in during the day, cart the food along to the reception venue the day before, hire/buy all different platters and cheese boards bread boards knifes etc. and get them to the venue. Then on the day after the main meal whilst everyone else was having fun and having a good ole natter me, my mum and my mum in law and my DD1 (maid of honour) all disappeared to sort out the buffett. On paper in the planning stages it all seemed like a good idea but on the day it was really just a bit too much. The day goes so quickly enough as it is and I regret spending so much time stuck in the kitchen.

My advice would be to get caterers in for as much as you can afford or if you want to do it yourself find a good friend who would be willing to bring it along in the evening and set it all out for you.

Above all enjoy the day, its such a special time and you need chance to take stock during the day and savour it. :D

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good point about having to do it on the day - can you nominate a couple of really good friends who would sort it out so you don't have to dash away from the reception?

 

CostCo, if you have one near you, do fabulous sandwich platters as well as sushi, snacks, cakes - almost everything you can think of. I'd definitely stick to cold finger food/nibbles so there's no need for forks, spoons etc. I love the idea of cupcakes - or mini-muffins, they wouldn't need icing?

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It is the logistics that worry me more than the food - we will have to set the evening party up before the wedding (wedding is at 1.30) and as there are no catering facilities at the town hall I would have to go home in between the reception and party to get all the food as I couldn't leave it out all day. Fairy cakes etc would be fine covered up - will have to talk to the caterers and get saving some more pennies as I want to enjoy the day.

 

Thanks for all the input; got it a bit clearer in my mind now

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if you can save more pennies to get caterers to do the evening food it will be money well spent. Not only will they sort out the food, but the crockery as well AND do all the clearing away!!!!!!!

 

You really do need to keep the stress levels down and enjoy the day - you could still make some cakes so there is some homemade.

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if you can save more pennies to get caterers to do the evening food it will be money well spent. Not only will they sort out the food, but the crockery as well AND do all the clearing away!!!!!!!

 

You really do need to keep the stress levels down and enjoy the day - you could still make some cakes so there is some homemade.

 

Couldn't agree more. When Hubby and I got married 2 years ago we had a small reception in the local pub. We had a lovely cold buffet and in the evening they did us a wonderful veggie curry with every veg in the world in it :!: and bacon rolls.

Some people had both :oops::oops::oops:

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Get the local chippy to deliver loads of fish and chips in cones. Mock up a bride and groom headline to make newspaper style cone and whack 'em in. The guests will think it's really quaint and if you do a bulk order the chippy'll do you a discount! We had chip butties at our evening do and its all people talked about afterwards!! x

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