A Friday evening wedding and food?

MyLo and I went to a wedding on a Friday that "started" at 6:30p, and did not eat before we got ther. The wedding didn't start until 7:45p and went on until 8:30p. We got to the reception at 9:00p and they served a very light menu. We ended up leaving the reception to go get something to eat.

I say serve a full meal.

Most weddings provide a meal, so I would expect that a meal would be served regardless of the time unless I was told otherwise. So I'd say have dinner, but if you decide against serving dinner then you should definitely make sure everyone is aware of it before hand. You don't want a bunch of hungry and cranky people on your hands (I get cranky when I"m hungry).

Since your budget will permit a full meal, I think it would be great to go ahead and serve one. Many people won't have time to eat before the ceremony, especially if they are coming straight from work or if they need to run home after work to change before your wedding. And I think it's quite common for people to eat around 7:30-8:00 -- especially on a Friday night.

We had a Friday evening wedding and we served picnic food, but, that's because it matched our theme. And even then, we made sure we had enough of that so that the guests wouldn't be hungry. I knew that some of them would be coming straight frpm work and and wouldn't have time to eat.

6pm ceremony on a Friday...I am having a sit down dinner. Most people will be coming directly from work and won't eat before hand.

Our wedding is on a friday as well. Our ceremony is at 5:30-5:50. We will have iced tea and lemonade served prior to the ceremony. Hors Doeuvres & cocktails from 6-7. Plated dinner service starting at 7. Cake, cookies and coffee bar at 8:45. I am not imagining people having dinner prior to coming to the ceremony. So they better come hungry for a delish dinner!

I can't imagine having a Friday evening wedding on that time table and not having a cocktail hour with horsies and dinner. If it's dinner time, than a meal should be served. If budget doesn't allow, let your guests know, so they can stop and grab something.