Afternoon tea/heavy hors d'oeuvres/dessert Reception

If the reception isn’t ending until that late you should have dinner. Can you have it earlier in the day? I would end the reception by 4pm at the latest.

You need heavier hors d'oeuvres. As a guest, I wouldn't be satisfied with what you have listed. Too much sugary food and not enough filling food. You'll have guests at your reception over a meal time so whatever you serve, meal or appetizers, needs to be filling and satisfying.

If that's your menu, you should start earlier to end by 5. True heavy apps are things like stations, sliders, etc, things that are enough to be dinner. That kind of snack menu is more suited for between meals.

We're having a Mad Tea Party for our reception with a similar sort of menu (much larger sweet assortment since we're doing mini desserts though). We've also got 14 different kinds of tea sandwiches from a caterer and they're awesomely delicious!

I agree with starting early-ish but I don't think you need to end as early as five. With that much snacking going on, people aren't going to be hungry for dinner right afterwards. Definitely don't go through the dinner hour though.

It sounds very similar to what we are having for or wedding, so I can say in full certainty that I would attend such a wedding 🙂 No need for a ridiculous amount of money spent for just one day! As long as you word properly what type of wedding and food will be there, people WILL plan accordingly. You have options, it’s not like you aren’t providing anything. And most of the time with sit down dinners , so much food gets wasted and that obviously means so much money gets wasted. Weddings have definitely taken a different approach over the last few years, so I think it would be fine. I think it would be much different if you didn’t have ANY sort of food. People like food. Good luck!!

Agree with others if that is all you are serving you cannot have it through dinner time.

With that being said. I do agree on the heavier foods to keep them filled through the dinner hours bit I still think it’s fine having the “snacks” foods. I recently went to an event that was similar to a wedding style that had just appetizers like that . Everyone was so full and couldn’t think of eating anything after that.

Could you have more meatier food options - cheese and crackers are not going to do it. The "norm" to follow is to offer a meal or at least more substantial food selections. Have you thought of cutting your guest list so you can provide more food? You are right in that you should not go into debt for wedding. No one on WW will advocate for that (I hope!)

Can you reduce the number of desserts and use that money to increase the number of non-desserts? Scones, coffee cakes, macaroons, muffins, etc. are all generally sugary, and a bit redundant when you already have desserts including donuts. Would eliminating the scones, coffee cakes, macaroons, and muffins give you enough money to add some additional savory items? Mexican and Italian food often can be ordered in a large quantity for a reasonable price. Someone posted here recently about catering from Noodles and Co as one example of a place that has savory food and I think is fairly affordable. You could do pasta (some w/meat and some w/vegetables), pizza, Chipotle or Qdoba bar, or something along those lines for some idea that are on the less pricey side. I would try to think about what savory types of food can be obtained at an affordable price in your area to replace some of the sweet foods.

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Thank you! Love that it's similar! Anything you would add to our menu??

Sounds like our day as well. We are having About 20 guests and our ceremony starts at 3. Our reception official starts at 4 and we are going to about 6. No dinner served and I would even love to end it a 5 but I have to give everyone time to get back to our house for refreshments and take pictures. All my family is local and they understand our budget. Honestly if I were traveling I would want dinner. This really the least you could do. You don't have to break the bank but you could put something together so your guests are fed properly. Even though your menu sounds lovely I would only attend something like that if it started at 1 and ended by 5

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"Norm" as in within our social circle. Traditions are different around the world. In fact, people didn't serve full meals at weddings in the United States until recent decades when the wedding industry took over. We want to do something different than what people do today. But thanks!

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Would you attend the wedding of a close friend out of town if you knew there would be plenty of food but not a traditional 3 course dinner but ended no later than 7pm?

I wouldn't call the savory foods heavy hors d'oeuvres, they're more like "light refreshments" which would be fine for the afternoon. But since you're bleeding into the evening, I would offer some heavier foods as PPs suggested. I am all for appetizers, but I think you'll need something warm and filling if you go past 5 or 6pm. If you don't want to go with a full scale caterer, you might find a local restaurant that can drop off some additional small bites. 60 guests is not small and food costs do add up.

Depending on your menu and timeline, you could put "light refreshments to follow" for the menu you have; if it's more evening with some heavier foods, you could say "reception to follow" I think if there's enough food for a meal, people don't need much of a head's up.

View Quoted Comment I guess off the type of my head I think of more “meatier” options. Maybe like seasoned meatballs, or kabobs, bacon wrapped things,etc. Stuff like that that typically fills you up more and has more substance. But, that’s also just me. I like that one of your options is subs. I love subs and all that breads fills ya up!

Think of it this way. You say you’ve got oot guests that are only a few hours away so odds are they’re driving home same night. You’re feeding them snacks and then not ending the night until 7-8. Now they’ve got a few hour drive home with no real meal since they ate at lunch

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Most of them will stay overnight. The idea is that people will have a heavier meal before or after because we'll indicate that there will not be a full meal. Thanks!

I had some advice typed out, starting out with saying how disappointed I would be as a guest with such a setup, but I deleted it because it doesn't seem you're interested. Your original post asks for advice and opinions, but anything short of "great job, let me add to it" and you refute it. So I guess have fun and best wishes?

I think with that menu you need to end earlier or serve an actual meal.

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Trying to clarify to people who didn't seem to understand what I was saying. Sorry if that bothers you! Thanks!