Wedding Forum - Cocktail and Canapes HELP!...

We had drinks and canapés on arrival at the reception venue after the church ceremony at approx 3pm followed by the wedding breakfast at approximately 5pm. The drinks and canapés were just for people to pick at whilst standing around chatting and during the photos.

We're also having canapés which will be the starter and served with fruit cocktail drinks hopefully in the fountain area of my venue (or lower floors of castle if weather isn't great), there is no seating plan as this will be a mingling session for guests while photos are also being taken so everyone will mostly be standing or sitting in already provided chairs etc before being moved to the pavilion where WB will take place.

i love the idea of doing this, it can sometimes work out expensive though! so im not sure?

We had a drinks reception with canapés; it was between the ceremony and wedding breakfast (1.50-3.30) and was designed so we had time for a few photos, and also so that we could mingle with our guests and relax rather than rushing straight into a sit-down meal. We had the whole hotel so were able to have different 'sections': there was a room with seating and no music, and then one with no seating and the string trio playing. Seating definitely isn't a must for this sort of thing (you certainly don't need tables) though I'd provide some for any less able-bodied guests.

With regards to how it was served, the staff just kept circulating with the drinks and canapés and ensured everyone was offered them. We allowed 2 drinks pp which was enough, and we probably over-catered slightly on canapés (we had 5 choices and could probably have gone with 4).

In terms of cost, the canapés cost £7.50 pp (ie £1.50 per item) and one of the drinks was included in our £30pp drinks package (along with half a bottle of wine and a glass of champagne for the toast), with us paying an additional £7pp for the extra drink, which we didn't think was too bad.

hmm not sure now, we were thinking of scrapping the WEDDING BREAKFAST idea all together and just having the cocktails and canapés for the reception... but I like the idea of a wedding breakfast now!!!! oh decisions, decisions..... My venue that I chosen hasn't got a set price for the wedding breakfast (e.g. 30 pound a head) all the starters and mains and desserts are priced separately. I think il haver o speak directly to my venue. Thanks for the advice guys!

Sami: What are your timings? (ceremony etc) Becaue if you're having a later ceremony it might be wise to skip the wedding breakfast; ours took about 2 hours, and the drinks reception another hour, so even though we got married at 1pm, we hadn't finished eating until pushing 6pm, and our evening reception started at 7pm, so things were tight.

If you do decide not to have a wedding breakfast though, make sure you serve substantial food in the evening. I would probably have a 1.5 hour drinks reception with canapes after the ceremony, during which you can have photos taken, and then go straight into the evening reception and have a substantial buffet, or BBQ/hog roast.

If your ceremony is early though (2pm or earlier) I think a wedding breakfast would be best so that guests don't get hungry.