We are having a late ceremony (3pm) and will be serving the wedding breakfast at around 5.30. I was wondering if it would be okay to just skip the evening buffet as our budget is no way going to stretch that far. I went to a wedding last year where they did that and nobody complained, and I didn't get hungry to be honest.
Why do you ladies think? Would it be rude?

i would think it was rude to be honest. i went to a wedding last year where we sat down at 4 and then they had a disco and no buffet and people did moan. we left at 10 as we were so hungry and wantedto get food! xx

how about bacon butties and chips or similar?

we are doing the same and serving the cake a bit later on for people to eat if they get hungry. i dont think it is rude, you are giving them an evening meal, if they are that greedy they need more then they can buy some crisps from the bar lol

we are also having a late ceremony and sitting down about 6.00/6.30. Evening guests arriving at 8pm so they can eat before coming out and i agree with totallylovedup i can't imagine anyone being hungry after a 3 course meal finishing at 7.30/8pm.

We are laying out the wedding cake and tea/coffee - about 9.30/10 so people can have a nibble. We also couldnt stretch the extra ridiculous amount it was going to cost us (especially as we were told by caters that the majority is wasted)

i agree...if you arent going to have an evening buffet tell people. the wedding i went to didnt tell us. wouldnt habe minded otherwise as would have eaten lunch at home xx

We had a 4pm ceremony, sit down at 6.30, evening guests at 8.30 - at 10.30 we had bacon/sausage sandwiches and they disappeared so quickly I didn't get a chance to have one! xx

we are also having a late wedding breakfast and unsure of what to serve at the min, doesnt help that i ant got caterers sorted as cant book venue till next year :(

just tell them you wont be providing an evening buffet as the meal is going to be served late. i am sure people wont mind hu honestly. if you tell the evening guests they cn eat before they come. and i repeat whats already been said, a wedding isnt about a free feed, it is about witnessing the joining of two people in love. x

I'm slightly against people not serving food during the evening, no matter how big or small it is I really think there should be something for guest's to eat, especially if you have people travelling. I would think it rude to turn up after being in the car for a while and not have anything to nibble on.
I know budget's don't always allow for it but you don't have to have anything grand. I'm having bacon rolls with potato wedges and dips and its £4.50 a head but there is an even cheaper option. I think you should speak to your venue and see what they can do for you OR maybe do a homemade sweetie buffet and let people fill up on E numbers :-P
I hope I don't seem rude or stuck up saying this but some people do have high expectations when it comes to weddings and I think you'd have a few whingers if they turned up and had an empty stomach all night.
Plus your wedding isn't actually that late, it's still quite a while for people to go with drink inside them! x

Our venue doesn't do food or anything. We are doing it all ourselves (with help from family and friends) so that's why I would rather not have all this to do as well. But yeah I can see the point of people wanting something after a long drive.
x

do people really want to be eating at 10pm????? im not saying dont do anything at all if they are travelling thats a different kettle of fish but it just seems late and a lot of people start clearing offabout 11 anyway lol im not being a cheap skate but i honestly think people care (guests) more about the flamin food than the fact that they are celebrating a wedding (call me victor meldrew if you like, i know how much of a moany cheapskate i sound lol)

That sound's perfect mellie, if you're going to do a buffet "drunken" food will go down a treat. It's something to keep them going and not wobble off home or to the hotel room wishing they had change on them for a kebab! lol. But you don't have to do it. I'm just a stickler for stuff like that! x

Just remember though, if it's too much hassle and it will get in the way of more important things, it's not 100% needed. It's one of those things that just pleases guest's and I'm doing it because I know how myself and other people have been at weddings without evening buffets but people can go to the bar and get a packet of peanuts. Don't do it if it'll be putting yourself out! x

I think with me I dont want anyone who is coming to the wedding to feel like they are on the B list. They are coming to celebrate us getting married and I want to feed them and make sure they have a good time. I am only having a small amount of people to my daytime as I couldnt afford loads and having loads to the evening.
The wraps sound like a good idea and maybe some nuts and crisps.
Im not trying to be rude or force my opinion on you by the way its just the way I feel

xxx

i just wanna point out that we went to a wedding in april... and had a 3 course meal and everyone was still starving as the main was pretty much just meat and one potato... if it hadnt been for bacon butties in the eve wed all have been wasted!! IT WAS A FREE BAR!!

so i defo think a wee bit of food in the eve is necessary...better to over cater than have people remember your wedding for being starving!! xx

went to a wedding reception in march and they had fish and chips in a cone and then half a burger. some people had one and some people had three servings of it! wasnt handed out equally or fairly so thought that was bit disappointing.
have what u can afford hun, let people know that there wont be food after the wedding breakfast so they know in advance xxx

I went to a wedding back in Feb and the reception was at a pub.. It was a finger buffet but no food that I liked so I didn't eat anything (I was 3 months pregnant and the last thing I ate was at 11)..

Then we went back to their house and no food was provided and tbh no one moaned not even me cause they invited me as their guests..

I'm considering not putting anything out for the evening as our budget don't stretch that far and with bacon rolls being £6.50 per head I ain't paying that amount!! I may be stingy and cheepskate but their coming to celebrate mine and h2b''s love for each other not to get a free meal xx

and mean as it sounds, yes people are coming to celebrate your union and love for each other etc etc but lets be fair, the evening guests didn't actually get to see that bit so i think if i was an evening guest I'd be a bit miffed if there was no food! lol.

One weddign I went to had a popcorn stand in place of the evening buffet- still filled the same hole!

Alcohol makes a a lot o people hungry, and a few carbs staves o drunken behaviour.

We won't be leaving our hog roast until too late. Our wedding is on a Friday so many evening guests will be coming after a day at work and will only have had time to nip home to shower and change - I don't want them all starving!

I personally think an evening buffet is necessary - people are drinking, they've either been at work and or travelled to be with you and it doesn't have to cost the earth. Our hog roast works out cheaper per head than most of our venue's buffet options and not much more than we are paying for our canapes!

That said, you need to do what your budget will allow, and if you need to skip it, that's okay too - BUT you will need to let people know in advance so they know to eat beforehand. I think many guests believe a buffet to be a given, because the evening reception usually starts around the time you would sit down to dinner if you were at home.

As you have the opportunity to do things yourself, although I can see it's a pain, you can do things like sausage rolls which can be cooked the day before and stored in tins or tubs which you can just take the lid off and put out on the table. Crisps and nuts and other such nibbles need not be expensive. Your guests probably won't remember what you fed them, but some might moan if you don't. You shouldn't feel you have to do something you can't afford - I just know how people can be, and I wouldn't want you to be upset if you heard one of your guests complaining. xx

i think for me it is because we wont be having many evening guests plus our budget wont allow. we may out n a few nibbles, but we will be having the cake served later too. i dont think you need a buffet to make it a celebration, but ultimately it is how you feel about it, what you can afford and what you want to do! xx

Same TotallyLovedUp.. We won't be having that many evening guests either.. But we have to discuss with H2b''s parents as their the ones paying for it..

i'm cutting out the sit down meal and opting for a buffet server arount 6:30. then cake and hot drinks at 9. with the ceremony at 3 I have told all the guest to make sure they have a lunch first as we're only havin a buffet if they get hungry there is a takeaway across the road i'm sure they can spare £5 to get something to eat....... the day is about our union and commitment to each other not about the amount of food we have provided