would you eat lunch before

pineapplesmoothie

Hi everyone.

I am trying to figure out how much food to provide for my casual wedding.  I have been thinking about it as "non-meal time", but maybe that's not right.  We are getting married at 1:00pm and then the reception is at the same place.  I only have the entire site for 6 hours, including my set-up, so I went with 12:00-6 as my timeframe, with the invitations reading a 1:00 start time.  Everyone needs to be out by 5:45, but the venue also has a one-room schoolhouse converted to a little house, and that is where we are staying that night.  So any trusted guests could scoot into that house at 5:45.

I was planning on providing:

 A big crudité/cheese spread with whole fruits, crackers, dried fruit, cheeses, nuts, etc. But big and majestic. My fiancé lives for impressive fancy crudité spreads.

A smoked salmon spread with some kind of carb, like bread or something (my fiancé is a chef, he's dealing with the specifics).

Spam musubis, probably one for each guest as I expect some people won't eat it 

Baba Ganoush, hummus and pita

stuffed grape leaves (no meat)

some kind of "walking Caesar salad" thing my fiancé's friend does.  I think it's like a hand held lettuce boat with shrimp and Caesar salad elements (but shrimp for sure)

I think that's it...

So would you eat lunch before you came to a 1pm wedding? Would you not, and then be starving and want more food than I'm planning on? 

Hot food isn't a choice due to many factors (lack of money to hire someone to deal with that is up there).  My fiancé has a plan for keeping the temps of what I've named so far to be safe., but he does not want hot food.  We aren't having a caterer, so he is going to deal with coordinating the food, so I will defer to his wishes on that.  I appreciate your thoughts on the quantity of food and if you would eat before you came.

doeydo

Yes, I would be starving.  I think for an afternoon wedding without lunch or dinner, they usually start at 2:00 or so.  I also usually eat around 5 or 6 so I would probably leave your wedding early so I could go get some sustenance.  

AddieCake

I would not have time to eat lunch for a ceremony that starts at 1. I guesstimate it will take me 30 minutes minimum to get to the ceremony, and I like to be places anywhere from 15-30 minutes early. So I'm leaving my house to get there at noon. In the hour prior to that, I am getting ready. 

pineapplesmoothie

That's all helpful, thanks.  I thought that might be the case.  I will bring it up to my partner.

CMGragain

1:00 guests will expect lunch.  2:00 TO 4:00 is mid-afternoon cake and punch with veggies time.

banana468

Ditto the others that I'd expect lunch.   It also seems like that's a lot of fish but not a lot of other options.   While you *can* fill up on what you've listed, I'd try to incorporate a chicken / beef / or simple carb like a pasta salad with pesto.  

chibiyui

I would also expect lunch. I would suggest pushing your start time back to 2. Maybe look into sandwich trays from a local grocery store?

pineapplesmoothie

The sandwich idea is a great one.  I am from the Jersey shore, and we actually had talked about getting Jersey Mike's sandwiches earlier in our planning.  It's a totally casual ceremony and reception, so it would fit the tone.  I think I will do that.

I turn into a monster when I am hungry. I would hate for anyone to feel cranky and underfed.

pineapplesmoothie

I also thought it was fish heavy, but the chapel is like 30 feet from the ocean, so maybe it fits.  He might be sticking charcuterie (spelling?) in with the cheese spread.  That'd be salami kinda stuff so that would at least be another land animal to eat.

pineapplesmoothie

I can't change the time without loosing my deposit.  I had to pick exactly which 6 hours I wanted the place and I already chose noon to 6pm.  I had a hard time choosing, I tried to pick the time of day that would have the best weather in November near the ocean.

theartistformerlyknownas

I would expect lunch at a 1pm wedding. Adding sandwiches should suffice.

Also, please click "quote" instead of "reply" to reply to specific people so we know who you're talking to.

pineapplesmoothie

lolo883 said:

I would expect lunch at a 1pm wedding. Adding sandwiches should suffice.

Also, please click "quote" instead of "reply" to reply to specific people so we know who you're talking to.

Haha, thanks. I didn't know it wouldn't somehow show who I was talking to. 

wrigleyville

I think you're golden once you throw in that sandwich tray. Everything else sounds delicious too.

JCbride2015

Another Jersey girl here. +1 on the Jersey Mike's tray. Add that in, and it sounds perfect!

MandyMost

What about dessert?!

jacques27

1.  I agree with everyone else - something heavier would be appreciated.  Depending on how far I had to drive (and considering my normal 20 minute drive today took me an hour and 15 minutes because even my detours had detours, I almost always plan extra time to get somewhere which means I might also be early) and the fact that most people show up at least 15-30 minutes early and most people are probably going to be getting ready in the time preceding that, even if it is casual, I think most people aren't going to be eating lunch that early to accommodate your start time. 

2.  In your crudite spread, you mention whole fruit.  What kind of fruit?  Unless it's just grapes and berries, I would rethink anything that has a peel, core, or pit unless you have lots of trash receptacles handy or want to see peels, cores, and pits hanging around on plates on your tables (I went to a brunch reception where they had whole fruit - bananas, kiwis, clementines, apricots, etc. and it's clear no one thought before hand how the aftermath of that looks piled up on saucers or directly on the tables in some cases). 

3.  Add in a meat tray, some small buns, and some condiments or do a tray of roll-ups or sandwich platter from a deli somewhere and you're set.  Or even just some more protein options to "beef" it up - like deviled eggs, an antipasto platter with a variety of cubed/sliced meats, or maybe even savory muffins or scones (a now defunct bakery here always did a savory scone of the day - some of my favorites were the goat cheese/roasted red pepper/salami, the ham/gruyere/mushroom, and sausage/kale).

pineapplesmoothie

scribe95 said:

I think it's odd they want let you do 1 to 7 instead of noon to six. Do they have someone in there directly following you?

I would likely shift ceremony to 1:30 and just have a shorter "reception."

I already sent the invitations, so it can't be changed.  But I also found it odd.  I never asked about moving the time, because I read in the contract that it wasn't an option.  Perhaps if I had actually asked, it would have been fine.

pineapplesmoothie

MandyMost said:

What about dessert?!

I ordered a sheet cake from the local old timey bakery which will feed everyone, plus the middle eastern place that is doing the hummus, baba and grape leaves is giving us free baklava.

So carrot cake and baklava for dessert!

pineapplesmoothie

jacques27 said:

1.  I agree with everyone else - something heavier would be appreciated.  Depending on how far I had to drive (and considering my normal 20 minute drive today took me an hour and 15 minutes because even my detours had detours, I almost always plan extra time to get somewhere which means I might also be early) and the fact that most people show up at least 15-30 minutes early and most people are probably going to be getting ready in the time preceding that, even if it is casual, I think most people aren't going to be eating lunch that early to accommodate your start time. 

2.  In your crudite spread, you mention whole fruit.  What kind of fruit?  Unless it's just grapes and berries, I would rethink anything that has a peel, core, or pit unless you have lots of trash receptacles handy or want to see peels, cores, and pits hanging around on plates on your tables (I went to a brunch reception where they had whole fruit - bananas, kiwis, clementines, apricots, etc. and it's clear no one thought before hand how the aftermath of that looks piled up on saucers or directly on the tables in some cases). 

3.  Add in a meat tray, some small buns, and some condiments or do a tray of roll-ups or sandwich platter from a deli somewhere and you're set.  Or even just some more protein options to "beef" it up - like deviled eggs, an antipasto platter with a variety of cubed/sliced meats, or maybe even savory muffins or scones (a now defunct bakery here always did a savory scone of the day - some of my favorites were the goat cheese/roasted red pepper/salami, the ham/gruyere/mushroom, and sausage/kale).

What a good thought about the fruit cores and pits.  That sounds messy....we are doing disposable bamboo plates so they will be regularly bussed and tossed.  I can think of several garbage cans that are on the patio where the food would be.  The chapel is next door to the school house (like 20 ft) and the chapel will be our ceremony and reception cite.  The area between the chapel and the school house is a cement patio and along the school house there are at least 3 large trash cans.  (bigger than a kitchen one, but not hideous looking)  If people ate whole fruit inside though...don't know if there are trash cans.  Small whole fruits it is!

I do think the cheese spread will have dried salami type meats.  If he wasn't planning on that, maybe he can add it.

I talked to my fiancé last night and he is fine with adding a sandwich tray from Jersey Mikes so we will have hoagie segments too.

You ladies are full of great wisdom!!

wrigleyville

Carrot cake and baklava are two of my absolute favorite things. Yum!