Two Questions...

cupcake_rampage

Right now, we're planning to have a Sunday morning wedding, maybe starting either at 9 or 10 am for the ceremony, and going until 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  I've got two questions I would like to have others' opinions about:1. Supposing that the reception started about an hour after the ceremony (so 10 or 11 am), what kind of meal would be best?  I'm kind of in love with the brunch idea, but I also kind of guess that if people are going to be showing up at 9 or 10, they will already have eaten breakfast, so I'm not sure if that would be redundant.  I could do sort of a combination, where I did breakfast foods and then some heavier stuff like maybe quiche, or salad, or panini?2. The venue we're looking at right now has plenty of room in it, as in the capacity is currently 80 people larger than our guest list, so I know there would be room for a dance floor.  In fact, the tables would probably be too spread out if we didn't have one.  The thing is, it's a daytime wedding and neither of us is particularly a dancer.  Is a dance floor still something we should make an effort to have set apart?  Or do you think no one would really use it?Thanks!

nda_roxybabe

1. Brunch! Yum2. Eh, I don't know. Spread out the food to occupy the extra space and set the tables as far apart as you can w/o looking funny.

IrishBrideND

Brunch normally (IMO) starts at 10-11 so I think brunch at that hour is fine. If they don't want breakfast foods, they can have the lunch ones. All of the morning/afternoon weddings I have been to have had dancing. I say go for it if you want it. I can't tell you what your guests will do though becaue that depends on them.

betrothed123

Our ceremony started at 10:30 am.  The Reception started at 11:30.  We served regular lunch food.  It was actually the venue's dinner menu, but we saved a couple of bucks because they didn't have to make as much for lunch.  We also served free beer and wine to our guests (our hands were forced into a semi-cash bar so liquor was available as well).If you do brunch, please keep in mind that it's a combo of breakfast and lunch.  Light and heavy breakfast foods does not a brunch make.We had dancing, and our families partied out.  The reception was over around 5:30 and my aunt was so drunk she had to be carried into the hotel they were staying at.That's my family, though.  Your family may be different.

VitaLuna

Where are you getting married that they're ok with Sunday morning weddings? Make sure you don't have anyone super religious on your list. (although I'm sure you already thought about it). 1. I think a brunch would be fun, but like you said, add in some more stuff so it doesn't look too continental breafasty. Mini-quiche, eggs benedict, omelette station, etc. 2. I wouldn't think a dance floor would get used, but it all depends on what the invite list looks like (i.e. who loves to dance, who could care less, etc.)

VitaLuna

*couldn't care less

cupcake_rampage

Yeah, instead of "heavier," I think what I really meant was more lunch-style food, if that made sense, but I think that's what most people are saying.Oh, Sunday mornings are pretty common where I am, or I think they must be, because all the venues I've looked at have the option.  We're in California, though, so it makes sense to me.  As far as I'm aware, we don't have anyone on our list that is religious enough that they don't miss church whenever they want to for whatever reason they have....

sucrets4

Our CH started at noon and reception at 1.  We had a full meal and had a DJ and dancing.  DH didn't think people would dance, but they did.

cupcake_rampage

Okay, well, maybe we'll go ahead and leave the space, so things don't look too spaced out or anything strange, and just see what people do.I also remembered the other question I had that I'd forgotten about before: when I was originally thinking of breakfast foods only, I was sort of thinking maybe we'd do like a sort of a dessert bar that we'd provide containers for, so people could just take it with them.But if we're going to do breakfast and lunch foods, maybe we'll just go ahead and have them on the table, and people can go for dessert anytime between 11 and 4.  I think that would work...

Loopyseven

I have eaten apple pie for breakfast.  Dessert is good ANY time.

mwhitson14

For your desserts, I'd be more than willing to be a guinea pig for your cupcakes, like the one in your siggy pic. I'd take one for the team.

VitaLuna

I say definitely put the desserts out. Hell, even if you were just doing breakfast, I'd still put them out! But that might just be my fat kid brain talking...

cupcake_rampage

Loopy, I agree 100%!mwhitson, I'll be totally honest - I wish that shipping cupcakes overnight wasn't so expensive, because I absolutely adore baking, but I don't know enough people around here to pawn off my baked goods!  So, most of the time I end up not making stuff as often as I would like.Also, I definitely considered (am considering?) making all the cupcakes for my own wedding, but I've been told it's a huge pain, so I'm thinking it's not the greatest idea.  Still, I would totally be the type to bake all day the day(s) before, and get covered in flour and sugar.  Have a cupcake party...

jajph1974

For dessert you could have "breakfasty" type cakes. Like banana bread, pumpkin bread, things like that.And cupcakes. It's always a good time for cupcakes.

katiewhompus

Even if the dance floor isn't used to dance I bet people will be glad for some extra space to stand and mingle.A word of warning about making your own cupcakes...Mom and I decided to make our own cupcakes for the wedding because we were having issues finding a gluten free cupcake baker as well as to cut costs. The plan was that she would bake all of the cupcakes Wednesday night, then we would frost them all Thursday and they'd be ready for the Friday wedding. I ended up getting stuck in traffic/slightly hungover/motivating two guys to leave the apt and my poor aunt ended up helping mom instead.

betrothed123

Another warning about making your own cupcakes: Check with your venue.  In my state it's illegal for them to serve anything that doesn't come out of a licensed kitchen, so they wouldn't have been able to serve cupcakes made in a home kitchen.

Nebb

1. I love the idea of a variety of salads and panini sandwiches,  ive had a wicked craving for a panini lately though. I think lighter lunch type foods would be fine.2. During the day, unless your guests LOVE to dance, I doubt many people will use it.

cupcake_rampage

Good points, both.  I probably won't end up doing it, but it's sort of like, on the one hand, I'd feel weird about having someone else bake what I'm pretty well-known for making myself, in my circle.  I can deal with it, though.  Certainly would be less stressful not to.

ExpatPumpkin

Not food related, but I take it you're a morning person if you're even considering a 9AM wedding... I am not a morning person And I'd be willing to bet that some of your guests aren't either. So as far as the time goes, the later in the morning the better. I would NOT be feeling festive if I had to get up at 7AM on a Sunday to attend your wedding... Just something to consider. Oh, and brunch food sounds delicious

thesuninherhead

1) I would think you'd do some sort of morning-tea nibbles just after the ceremony, and then a later lunch (maybe 1pm or so). Brunch doesn't work unless you're doing a really early morning ceremony, IMO. 2) unless you've having a lot of alcohol, I would imagine there'd be little dancing.

cupcake_rampage

It's funny you should mention, but actually I'm not really a morning person, exactly.  Which is sort of why I was leaning more toward a 10AM ceremony.  The thing is, evening weddings tend to be so much more expensive, and I think people expect them to have so many more of the things that make them expensive.

ExpatPumpkin

You're absolutely right about evening weddings being more expensive. But couldn't you get married at noon and have a reception from 1-5PM? You could serve lunch at 1:30 or so. Forgetting your guests, do you really want to get up at 5AM to get ready?

cupcake_rampage

Well, as for the former, that depends greatly on venue.  A lot of places around here like to have "half-day" rentals where they have you pick either morning to early afternoon, or late afternoon to night.  We're having a fair amount of trouble finding a venue that will hold our entire guest list (though that may get reduced soon), and that is affordable.As for the latter question, I know this will probably sound naive, but there's no way in heck it's going to take me 5 hours to get ready.  Really.  I know it's a special day and it will require special preparation, but I'm the kind of girl that gets ready in 15 minutes most days.  I sincerely doubt I'm going to end up doing anything extra special with makeup and hair that will take that long (I usually don't wear any makeup, and probably only would because it's supposed to help with pictures).Is there other stuff that would make getting ready take that long?  I mean, I hear about other brides spending 3-5 hours, and I never could understand what took so long.

thesuninherhead

Are you having a bridal party? If so, getting hair and makeup done can easily take 3 hours or more. Add to that getting dressed and having something to eat beforehand.

cupcake_rampage

Hmm I haven't decided yet, entirely, but my guess is yes, a very small one (two people apiece, tops?), though again, no guarantee we'll all be getting our makeup and hair professionally done.  I would honestly prefer to kind of leave it up to them, that if they want to, they can, but that this really, emphatically, is not going to be a formal affair.I'm still not sure I actually want a "real" wedding dress, but my best friend is convincing me to at least go look at them.I suppose the point you guys are trying to make, though, is that I ought to factor in more time than I think I'll need, just in case?

ExpatPumpkin

Ditto Sun. Our wedding was at 2:30PM. Our mothers, two BM's, and I had hair and makeup done. And we had a ladies breakfast... All of this started at 8:30AM, and I have NO IDEA where the time went, but it passed by very quickly

IrishBrideND

we started at 830 and the wedding was at 330. Now, in retrospect I would have started an hour later but still!

cupcake_rampage

Well, shoot.  I don't suppose it would help if I, say, practiced getting ready the week before the wedding?  You know, if I already knew what I was doing, got up at the right time, and dressed myself, did my hair/makeup/whatever else I think I'm going to need to do.  Would that give me anywhere near an accurate idea of how much time it would take?We really love the idea of an AM wedding, and I know people do it all the time, but I sincerely can't imagine getting up at 5, not to mention that (if we get this venue), we couldn't get into it until at least 8AM.

thesuninherhead

I think that when you've got a lot of family/friends around (as you will while getting ready) you have to factor in a fair bit of extra time, even if you're doing all the hair/makeup yourselves. You don't want to be over ambitious when it comes to time- the last thing you need is the stress of running late on the wedding day!

jamm2019

I love brunch, the best one I have been to had breakfast foods, plus they had a turkey and prime rib carving station, mashed potatoes, and some veggies too.  Along with a desert table.  I think I big mixture of foods makes the best brunches...I'm also curiouse why you are choosing a Sunday morning ceremony/reception?