Canapés and welcome drinks?

Depends on how long between them eating before the wedding and the meal you are providing. The drinks bit is a filler for you to be able to have some photos done and mingle, so maybe just do drinks, we are not doing canapes as we have a travel time between location of ceremony and reception so are giving snack bars with some crispsx biscuits and sweets for people to munch on I'm the journey

View quoted message Yes that’s true! The canapés do sound lovely but I don’t want to give too many and spoil the breakfast or too little and people be hungry! Think it will work out with timings as you say!

Hi Eleanor,

I would definitely recommend drinks, but canapes can be optional. Following the ceremony, the drinks reception is the opportunity for everyone to relax, mingle and chat to one another. Drink naturally helps fuel that. As most of your guests would not have eaten lunch and will not be eating until late afternoon, drink can also be quite good at suppressing hunger!

If you really don't have the budget for drinks at all, then I would suggest that you make sure there is a bar that is open for people to be able to order for themselves instead. But be mindful that you loose the ability to direct and congregate your guests in a natural way. People will follow where to go for their first drink and typically stay there so they can order the next. If the bar is too far away you might find that the reception room become pretty empty and the bar pretty full.

I hope this helps!

With love,

Laura x

Kept Weddings

Unless you're quite literally immediately sitting down to eat after the ceremony, I would say it's worth it! Usually you'll have a chunk of time in between though - even if it's only an hour. In this window you'll probably have photos, you might disappear off for a quite few moments with your new spouse, and you might be desperate for a little something to line your stomach before that first drink (wedding morning nerves may well mean you don't eat much).

If it helps, I've been asking everyone who's been to weddings what they've loved and hated as a guest, and the hated has almost always been if they were left to stand around after the ceremony without a drink - but I'd want to give them a snack too as empty stomach is a sure fire way for people to wind up too drunk too soon!

We had this exact issue, we just felt our £1000+ on canapés was better spent elsewhere. So we’ve got one of the sweet carts you see everywhere and are putting on bar snacks - pork scratchings, nuts, scampi fries; and also some bite size brownies and donuts. People can help themselves if they like, and it can stay throughout the day so will eventually get eaten and is costing much less.


I do strongly recommend a drink after the ceremony, it brings people together.

£1000 for canapes and drinks is a lot! Not sure if youve got a choice around catteres etc but we are doing it in a village hall so having like scotch rggs, saudage rolls kind of nibbles as from the ceremony yo the meal theres normally a few hrs and if people have travelled etc they are likely to be hungry. Thereay also be a way round the drinksz say not bothered about it being prosecco and choosing cheaper options for drinks.

Hi!

We have decided not to do canapes as we thought this was a cost that could be avoided and I personally don't feel like canapes are needed.

Have you thought about what you will be serving for your wedding breakfast? Not sure if this is any help/ slightly off topic for this question but we are offering afternoon tea works out at 20pp instead of 60pp for a traditional wedding breakfast. We are then offering our guests a hot evening buffet which works out about 14pp a lot better than the 60pp for the traditional wedding breakfast which is crazy as the options are very similar.

We are doing reception drinks, but look at your venue they may offer drinks packages. we have multiple price drink packages. We are paying 17pp for drinks package which includes; welcome drink, 1/2 bottle of wine and toast drink.

View quoted message We are doing a 4 course wedding breakfast which is the cheapest option (56pp) and a pizza van (18pp) for evening! We thought about drinks packages but most people coming don’t drink that much, but we deffo want to give them something for the toast/welcoming.


I just don’t want people to be too full for the breakfast but also not get too hungry waiting! There’s also a bar for people to buy drinks so we thought about letting people get their own instead, then everyone can get what they want rather than be stuck with the same drink!
I think our venue is deffo on the pricy side so just having to alter these bits to save on money where we can but also have a good day for everyone!

View quoted message Our venue is quite pricy and they only offer in house catering so we are a bit stuck! But we were sold on the exclusivity, ease and how stunning it is haha! I’m wondering if it might be best to have the canapés and let people buy their own drinks at the bar, then they’re fed and can drink if they like while they wait - I don’t want people to be fed up waiting around (especially hungry!!)

View quoted message Ahhh that sounds fantastic! Our venue doesn’t allow outside catering so it would have to be canapés or nothing unfortunately. I’m wondering if we divert people to the bar after the ceremony to allow them to buy their own drinks and have canapés instead of us buying both

View quoted message Yes this is what I’m worried about - I’d feel awful if people were stuck waiting hungry! It’s so helpful knowing what people do like/value, I haven’t been to many weddings and none as an adult so it’s great to get some insight

View quoted message Ahhh that makes sense! Ours is all one venue so there will be more of a waiting period, so we definitely need to do something

View quoted message Thanks so much! There is a bar available for people to buy their own drinks, so it might be best if we don’t bother and get canapés so they can have both!

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To be honest, I do think happy guests make for the best atmosphere - if they've got all hangry and moody they're not going to be their most fun selves for the rest of your day!

Another idea is whether you could ask the venue if there's an alternative? Perhaps you pay for cheaper drinks than what's included in their package as standard, or see if they can open the bar at this point as a cash bar? Ask if you could supply your own bowls of popcorn or crisps (bulk bought in from the shops) rather than their canapes?

I'd ask all the questions, see how cheap you can make it - but if it's their package or nothing, then I'd be inclined to go for it and start your guests off in the right celebratory mood

Our venue was all package package package, which means that cost is pricey, but I think it's worth it! We're being more frugal on things like flowers and other decorations to stop it all getting out of hand.

View quoted message Yes I totally agree!! There is a bar that guests can use and pay for their own, so no matter what they will be able to get drinks. It would be great to just have ‘nibbles’ instead of canapés if they would allow. But you’re right, if not I think it’s worth it so everyone has the best day possible!

We are doing canapés with our welcome drinks but they will act as a starter so we are skipping the sit down starter section and then sharing platters and desserts

We've decided against canapes, we are having welcome drinks after the ceremony (prosecco, Peroni and orange juice) then we have around 90 minutes before we sit down for wedding breakfast. It would have added £500 onto our budget for canapes which we were prepared to pay.

Someone said to me…. I don’t normally eat between 1 and 4 anyway so why would I need to at the wedding?

If you're having an early wedding (1:30pm or earlier) and the wedding breakfast isn't until 3 or later, I think you need something light for guests to keep them going until the wedding breakfast. It doesn't need to be Canapés- just anything to avoid hangry guests. Can you have a paid bar option for alcoholic drinks and thenprovide light snacks?

View quoted message I need to check about smaller snacks but I imagine the venue will want us to have canapés! Either way we deffo need to get some food I think to avoid frustrated guests!