Do I NEED canapes??

Nobody NEEDS canapes! ?

Also - canapes are not filling, they aren't there to abate hunger. Just make sure your guests know that dinner will be served at 4pm and then they have responsibility for their bellies before hand

Your guests would have lunch prior to the ceremony - so say they ate at 12pm, they can easily hang on until 4pm for dinner!! Nah, screw the canapes! haha!

I don't think you need to. Dinner isn't far away at all. Perhaps instead of canapes if you are really worried about travelling guests you could do some bowl food snacks, like olives and that sort of thing. But I don't think you need to.

If they are travelling perhaps warn them to bring some snacks in the car, cereal bars etc. But truthfully, everyone is a grown up so should be able to take care of themselves.

Given your timings, I think canapes would be a bit of a waste of your money. They'd be lovely, and enjoyed I'm sure, but if there are other things you want to spend the money on, then I'd do those instead.

Brilliant, thanks for the advice, I agree!!

I would serve them - I don't think people will be ravenous given your timings but I would always offer something to eat with drinks.

We arent having canapes as such. More just bowls of strawberries with dips and bowls crisps/nuts. Was cheaper than having full blown canapes.

We get married at 2 also & we're not planning on serving dinner till 4.20. We are not doing canapes but given the date of our wedding have decided to put on mini mince pies & stollen bites . Could you do something similar, obviously suitable for time of year when your wedding is?

<------This! Our church ceremony is at 12:30 (arrival time of 12noon) but we aren't sitting down to eat till 4pm - We are including a little timeline in our invitations so that guests can see exactly what time things are happening all throughout the day. That way they know when the food will be served (breakfast and evening buffet) and we wont have to round them all up for things such as cutting of the cake and first dance!

I would like to think that as responsible(ish) adults they would be able to organise a light (or large) lunch/brunch and/or breakfast for themselves before they leave for the ceremony!

We are having a 1:30pm ceremony with a three course meal around 4pm and we are not having canapés. We are hoping to provide some cupcakes with post ceremony drinks which my sister is making but no, you don't need canapés. Guests should be able to work out if they are going to be hungry so should feed themselves before hand.

Dawn

We have the same timings as you and ummed and ahhhed over it for ages but have decided to go for them but we are only allowing for 3 per person. I felt it a bit mean not to if I'm honest but maybe I'm a bit caught up in the 'done' thing.

Our timings are pretty much exactly the same as yours. I am not having canapes and using the money for more booze! I'm working on people either having a big/late breakfast or having a nibble somewhere close to the wedding before hand.

If you're worried about people being hungry then maybe just place some bowls of nibbles about (if your venue will allow?) I've never eaten before a wedding as I am always too busy getting ready and making sure I am there on time lol

We've similar timings, ceremony is at 1:30pm and then we'll have our sit down meal around 4pm. We are having canapes, mostly cus we like our food, and I get hungry even with brekkie and a pre-ceremony snack (tho the unthinkable might happen, nerves might mean i might not be hungry!) Id still likely want something before dinner...not because I wanted to fill people up, I just like nibbles and I've enjoyed them at some weddings I've been too. That said, as someone else already said, nobody *needs* them, if you dont want to spend money on that particular aspect then you totally shouldnt! if I knew that those were your wedding timings I'd either buy a bar snack/crisps/nuts if I was peckish, or (dont think badly of me) I'd pack some breakfast biscuits and find somewhere quiet to eat them, or Id eat a sandwich in the car if it was a long journey there...people should know what their appetites are like n plan something ahead. Id personally never leave a reception to find food though, cant believe people do that...Id sooner have a rumbly tum....

I would say that as long as people know your timings then it would be fine to not serve canapes. People can work out if they will be peckish and eat something before if they think they will need it.

I have been to weddings before where the ceremony was at 12.30 and we had to travel there so there was no time for lunch beforehand. Then we had to travel to the reception venue which was in the middle of nowhere (so no shops or pubs to get food from!). There were canapes provided but we had no idea of timings and the photos really dragged on so we were all ravenous. We finally got seated for dinner and by this time it was 4.30 and my stomach was really growling only for there to be 4 best men speeches, 4 best men and all individual speeches and these lasted an hour, plus FOB and grooms speech. It was after 5.30 by the time we were eating and I honestly was considering chomping on my own hand I was so hungry! If I had known we wouldn't be eating 'til so late I would have made sure Id had something or brought something with me. As a guest I usually approximate about 3ish hours between ceremony and eating unless Im told otherwise.

I have also had a long journey on the day of a wedding and we did actually aim to get there early so we could pop into tescos for a sandwich to eat in the car before the ceremony so don't worry too much about your guests travelling a long way on the day!

Our ceremony is at 2pm and we have a little surprise (food related) for our guests instead of canapes on arrival and then I think dinner will be served around 5.30ish so hopefully people wont be hungry and with it being a later ceremony they will have had chance to eat beforehand.

This! We had similar timings at my brothers wedding and they didn't serve any canapés and we were starving by the time we had the meals, and we did have breakfast in the morning. Baring in mind the OP's family travelling a long distance etc some might not manage to grab breakfast if they're rushing about.

We're having canapés at ours as it's a long day for people and although I know they're not the most fillings of foods they definitely take away a lot of the hunger for people.