Evening food

I don't eat until about 7.30 anyway so no problem for me and I'm sure they usually say cater for less as there is always plenty but yes I would also panic there wouldn't be enough and yes when I have guests I always do too much.

What time are you thinking of opening/serving the food? 7.30 is probably late enough for day guests and yet some evening guests may not arrive bang on time. Is putting some out and then topping it up later an option?

Are you having a cake or cheese cake? I think if you have either of these then the buffet will be fine :-)

Was thinking about doing the buffet at around 8-8.30. There is quite a canapé selection so am hoping it will tide people over especially with the nibbles.

We are having an M&S 3 tiered basic iced cake which we are "doing" up ourselves so there should be quite a lot of that too!

I just don't want people to complain about lack of food....I've been to a food strapped wedding and it was all people talked about!

Very possibly! Good idea!

I never understand this attitude... if you had 10 people at a house party would you only feed 6 and then expect the other 4 to eat whatever the first 6 leave????

bare in mind 'under feeding' is the number one complaint on bad wedding threads and websites is it really worth it... but then maybe im bitter though because by the time I get there there is NEVER anything suitable left (I have intolerances) and I end up starving

I believe the cater for less logic is that evening guests may eat before and day guests have a big meal with you 3-4pm.

We are similar! Getting married at 3, nibbles at 4.30 and then proper food at 7.30. We have 65 day and an extra 50 in evening. We're actually catering exactly as I've told people NOT to eat before!

I think as you are having a late ceremony your guests will expect not to eat until later so would have lunch before they come out. However, I would cater for the full number of guests because I think the only catering for 3/4 of them is on the basis that the daytime guests would have already been fed once so wouldn't be as hungry. Also remember that when people are drinking booze they will be more ravenous. I wouldn't serve up too late either due to the drinking factor, I think half 7/8 o'clock would be OK so long as there were plenty of nibbles.

Come to mine! We have a number of people with dietary requirements. Veggie, Vegan, but allergy and 2 people with coeliac disease. We are doing a mini individual buffet for each of them!

I might pick up an extra 2 catering size gala pies and 2 extra large quiches to pop down. Everyone loves a gala pie at a wedding! ?

Thanks for both the reassurance and constructive criticism! ?

Mine and OH's family are huge eaters - all parties revolve around food and desserts at my OH's house.

So, if I had 140 people total, I would probably have to cater for 200 ?

Personally, I would probably cater for about 120 - are there any children coming to the party? They certainly eat a lot less than adults, but also would be less likely to eat many of the canapes.

I do understand the logic of catering for a little less than the people there (I can't stand waste) but perhaps do make sure there could be something extra added onto the table if people get a little crazy and eat it all. Maybe you could arrange something with the venue?

I've catered for 100 for the evening and we#ll probably have slightly more, though the five children will probably have gone by then so it should work out fine. We eat our sit down meal at 4.30 so most of us will be a bit full to contemplate sausage sandwiches and spicy wedges!

I think that if the ceremony is at 4.30pm, most people will be sensible enough to have a big lunch and maybe even an extra snack before arriving! As no one will be having a big wedding breakfast, I would also suggest catering for the full amount of guests.

We are having fish and chips in the evening as I didn't want a buffet to be wasted. This is because we have a four course wedding breakfast and I know that most day guests don't eat much at the buffet. I don't think that you will have this problem though! I would rather too much food than not enough food! X

I find it depends on the caterer - some caterers provide mountains for food while others provide less for the same number of people.

Personally I think catering for 100 of your 140 guests is too little. I'd push it to 120. How many kids are there? They won't eat as much so if there are loads of kids you could drop another 10 people off.

Maybe add another desert? If you're doing the cake anyway why not getting a cutting bar as well? That way there's loads of dessert for people - tops up the main buffet. Cutting bars really aren't that expensive.

As 50 of your guests will have been at the wedding from around 4pm, they probably won't have eaten and will be pretty hungry by 8pm. I would personally cater for more, you don't want to run out of food!