Evening Food....Help!?

We're having bacon baps and wedges for £6.95 each I think. This should be quite filling hopefully!

I am confused as to why the chef has the choice of what food YOU have at YOUR wedding, and YOU are paying for???

I too think a hot roll of some sort is more substantial than those little cones. Can you do beef/gravy, pork/stuffing or chicken/gravy hot rolls?

TBH, I'd be tempted to tell them you have sourced the food elsewhere & to go jump! If you could take your own food, I'd get close family to each bring a large plate of something,get platters from M&S, or made up from frozen meals beforehand & get a relative to heat them up (lasagne, stew, spagetti bog etc).

Could you also get one of those tiered 'cheese' cakes & serve it with some sides of pate, bread rolls, grapes etc? You dont need to buy this from a specialist shop, as many bulk delis sell cheese in large rolls & pate by the kg, & you can assemble it yourself. Decorate with grape & figs then have some sides of fig jam, quince paste and pate.

This is what we are doing exactly! Sounds like you need to make a decision about what YOU want and stick to your guns!!!

We have to have the food provided by the venue as it's a hotel they don't allow food to be brought in from outside!

The Wedding Co said 'hot' was not possible but we can have cold rolls and chips still it was just OH was unsure about this and the Wedding Co talked us into fish & chip cones instead!

Do you think a cold roll and chips would be our best option? I was just something that is filling, don't want our guests moaning about food because if they can they will(!) and also something that is the best value for money!

I agree with the others that you should stick to what you want unless there is an actual tangible reason this is not possibleQ

However I think those cones would be fine in my experience people dont eat much of the evening food anyway, especially the all day guests as there is so much food during the day, a few weddings i have been to recently have had hog roasts (cheaper than I expected so could you look at this for an option?) and I have either not had one or shared one with OH as been too full to manage a full one!

We didnt even have our evening buffet at my wedding as no one could manage it so we save it and had it for lunch the next day, was all cold cheeses and meats but we were so well fed during the day that we didnt even bother putting it out

If they are having issues about hot rolls, will the chips be hot??? If you have fish, wont it be hot too?

I'd want to know the reason behind the change. Do they think hot meat will dry out? Is it just more effort for them? Do they have a valid reason?

I personally think a cold roll & hot chips is just odd. What about burgers? At least there is some salad in there too.

How is a hot roll not possible but hot fish and chips are?! Did you find out WHY? If you feel you are getting less for your money then tell them that. I think the cones look totally fine and remember that evening guests should have had a meal before they arrive and day guests will have had a big scran and won't eat hunners either. Don't worry about it girl!

I have no idea. Apparently it's something to do with that the joints of meat are bought in or something where the fish is made fresh on the premises? But then when we have roast the meat comes hot!

It's not the same as what I wanted because like I said my auntie had a 'hot counter' brought in where by the sounds of things the cones will come out hot in trays and then put on the table so will have to be taken and eaten right away otherwise will go cold!

See I would quite happily eat a cold roll and chips but think this was OH's issue! Don't think burgers are an option, well they do them but again they're 'mini'.

I think the cones would be fine but cold roll and chips would be cool too.

I think timing would be key with serving the food because if you serve the at the start of your evening doo people might get hungry later on after having a few drinks so I would personally arrange to have the food a bit later on if possible to give people a chance to settle have a few drinks and build up an appetite.

Stick to your guns, you are paying afterall!

Maybe the reason they won't do the hot counter because of the fact that it would cost them more money to staff it and also to keep the food warm. Whereas your little cones of fish and chips will be put out and have to be eaten straight away. What if some people haven't arrived yet, all the cones will get eaten or go cold. I also think you should get them to make a fish and chip cone for you (if you go with them), so you can see the portion size. I love fish and chips but I wouldn't be happy as an evening guest only getting that if its a teeny potion. I wouldn't have eaten anything before hand.

Bx

We're having our food served at 9pm....we're having our 3 course wedding breakfast from 3:15-5:00 and our evening do starts at 7:15. So everyone should have hopefully built up more of an appetite by then and everyone will be there!

I don't think they have a 'hot counter' I don't know! So whatever we have I think will come out and go on the side, but if we have hot rolls it wouldn't matter if they then go cold as could still be eaten, where fish couldn't and obviously whatever we have we'd like chips so these would have to be eaten right away!

I think you might be right Busty B! I need to be firm, I just find it hard to be with our Wedding Co's personality but at the end of the day I'm paying for all this! Asking them to make me a cone would be good idea, don't know whether they'll do it though

Anyone else got an opinion on whether the cones will be big enough? And/or any suggestions on what you would go with/are going with for your wedding?

Would they maybe do something like jacket potatoes with a few varius fillings and salad? They stay hot for a while and filings could be cold like cheese, tuna mayonaisse etc?

Just an idea for ya! xx

Personally I think fish and chips served in a cone is always going to produce a relatively small portion.

If I were you I'd stick to your guns and try and get the rolls and chips. Much more substantial in my opinion.

Firstly IMO they have offered you the first option (rolls and chips) at a price that is too cheap (compared to most hotels i have seen for similar) and now panicing that they aren't going to make the money on them, as someone else has said i think having it hot makes more effort and maybe means more money for them and if they already aren't making much then they don't want to go to the effort...

if you really want the hot rolls, is it in your budget to offer a bit extra for hot rolls? (although to be honest you shouldn't have to!) otherwise can they not do an alternative such as bacon or sausage baps? surely they have equipment to keep food hot? if they put chips out not in a bain marie surely they will be cold within 10 mins? i would question how they are going to keep ANY food hot if they don't have this basic equipment!

is it in your contract what your evening food is to consist of? if it is then i would say thats what you have agreed to pay for so thats what you want!

on the flip side, i think the fish and chips would be fine, we had these (in much smaller cones but could take 2) at a wedding and as an evening guest they were fine.

Good Luck! Have what YOU want not what they want!

x

I can't offer any advice on what I'm doing as I'm not that far ahead in my planning yet, BUT I can tell you if I had agreed on a catering option with my venue then that is what I would be getting and any problems they had meeting their obligations would be their problems.

I think the other posters who commented that this is to do with money/inconvenience are right, they have decided that it isn't worth their while to give you what you want.

I can see you're trying to be flexible here and are maybe even a little bit caught between your wedding coordinator and OH, but the venue are the ones trying to get you to solve their problem. Have you got confirmation of the original option in writing? If so I would be drawing her attention to it.

All of that said, if you are getting to the point where you just want something sorted out then I would accept the fish and chips, but at a lower price, and use the saving to put something else on too, maybe the cheese board as Teal suggested as IMO they are slightly less substantial.

Evening food can be so hit and miss in terms of who will and won't eat it, whenever I've been an evening guest I've never managed to eat beforehand as I'm getting ready and travelling at what is usually dinner time, so I'm always glad of a buffet, but equally your day guests probably won't want very much.

Stick to your guns!

Thanks for all the advice guys....

We haven't got our contract yet, apparently don't get one until numbers and food options decided etc?? Anyway I'd wrote on my planning form from the hotel gammon rolls and chips and the Wedding Co looked 'shocked' when she read it and was like why are you having that? I reminded her she said we could have it at £5.95 and she remembered then and didn't argue the fact just tried to get us to change our mind!

I think you might be right about cost etc but seriously surely they're still making a profit as one roll and chips does not cost £6!! That's without all the drinks profit and all the other money we're spending there on ceremony, wedding breakfast and rooms!

Anyway this is kind of where I'm at...

We've got 2 evening receptions to go to this month so will see what they offer in the way of evening food...We've only got my Auntie's wedding as comparison so far (hence where the idea came from!)...so this might help us come up with an idea!

Then I'm going to ask again if there's no possibility whatsoever of any kind of hot meat roll and cones of chips (I still want to use these cones...love them!)

If not then I'm leaning towards asking for cold rolls and chips, I'm sure I can convince OH and my mum thought this seemed fine!

Finally failing that wouldn't mind Cornish Pasty and chips but that's my only options, have decided against the fish and chips...unless maybe we can see a portion made up!

But you are right guys, WE'RE paying this for OUR wedding, I've really got to try and stick to my guns just find it hard with Wedding Co's personality! Going to email her, think I might stand a better chance lol

Thanks again ?