Your wedding day is full of delicious food, from the first canape after your ceremony, right up until late night snacks on the dance floor. With so much food to consider, evening food is usually the last of your worries, but to us, it’s equally as important as your wedding breakfast. It’s often the last thing that your guests will eat, so we want to end the night on a high, by tucking into a well needed snack!
During the planning process its easy to overlook the evening snacks and choose something easy, but there is a lot more than goes into the decision making than you might think. Firstly, you want this to be something carb heavy, as let’s face it, many of your guests will be drinking all day so they’ll need something super stodgy to soak up all that alcohol. You also want to make sure you have something substantial for those guest who may only be attending the evening, meaning they feel equally as catered for as those who attended the whole day.
When it comes to the service of evening food, we don’t believe in buffets! Buffets often get put out, towards a corner of the room and forgotten about, with most people not evening realising that it’s there. We want all of your guests to know that there is food available and to not have to queue for it either. We like to serve the majority of our evening food by circulating it to your guests, meaning they don’t even have to leave the dance floor! We use old school cinema trays to wonder round with snacks like cheese toasties or tacos, or we may use wooden paddles to carry round slices of pizzas.
How much food do you need to provide? This is often the most asked question! We suggest that you only provide for around 70% of your total guest numbers, for example, if you have 100 day guests and 50 evening guests, we suggest that you provide around 110 portions. At the end of the day, you can never quite be sure how much will get eaten, but more than likely this provides enough and the last thing you want is an abundance of food waste towards the end of the evening.
Now comes the hard choice of what evening food to choose. We offer a whole variety, and you can really get creative with your choices, should you please. When it comes to making those selections, feel free to choose something that is special to you. For instance, if you got engaged in Spain, why not serve a Paella, or if one of you are from Germany, opt for traditional Bratwurst hot dogs! We have served items like traditional Cornish pasties or build your own mac and cheese, whatever it may be, we will see what we can do.
The usual ideas tend to be something relatively simple, like a bacon or sausage bap for those who might want something a little more filling. Maybe cheese toasties might be a contender, or something a little funkier like chicken, waffles, and maple syrup. For those who might not be as hungry, smaller options like potato tots or cones of chips. The great thing with circulating evening food is that we can offer a variety, you don’t have to stick to one choice however we would usually suggest no more than 3 options.
You also have the option of a grazing table, which contains items like cheeses, cured meats, crudites, bread and lots more. These always look gorgeous and are usually set up close to the bar, meaning your guests will know that its there. We tend to do these with cold option as they can be left for a suitable amount of time, for your guests to graze at their own pace. Great for if some just need a light snack and if others need something a little more substantial.
Other substantial choices include pizzas. Whether your guests want a whole pizza or just a slice, we will circulate them on wooden paddles and pop them on tables for people to tuck into! Pizzas always add a bit of a theatrical element to the party, with our chefs cooking inside one of our Tuk-Tuk’s. They build and cook all pizzas outside in front of your guests, meaning they can watch the whole process and even make their own! You select two flavours, for instance, a simple margarita or parma ham, pesto, and rocket or even a spicy sausage!
It goes without saying that you will often be so preoccupied that you won’t have any thought to making sure you fuel yourself with an evening snack. But we will take care of that for you, we will always leave some food in your honeymoon suite so you can have a nibble when you get back! You’ll most likely be hungry and just want a moment to have a munch with each other, plus who doesn’t love a midnight snack?
All in all, evening food is a big part of your evening celebrations, so you want to get it right. Ultimately the choice is yours, so choose something that you love, but also that you know your guests will enjoy. Being the last impression, you want this to be memorable!
Meels, Event Manager