Afternoon wedding?

I

iddress

New member
My FI and I have decided to have an afternoon wedding after a lot of thought. A morning ceremony

with a reception following directly afterwards will be a lot less expensive and we are paying for

this ourselves. We also have 3 nieces who will be 2, 3, and 6 and our going to be our flower

girls and our ring bearer (6 yr odl) and feel an afternoon reception will easier for them and

their parents to enjoy since we really want them there. But I don't know how to plan an afternoon

reception! I've only ever been to evening weddings. I also worked in catering but also only

evening receptions. We are serving a full meal, which will most likely start around 1ish. What

kind of food does one serve for a lunch reception? Should we have a DJj becuase people will still

dance at an afternoon reception? Our guest list is about 50/50 people in their 20s and people in

their 50s and older so I am not sure if that makes any difference. My mom can't really help me

plan because her wedding was a mass followed by dinner in my aunt's basement and his parent's are

divorced and had a wedding similar to my parents for all of their weddings.
 
I

imjalar

New member
My sister had a 10:30am wedding with a noon-5 reception. She had filet of beef carved at your

table (among other options) full open bar, dj,dancing. the whole nine yards. It was exactly the

same as an evening wedding except it was during the day.

It was awesome. Everyone stayed to the end (well 60% continued on to the after party) but really

it was no different than a night wedding.

Most weddings I attended where day weddings. All had full meals (most sit-down),DJs or bands and

full open bars.

I don't get when people think food is too heavy for the day time. Is it a normal lunch meal? No.

But have you not had holiday meals in the afternoon before?
 
I

indress

New member
I think that you're going to run into making things a little more formal and a little less

relaxed when you do a plated meal. That also kind of changes your timeline for the day. Keep in

mind that most afternoon receptions are a little shorter (like Stage's) and even with dancing it

might not go on as long. You didn't mention alcohol, but that might also affect things like

length and whether you want to do dancing. Not always, but it's just about knowing your circle.

My wedding is going to be more like Stage's, we're also starting at 2 and doing a lot of

different finger foods and maybe one larger carving station. It'll be a ton of food, but not in a

plated meal or really buffet style. In my circle buffet style is more common (I've never been to

a wedding with a plater dinner), so that's what we're more comfortable with. Maybe talk to your

reception hall and see what other brides have done in your situation or what they normally serve

for lunch.
 
I

iddress

New member
We had an afternoon wedding. We started at 2 though, so we didn't do a full meal. We selfcatered

a ton of finger food and set it out on a couple of tables, buffet style.

We didn't have a DJ or a dance floor, but we did have background music playing. It was much more

lowkey and relaxed, but a lot of fun. We had kids running around all over the place, everyone was

mingling and laughing, and it was a blast. It lasted about 3 hours, which was perfect.
 
C

candylily

New member
For an afternoon reception, perhaps lay out a table of Canapés, coupled with something like a carving station. It's both classy and fits nicely with a light, afternoon wedding atmosphere. That way you and your guests wouldn't feel drowsy after a heavy meal that might occur with a buffet or plated meals?
 
J

jessicats

New member
I think an afternoon wedding is nice... not too hot outside... make sure that you prepare some snacks so that the guest won't get hungry before dinner
 
M

mehmeh

New member
Afternoon weddings can be fun too despite the heat! I think it'll be better to get a a buffet or some finger food since it'll be a shorter duration as compared to a dinner banquet. Do you guys still have DJs for your guests to dance or just some background music?
 
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