When it comes to evening food, I’m sure you’ve heard the advice to keep it simple, and only cater for two thirds of your guests. I totally agree with this advice as all the day guests have had a massive meal earlier in the day, so nobody (hopefully) is starving, and your evening guests have likely eaten before they arrived.
After a few hours and a few beers however, some guests might be ‘peckish’ at best. This is where a good bit of evening food goes down a treat!
If you’re unsure about what to go for, think about what you fancy after a couple of drinks. Street food ideas like Bao buns, tacos, bacon rolls, pizzas, and mini fish and chip cones work great. Anything that can be easily eaten without a knife and fork whilst standing at the bar is a winner.
All your day guests have been sitting down for the wedding meal for over two hours, so another trip to a table will never be that appealing. Also, anything that gets laid out on a buffet table for guests to go and search out never works too well. We find from experience that it will only go cold and stale in a quiet area of your venue. The only exception to this is a cheeseboard, which is good for the whole evening and people can come and graze from this at their own leisure.
Some top tips from us at ren's
Always make sure that your caterer provides serving staff to take the food around to the guests. Also make sure they are responsible for clearing up afterwards. One of my top tips is that sometimes it’s best to serve evening food on recyclable disposable plates so that you don’t have to pay for catering staff to stay till the end of the night to clear up.
With regards to how much to cater – the two thirds rule is great. My only disclaimer is when the groom invites all his rugby mates straight from a match, and they all come starving, then go for the whole number of guests. It really is based on what kind of guests you know will be arriving in the evening. If your evening guests are likely to not be peckish when they arrive, my advice would be to throw all of your budget at the main part of the day, or save your money for the honeymoon.
Bear in mind that some venues are in town centres, where if one hungry evening guest really did feel the urge to get a burger and come back in 20 minutes, it’s not the biggest deal. Other venues are in a field 10 miles from the nearest shop with no cab in sight so the other factor to consider is where your venue is located.
Another top tip is if you are having a band in the evening, make sure you time the evening food to be served in the band's break. Bands can be super expensive and it’s a shame to take people away from the dance floor to go and get a snack.
We’re always on the hunt for new and interesting ideas for evening food so please let us know if you’ve seen anything unusual and delicious recently or have a unique idea that you want to try for your wedding day. Feel free to email me any new ideas at www.renskitchen.co.uk.
Ren x