Afternoon Wedding ?

[iddress]

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.

[imjalar]

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.

[lkminga]

I think if you want to do a whole lunch you totally can.  Carving station(s), veggies, the whole

nine yards.  You could also go the "tea" route and have finger sandwiches, scones, things of that

nature.  Dang it, now I want to go to high tea!

[lkminga]

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.

[wallabymeisje]

you can make it as fancy as you want i went to a brunch wedding that was very fancy and it seemed disjointed with the time of day just be aware that people are going to drink less and might dance less doesnt mean that they will not have a great time but i doubt a black tie even will go over very well at lunch so as long as an afternoon wedding matches your vision you will be fine