Knowledge Centre
What is the best time to get married?
There are lots of things to consider when choosing the best time for your wedding ceremony, and lots of factors will influence your choice. Ultimately it is your choice, so take this advice with a pinch of salt, but hopefully it will help you think through the many possibilities.
Registrar / Church availability
One of the biggest influences on your choice of wedding time is availability of the church, or registrars. There are always more weddings on a popular summer Saturday than there are registrars or churches to go around. So, our number one piece of advice is to get in early with the booking of the church or registrar to avoid losing out on the time you want.
Early weddings
Weddings pre midday are rare but do happen. The upside can be longer hours of daylight if your chosen date is outside the main summer months; also there is less time for guests to get sneaky drinks at the pub; less time for thiomgs like flowers to wilt and it can be a bit cooler for the wedding ceremony if it is a really hot day.
Late weddings
A wedding at 4pm or later, takes a lot of pressure off, when getting ready for your wedding. You will have a lot more time for everything. This also applies to guests, who may be travelling or have a large group to co-ordinate. It also means you can be much more certain that your guests have eaten, thereby reducing the potential catering needed to keep everyone contented.
How hungry are guests
As above, in late weddings - giving guests enough time to guarantee they have mostly had lunch can save you providing quite so much. Weddings at 2pm or later are likely to mean that your guests had a chance to eat lunch. This might mean that you don’t feel the need to provide Canapés for example. If your wedding ceremony is at 12:30pm it is then likely that guests probably didn’t have a chance for lunch, so Canapés might be a better idea in this case.
An evening at The Oakwood
We recently had the pleasure of spending an October evening at The Oakwood at Ryther, one of our favourite wedding venues. The plan was just to have some fun presenting our food to the Oakwood team and get some nice photos as well. We had a great catch up, discussed their plans and ours, for the year ahead, and, of course, feasted on some top notch food. We’ve attached a few phots below, there will be more on the Instagram post coming soon! Wish you had all been there.
Do I need Canapés at my wedding?
Canapés are a great crowd pleaser but are they really worth it and could you be better off spending your money elsewhere ?
We’ve tried to answer this as honestly as we can to help you make an informed decision.
Canapés are usually priced from around £7 per guest upwards, per guest, for around 3 to 4 pieces per guest. Average is probably £9 to £12 for 4 pieces per guest for a mixture of hot and cold canapés.
Things to consider are your timings, your wedding breakfast, and your guests.
Reasons to say Yes to canapés… If your timings mean that guests are unlikely to get lunch before the ceremony, then canapés are usually snapped up. If you have a long time (more that an hour) between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, canapés will keep guests going and stop then getting too tipsy. If your guests are foodies they will enjoy the excitement that canapés bring. Finally if you know it is a big wedding breakfast ahead, such as sharing or grazing styles, canapés might be an over indulgence - ask your caterer for their honest opinion on what they have seen at previous weddings.
Reasons you may not need canapés. If your ceremony is later in the afternoon so guests will definitely have had lunch, or if you have a shorter time between ceremony and wedding breakfast then canapés may be an over indulgence. Many guests will anticipate the wedding breakfast ahead and want to ‘save themselves’ for that, so even if you do have canapés most guests will have a limit as to how many they will eat. You may know that some of your guests consider themselves professional canapé consumers who will position themselves in an optimal position at the reception so that they get access to the most canapés and that could be a reason to avoid them in the first place.
Remember, weddings are emotional and are often long, with an early start and a lot of standing so guests tend to eat and drink a lot more than they would usually, and canapés can be a delightful way to keep guests energy levels and excitement high.
Bespoke Wedding Catering
We may be a teeny weeny bit biased with this statement but we think…food plays a HUGE role in a wedding reception!
Our menu document is essentially a guide, offering examples and suggestions based on our love of fresh, seasonal, local produce and hearty, delicious meals. Amongst other things you will find Barbecue Feasts, Platters & Carving Joints, Street Food inspired snacks and 3 course plated meals. And although we adore a plated 3 course meal (don’t you just love that feeling of fullness and satisfaction?), the traditional wedding format seems to be pushed to one side more often than not. I have to say, it is an absolute joy to be part of a truly unique day - bringing together new ideas, themes and suppliers, mixing them together with a pinch of ❤ and floating on the positive vibes and feedback!
No two couples are the same, therefore no two weddings should be the same.
Our ideal would be to have our initial face to face meeting in a cosy village pub, chatting about you! 😍 Tell us where you met, how you (or your fiance) popped the question, your ideas and dreams for the big day, your favourite cuisine…we’re keen to get your ideas into the mix! You might like to recreate your first meal together, serve up a homage to a family favourite or combine two cultures to offer a truly unique day of celebrations for you and your loved ones. If you don’t have a firm idea of the food you’d like to serve, that ‘friendly pint in the pub’ will assist and inspire our event managers in pulling ideas together for a possible menu. Some of our previous clients will tell you of their wacky experience with our event managers - lets just say that sometimes they get over excited throwing around ideas when inspired!
We have perfected a Persian Feast; whisked a wedding party to South America (and back to reality with a rainy Yorkshire thud); designed a three course menu based on a love of brunch; injected a canape reception with a fun; served competitive Ireland v’s Yorkshire theme; bagged up dessert to toast your own S’mores around the fire; and next year we have our first Disney themed wedding!
Other than initial ideas and desires, there are 3 factors that may influence the first meal of married life - When? Where? How much?
When? What time of year are you celebrating? Will you want a hot Sticky Toffee Pudding with lashings of custard during a heatwave in July (ever so hopeful)?
Where? A grand stately home or a tipi in farmers field? An array of street food may not be so suited to a 17th century manor but would work a treat for a festival style marquee wedding!
How much? When dining out you may be drawn to the Scallops, Fillet of Beef and Cheese Board with a stunning bottle of Pinot Noir, but x 100 guests? Kerching!
All important factors to consider when designing your wedding breakfast but once you’ve decided, sit back and relax in our tasting room and let the chef team do the work - serving delicious and interesting dishes guaranteed to make your day what it should be; relaxed, happy and unforgettable.
We look forward to seeing you in the local shortly! 🍻
Here’s a few bespoke menus we have served already…
Lizi & Jonny
“Candlelit Ceremony”
Hot Snack Selection
Roast Beef Yorkshire Pudding Wrap
Pork Pie and Minted Mushy Peas
Spinach & Onion Bhaji
Mac n Cheese
Sticky Honey Mustard Glazed Chipolatas
Fish & Chips
Spinach & Onion Bhaji Ve
Curried Pea Fritter with Harissa Dip Ve
Dessert Table
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Chocolate Brownie
Apple & Cinnamon Crumble
Winter Berry Panna Cotta
Sofia & John
“Thai Banquet”
Canapés
Thai fish cakes, sweet & sour cucumber pickle
Satay Chicken Skewers
Coconut shrimp with sweet chilli
Main
Lamb Massaman Curry
Vegetable Thai Green Curry
Chicken Pad Thai
Coconut Rice & Steamed Greens with Sesame
Dessert
Wedding Cake with Berries & Cream
Kerry & Luke
“Brunch Bonanza”
Starter
Breads & Spreads
Main
Eggs Benedict with Parma ham, Poached egg & Saffron Hollandaise
Avocado on Toast Rye Bread, Poached Egg, Rape Seed Oil, Herbs and Rocket
Salmon and Smoked Haddock Fish Cake Mango & Chilli Salsa, Lemon Herb Salad
Dessert
Madeline Cake with Yoghurt
Smoothie, Granola and Champagne
Ruth & Chris
“Flavours of Morocco”
Starter
Roasted Squash & Red Onion, Tahini & Za’atar
Goats Cheese, Beetroot & Mint Salad
Flat Breads, Pita Breads, Cornbread and Olives
Hummus and Baba Ghanoush
Main
Lamb Tagine, Garlic Chicken & Stuffed Peppers
Broccoli with Almonds, Moroccan Spiced Potatoes and Fresh Herb Couscous
Dessert
Apple & Cinnamon Crumble, Cardamom Custard
Lime & Cardamom Infused Rice Pudding
Orange & Date M’Hanncha
Sofia & James
“Fine Dine”
Amuse Bouche
Chilled Gazpacho
Starter
Langoustine Ravioli with a Citrus Butter
Main
Wild Sea Trout, Pea Puree & Asparagus
With Braised Celery & Fennel & Pomme Anna
Dessert
Chocolate Torte, Raspberry Granita & Chocolate Crackling
Evening Supper
Mini Steak Burgers in Brioche with Relish, Gherkins and Mustard
Jeni & Adam
“Tex Mex Feast”
Starter
Nachos
Beef Empanada with Raisin, Olive & Green Pepper
Black Bean & Pumpkin Empanada
Main
Shredded Beef Burrito
Rice, salad, chipotle salsa, guacamole, tortillas, sour cream, feta and Monterey Jack cheese
Dessert
Churros with Drambuie Chocolate Sauce
Key Lime Pie
Caroline & Julian
“Latin BBQ”
Canapés
Mackerel Ceviche with Radish and Aji
Patacones with Guacamole and Hogao (v)
Coconut, Lime and Coriander Chicken Skewers
BBQ
Pork Belly with Pipian sauce
Half Grilled Lobster with Garlic Butter
Sticky Rum Glazed Short Ribs
Served with Coconut Rice, Sautéed Plantain, Toasted Sweet Corn, Quinoa & Avocado salad
Supper
Beef & Potato empanada
Served with Aji and lime wedges
