I am planning for a wedding in July next year at a rose garden. The place is open for us from 4 to 8 PM only (including the time for decoration, set-up, etc). We are thinking of starting the ceremony at 6:30 and it will last until 7 PM maximum. Family reception will follow afterwards.
We are pretty tight on budget, so providing a full meal for everybody is out of our option. Is it appropriate to provide some appetizers, cookies, and non-alcoholic beverages at a separate place before the ceremony starts and not providing any meals after the ceremony? At least the guests will not feel that hungry during the ceremony and can wait afterwards to have dinner on their own. I don't know what the term for this will be and how I should word that in the invitation.
Food and drinks are strictly prohibited at the garden (both inside and outside the gate), so another option that I can think of is to provide the guests with boxed pastry after the ceremony. Do you have any suggestion or other ideas about this? Thank you very much!
This wouldn't be appropriate or polite to your guests. You would be hosting this during their dinner time. It may be best to host this during the day when they wouldn't expect a meal.
A daytime wedding/reception can be much less expensive.
Pre-ceremony refreshment
