This is not a page anybody wants to be reading, so it is short and it says what you probably need to know.

We cater wakes and funeral receptions across Suffolk and East Anglia. We can usually arrange one at short notice, and we will keep the number of decisions you have to make as small as possible.

What we would suggest

Afternoon tea is what works best, and it is what most families choose. Finger sandwiches, scones, something sweet, tea and coffee. It needs no kitchen, it works on a table in a village hall or in somebody’s front room, and it survives being served an hour later than planned — which at a funeral it usually is.

For a larger or later gathering, bowl food carried through the room, so people can stand and talk without queueing.

A glass of something on arrival is worth having. People need something to hold.

Where

At home. We bring everything, including crockery and glassware if you want it, and we clear and wash up before we go.

A village hall or church room. The commonest, and no kitchen is needed — we work from what is there or bring our own.

At our own restaurant. The Outlook at Fox’s Marina in Ipswich can be taken privately. For some families it is easier not to host at home.

How it works

Ring us. Tell us roughly how many, where, and when. We will come back the same day with a straightforward price for the whole thing, not a menu to work through.

If numbers change — and they usually do — tell us when you know. We would rather adjust than have you worry about it.

Dietary requirements

Tell us what you know and we will cover the rest sensibly. At a wake nobody should be handed a plate they cannot eat, and nobody should have to explain themselves at the door.

Contact

07493 867857, or info@reevesevents.co.uk. If it is urgent, ring rather than email.

Menus

You should be able to see the food without having to ask for it. Most wakes are one of these, and any of them can be made simpler.

• Sandwiches, scones and afternoon tea — the most common choice, and the easiest to serve to people who are standing and talking
• A hot fork buffet — if it is a longer afternoon, or people have travelled a distance to be there
• Bowl food — hot, small and carried round, where there is nowhere to sit down
• A sharing table — for a smaller family gathering at home afterwards
• Vegetarian and vegan — tell us the names and we will plate them separately

You will not know the numbers, and that is normal. People say they are coming and do not, and others arrive who never said. Give us your best guess and we will plan sensibly above it, and tell you plainly how we handle the difference. It is a normal conversation and not a difficult one.

Simple, done properly, is better than elaborate. If you would rather not think about any of it, say so on the phone and we will make the choices and tell you what we are doing.

Where a wake usually happens

At home. The most common, and the one where catering helps most, because nobody in the family should be making sandwiches on that particular morning or washing up that evening. We bring everything and we leave the kitchen as we found it.

At a village hall or a club. Usually a room with a kettle and not much else. That is our normal rather than a difficulty — we bring what is missing.

At The Outlook. Our own restaurant in Ipswich can be given over to a family at short notice, which some people prefer to having thirty people in their house.

At a pub or hotel that does not do its own catering, where we work alongside the venue.

The timing nobody can predict

Services overrun, and the drive from the crematorium is never quite what anybody estimated. Food that was ready at two for a two o’clock arrival is not food anybody wants at twenty to three.

We plan for a window rather than a time, and we hold. Tell us the service time and roughly how far away it is, and let us worry about the rest. If it runs an hour late, that is a normal wake rather than a problem.

Practical things worth saying

We can arrange at very short notice. A few days is normal in this situation and it is not a difficulty. Ring rather than email.

One point of contact. Tell us who to speak to, and we will not ring anyone else. Families often nominate somebody slightly outside the immediate family for exactly this reason, and it is a sensible thing to do.

We stay quiet. Staff clear, refill and top up tea without making an occasion of it. Nobody should be aware of the catering, which is the opposite of what we aim for at a wedding.

Anything left over is boxed and left for the family rather than taken away, because the days afterwards are often harder than the day itself.