Canapés are the first thing anyone eats and the only course served standing up, so they are judged harder than they deserve. We normally serve four or five per guest across an hour while photographs are being taken, and more if the gap between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast is longer than that.

How many, and for how long

• A one-hour drinks reception: four to five canapés per guest, two or three varieties.
• Ninety minutes or more: six to eight per guest, four varieties, and it is worth adding something substantial rather than more of the same.
• A marquee wedding with a long gap for photographs: treat it as a course, not a nibble.

A mix of two hot and two cold works better than four of either. Sweet canapés are best kept back for the evening unless there is no dessert.

Hot

• Thai Marinated King Prawns with Mango Sauce (gf)
• Venison, Toasted Focaccia and Bearnaise Sauce (gfo)
• Asparagus, Parmesan and Parma Ham (gf)
• Pork Belly, Apple Puree, Sage Crumb (gf)
• Crostini with Blue Cheese, Fig and Walnut (gfo, v)

Cold

• Watermelon with Burrata and Balsamic (gf)
• Smoked Chicken, Mango and Toasted Almonds (gf)
• Poppy seed Macaroon, Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraiche (gf)
• Chicken Liver Parfait, Toasted Brioche (gfo)

Sweet

• Espresso Brownie Bites
• Lime and Passionfruit Tarts
• Meringue Kisses, Cream, Red Berry Coulis (gf)
• Cheesecake, Blueberry Compote

Vegan and vegetarian canapés

A full set, cooked with the same attention as everything else: polenta, mushroom and rosemary; onion thyme confit tart; bang bang cauliflower; broad bean gazpacho soup shots; hummus and red onion bruschetta; chilli peanut Vietnamese rolls. All vegan, none of them an afterthought.

In a marquee

All of the above are served from the field kitchen. The cold canapés hold better on a hot afternoon, so on a July wedding we would weight the selection towards them and keep the pork belly for a September date.

Allergens

All fourteen declared allergens are listed against each dish on request, and we ask for every dietary requirement in writing before the tasting. Our kitchen handles nuts, gluten, dairy, egg, fish, shellfish, soya, celery, mustard, sesame, lupin, molluscs and sulphites, so we cannot guarantee any dish is free from traces. (gf) gluten free · (gfo) gluten free on request · (v) vegetarian · (ve) vegan Reeves Events holds a 5-star food hygiene rating.

How many, and for how long

The usual answer is four to six canapés per person over an hour to an hour and a half. Below four people arrive at the wedding breakfast genuinely hungry; above six the meal that follows starts to feel like too much.

The variable that changes it is not the guest count, it is the length of the gap. A drinks reception that runs to two hours because of a long photography schedule needs six or seven and something more substantial among them. Tell us the actual timeline rather than the intended one.

What canapés are really for

Two jobs, and only one of them is food. They feed people who have often not eaten since breakfast and are drinking on an empty stomach, which is the single most useful thing catering does all day. And they get a room of strangers talking, because being handed something is a reason to turn to the person next to you.

That second job is why they are handed round rather than set down. A tray on a table is a bowl of crisps; a tray carried through a room is a conversation starter.

Getting them to the people at the edges

The most common complaint about canapés at any wedding is that some guests never saw any. It happens because trays go where the crowd is thickest, which is where they empty fastest.

We brief staff to work the edges of the room first — the elderly relative in a chair, the group who have drifted to the far end of the lawn, the people standing with the bride’s parents. It is a service decision rather than a food one, and it is the difference between good and bad canapé service.

Outside, and in the rain

Canapés are usually served outdoors, which makes them the most weather-dependent part of the day. We plan both versions: outside on the lawn, or inside with the room arranged so it does not become a bottleneck. The decision is made on the morning.

Dietary requirements on a tray

Handing round a mixed tray does not work for an allergy, because the guest cannot see what is in anything. Vegetarian and vegan canapés go out on their own trays, clearly, and anything for a named allergy is brought separately to that person. See vegan and vegetarian menus.

Next: wedding breakfast menus, or bowl food if the reception is the meal rather than the prelude to it.