Our traveling crêpe van has been hired for more weddings than we can remember. From marquees in Surrey to castles in Scotland; from barns in Staffordshire to farms in Yorkshire, we’ve seen weddings of all types and styles. But every single wedding, has one thing in common: none of them run to schedule. Not a single wedding where we have served crêpes has run exactly on time.
Somewhere along the way, there is a delay. Whether it’s the bride keeping the groom waiting at the altar a little longer than planned; or the limousine being held up in traffic; or the speeches going on and on (or in some cases, on and on and on) there is always a knock-on effect for other aspects of the day.
But, the first thing to realise is: it doesn’t matter. Really, it doesn’t. You will be so absorbed in the day and the occasion, and there will be so many people and things to distract you that you really won’t care. Really.
And the second thing to remember is: everything you’ve planned will take care of itself. If you’ve hired professionals then you will have nothing to worry about. We do sometimes come across other service providers who seem to take quite a few risks (which don’t always pay off, sometimes with spectacular results) but in the main, they are companies who don’t specialise in weddings. If you employ a company which is very experienced at providing wedding services, then you shouldn’t have a problem and everything you have planned will pay off. We have encountered most situations imaginable at weddings and we know how to adapt to the situation so that we can still serve pancakes to your guests. And a wedding which over-runs time-wise is nothing to get concerned about for experienced service providers.
Bearing in mind that most weddings do run late, providing your guests with a schedule so they know what to expect it is still worth considering. Of course, if the objective of your day is to keep everything as a surprise, then ignore this advice! But sometimes, it is useful for guests to know at least what is supposed to be happening, even if they can’t rely too much on when. For instance, we do know that some guests will go easy on the wedding breakfast if they know there are crepes being served later in the evening (in fact, we often meet brides who will do the same!).
There are various methods of letting your guests know your (provisional) schedule. Whether included on the invitation; on wedding stationery; specially produced flyers; or some kind of notice board at the venue, if you’d like to keep your guests informed as well create the impression that the wedding will be running like clockwork, then there are several choices available for letting your guests know.
Alternatively, you could just let things happen and accept that at some point things will end up running late.
Because in our experience, they always do.
