Do you want to have a beautiful brunch reception and need inspiration for your menu? Brunch has become a popular weekend meal for young people, so many couples are turning towards brunch themed wedding receptions.
It’s also common to host a post-wedding brunch the day after the wedding. If you’re having a destination wedding, or you simply have a lot of guests coming in from out of town, it’s common to share one last meal the morning after the wedding takes place.
Whether you’re hosting a brunch wedding or a post-wedding brunch, use our ideas to plan your menu, decor, and more. Here are our favorite brunch menu ideas!
Here are some of the best ideas for brunch at your wedding. Find food ideas, brunch cocktails, decorations, and more below to plan your wedding brunch.
1. Mimosa Bar
Serve champagne and orange juice at your after wedding brunch to make some lovely mimosas! Mimosas are a classic brunch drink, so your romantic brunch won’t be complete without them.
To step up classic mimosas, create a mimosa bar where guests can make their own cocktails! Choose a few different kinds of juice, like classic OJ, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, mango, or your favorites, and provide a few bottles of champagne. Add some garnishes for an extra cute look and lets guests DIY their mimosa!
2. Donut Wall
Donut walls are trendy and a fun decoration at your wedding brunch dessert table. The donuts are a great treat that guests can bring home as favors.
Everyone loves donuts – some couples even choose to create donut wedding cakes instead of the traditional cake. This is another fun option, but the donut wall is also a trendy look. Add pops of fun colors and delicious donuts to the walls at your wedding!
3. Tea Party
Go for a tea party theme and serve high tea at your wedding brunch. A tea party brunch can give royal wedding vibes, or you could even go for an Alice in Wonderland theme! Either way, serve up some tea and finger foods for a fun brunch menu.
4. Cereal Bar & Flavored Milk
If you and your partner are cereal fans, serve lots of yummy, sugary cereals with flavored milks! Don’t forget to include non-dairy milks for guests with dietary restrictions.
A cereal bar is a fun, nostalgic food idea, and it’s cheap to put together! Make it one of many food stations – you can set up a cereal station, an omelette bar, bagel stations, and more for a complete wedding brunch menu.
5. Bacon Everything
Brunch is not complete without bacon, so serve up lots of this tasty breakfast food at your wedding brunch! You could also serve bacon-wrapped hors d’oeuvres for a classy take on this breakfast meat.
6. Parfaits
Yogurt parfaits are a fresh and delicious breakfast food that is great for serving at brunch. If you add a layer of angel food cake, it can elevate your parfait to be perfect for a wedding.
7. Bagel Bar
Serve up different flavored bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and other traditional toppings. You can have different food stations so guests can try multiple foods! A bagel station is sure to be a popular stop. Include toasters if possible!
8. Waffle Bar
Serve up delicious waffles with a build your own waffle bar at your brunch. You can also choose to serve a pancake bar. If you have staff working your wedding, you could have one of the caterers working the waffle/pancake station to custom make them for guests.
If you’re having guests serve themselves, however, it’s still totally possible to DIY – just make a sign with instructions and make sure guests are careful not to burn themselves. Leave out plenty of fruit, whipped cream, and other toppings.
9. Brunch Table Decor
Decorate the brunch table with gorgeous florals and wedding decor for a unique look. Add fruits and berries in bowls for color and to add some freshness to your brunch. Serve food on linens to keep a clean look.
All of your details will be noticed by your guests, so don’t forget to make your big day look great! If you have another theme in mind, you can tie brunch into your theme.
10. Bloody Mary Bar
Serve Bloody Mary’s to help your guests recover from all the partying the night before! The bloody Mary is the second most popular brunch drink after mimosas, so set up a bar for each!
A bloody Mary bar needs some vodka, bloody Mary mix (or tomato juice, hot sauce, lemon, and Worcestershire sauce), and toppings like olives, bacon, tomatoes, celery, and pickles!
11. Avocado Toast
Avocado toast is the ultimate brunch food, so make sure this is an option on your brunch menu!
12. Finger Sandwiches
If you decide to serve a high tea for your brunch, include delicate and delicious finger sandwiches on the menu.
13. Crepe Cake
Serve a wedding cake made of crepes for an interesting looking and flavorful tasting cake at your brunch. Not quite a traditional wedding cake, but it is unique!
For something similar, a pancake wedding cake is another great idea! Add fresh fruit, flavored syrups, and other toppings for guests.
14. Coffee Bar
Have a coffee cart at your brunch to wake up your guests. You can also serve coffee cake or get coffee from a popular chain like Starbucks.
Between the mimosa bar, bloody bar, and now a coffee bar, there will be plenty of drinks for loved ones on your wedding day.
15. Brunch Cocktail Station
Some cocktails to include at your brunch are screwdrivers, bellinis, mimosas, and other citrus flavored drinks. Make your brunch a dance party by serving lots of yummy drinks to get people out on the dance floor!
16. Omelette Station
If you have caterers on hand, elevate your brunch food stations with an omelette bar! Omelettes are quick to make, so if you have a chef ready with pre-chopped veggies and other toppings, wedding guests can order an omelette to fit their tastes.
17. Pastries
To complete your brunch menu, add in some assorted pastries like croissants, cinnamon rolls, and other sweet treats. Add in fresh fruit and any condiments, and guests can easily serve themselves!
Here is our step by step guide on how to plan a brunch for your wedding day.
When determining if you want to have a brunch wedding, decide if an early morning ceremony is right for you. If you and your partner are early risers, you may enjoy a breakfast themed wedding.
Depending on the time of day you choose to have your wedding, it may affect when to book your venue.
If you love brunch and think an early morning wedding is romantic, serve your favorite breakfast foods at your wedding. If you would rather have an evening event, a brunch wedding may not be the best option for you and your partner.
Sometimes people have brunch the morning after their evening reception. This is typically called a “farewell brunch” to spend more time with your family and friends who were guests at your wedding.
Usually this event is way more low key than the wedding reception. You can choose to have the brunch meal at a venue with invitations and RSVPs, but some brides just choose to book a reservation at a local brunch spot for a small group.
Whether you decide on a morning wedding or an after wedding brunch, they are both classy options for an extension to your wedding plans.
Timing
The ideal reception time for a brunch wedding is between 11am and 2pm. If you are planning on having your ceremony before the brunch, it is more common to have an afternoon brunch served.
If you are having an after wedding brunch the morning after your wedding ceremony, anytime between 11am and the afternoon is ideal. If you have the brunch any time before 11am, some guests may not be able to handle so much heavy food and cocktails that early in the morning, so keep this in mind.
Usually an after wedding brunch lasts about 2 hours. If you were up all night at your wedding the day before drinking and partying, be considerate to your guests and schedule the brunch later in the day— from around 1pm until 3pm. Make sure you send your guests a wake up call the next morning!
Planning
Typically the newlywed couple or the parents of the couple are the creative director of the after wedding brunch. For the couple who wants to go directly on their honeymoon from their wedding, it will be impossible to plan a brunch.
The bride and groom are usually at the after wedding brunch socializing with the close friends and family from their wedding reception.
Invites
It usually depends on the couple’s budget that determines how many people are invited to the after wedding brunch. Some couples choose to invite most of the people from their wedding if it is cost effective, but some choose to only invite very close friends and family.
It is important to make sure that both sides of the family are equally represented, so that no one in the bride or groom’s family feels left out or excluded.
Decide on a Location
Some couples choose to rent a venue similar to the wedding reception if they are having a large brunch or if they want it catered. If a couple has a specific restaurant in mind, sometimes after wedding brunches can occur if your guest list is small enough for a restaurant to accommodate.
When choosing a restaurant, make sure that you look for restaurants that will allow you to decorate or make adjustments with your wedding planner so that the brunch is exactly what you want.
Plan the Menu
The final step to planning your wedding brunch is to plan your menu. This is the best part of planning a brunch because all of the options are so tasty and delicious!
Plan your wedding brunch to have all of your favorite breakfast foods so that your guests are well fed. Also serve lots of brunch cocktails for your 21 and over guests can have a fun time!
You can choose to have cakes at your wedding brunch if you want, but it is not necessary. A small one tier wedding cake is a good option for a wedding brunch.
Attire
Most of the time the bride will not wear her ceremony wedding dress to the brunch, she will wear a shorter or less ornate dress.
The groom should wear lighter colored suits. Other groomsmen should also wear suits. Think of the brunch as a more low key event that is still formal. Guests can wear more casual fabric, but this is still an event for a wedding so keep that in mind for the dress code.
If the brunch is the day after the wedding, wear whatever you would normally wear to a brunch, or whatever matches the formality of the restaurant! For women, consider sun dresses or another casual but cute outfit. For men, a button down should do the job – no need to wear a tie, unless you’re eating at a very fancy brunch restaurant.
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