Late Night Wedding Snack Ideas

After your perfect wedding ceremony, you and your guests will be dancing and celebrating late into the evening — and dancing guests require fuel! If your wedding reception lasts more than a few hours after dinner is served, it might be a nice gesture to offer guests a late night snack. 

A late night snack is often served during the dancing portion of the evening, and we recommend talking to your venue or caterer about the best timing and any options they have on their menus. Alternatively, if it is allowed in your contract, you can contact local restaurants or food trucks to see if they offer catering for late night reception snacks. For inspiration, we’ve collected the most fun and delicious snack ideas for you and your guests. 

Keep The Party Going (and Caffeinated!)

Part of the reason for the late night snack is to provide the fuel needed to keep the party going! The perfect late night snack to keep the energy up is a coffee and hot drinks bar — think gourmet coffees, hot chocolate, or a wide variety of specialty teas. You can offer different kinds of coffee, and plenty of treats for the guests to customize with. In addition to the classic ideas of creamer and flavored syrups, load up the table with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, sprinkles, marshmallows, and cinnamon sticks. You can also have fun with crushed candies — think peppermint, butterscotch, etc. If you want to really amp up the party vibes, add a bartender to help give the drinks a little extra kick. Irish coffee, anyone?

A coffee bar will keep everyone’s energy up, but you might want to pair it with something more substantial. Mini desserts pair wonderfully with a coffee bar. Macarons, small tarts, mousse cups, truffles, mini doughnuts — anything bite-sized and sweet to pair with the deliciously bitter coffee. 

Lean Into Local

If you’re from Michigan or even just hosting your wedding in Michigan, it’s a fun idea to lean into local cuisine for your late night snack. If your wedding is in the fall, we love an apple cider and doughnuts set up. You can also add in apples and let folks assemble their own caramel apples! Have fun with the caramel apple toppings — nuts, sprinkles, mini marshmallows, or crushed candy bars. 

If you’re looking for something a little more savory, coney dogs and fries are a fun late night treat! Or, embrace the culture of the Upper Peninsula and let guests assemble their own poutine or offer mini pasty treats! Handheld savory pies make the perfect snack to grab before running back to the dance floor. 

Make It Sweet

If you and your new partner have a sweet tooth, but want to do something a little different than the standard dessert bar, then a chocolate fondue bar is the perfect choice. Not only is it a crowd pleaser, but it also offers plenty of snacks for guests to choose from. You can include salty snacks like pretzels and crackers, or sweet ones like marshmallows and fruit.

We also love the idea of a s’more’s bar, set up to let your guests assemble their own and get wild with the toppings. Make sure to grab all of your favorite cookies and candy bars for custom s’mores options. If your venue has outdoor space and fire pits, guests can roast their marshmallows there. Otherwise, you can use gel canisters or ask your caterer for ideas to roast marshmallows indoors! 

Another great idea is a classic combination: milk and cookies. You can pre-portion the milk to make it easy for guests to grab and go, and include all your favorite cookies. Lastly, if you have access to freezers from your venue or caterer, another fun treat is old-school popsicles and ice cream truck classics. They’re refreshing, sweet, and nostalgic for your guests!

Recreate Your First Date

Your wedding is all about you and your partner! Use your late night snack as an opportunity to celebrate your love and recreate your first date. Did you do dinner and a movie? Get some popcorn and classic movie theater candy! You can jazz it up with fun popcorn toppings too. 

Did your first date center around a particular kind of food? Bring that into the wedding! We love an Asian takeout theme for the late night snack — who wouldn’t want to snack on an egg roll or crab rangoon in between dance moves? Or have a taco truck theme and offer mini tacos, quesadillas, or nachos! 

Everybody Loves Apps

Appetizers is a broad category but it’s an easy win and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. You can go in any direction with this theme! Keep it bougie with a charcuterie board or fancy cheese spread. Or, you can lean into the love of greasy fried food and offer all the best classics: jalapeno poppers, soft pretzels, onion rings, fried pickles, meatballs, mozzarella sticks, chicken wings, and more. You can also include a wide variety of dips depending on the appetizers you chose, like ranch, spinach and artichoke dip, queso dip, hummus, etc.