What Food Should You Serve at a Funeral Wake?

What food should you serve at a funeral wake? It is one of the questions we get asked most at Green Fig, usually by someone who has been handed the job at short notice with plenty of other things still to sort out. For most wakes, a cold finger buffet works best. Sandwiches, savoury pastries, small savoury bites and individual cakes. It travels well and suits standing and talking rather than sitting down to eat. We’ve been catering for funeral wakes across East Sussex from our kitchen just outside Pevensey since 2013.

Why a finger buffet fits the bill

At a wake, people tend to arrive at different times, move around the room and catch up with people they may not have seen in years. Food that needs a knife and fork means sitting down to eat, which can make things more formal than they need to be, as well as make the duration much longer. On such an emotive day it’s good to have a start and and end time, particularly if you’re catering at home.

Finger food is much easier as people can help themselves throughout the wake. It’s compact which makes sense if space is limited. And it’s also the most cost-effective option, and works well when you are not completely sure how many people will be coming.

What’s included in each funeral tea menu

If you would rather not choose every item individually, our funeral tea set menus make things much simpler. There are four to choose from, each with a fixed selection of sandwiches, savouries and cakes.

• Bronze. Assorted freshly cut sandwiches with standard fillings, pork and herb puff pastry sausage rolls topped with sesame seeds, mini individual quiches, vegetable spring rolls and individual homemade cakes.
• Silver. Standard and deluxe sandwiches, mini focaccia pizzas, chicken satay skewers, vegetable samosas, honey and mustard mini sausages and individual homemade cakes.
• Gold. Deep-filled tortilla wraps, cajun chicken skewers, homemade onion bhajis with mango chutney, pork and chorizo sausage rolls topped with poppy seeds, roasted pepper, sundried tomato and feta frittata bites, and individual homemade cakes.
• Platinum. Standard and deluxe sandwiches, salmon and dill frittata bites, roasted Mediterranean vegetable bruschetta with Grana Padano, Green Fig’s Southern fried chicken strips, a fresh fruit platter and homemade individual cakes.

At the time of writing, food only starts at £12 plus VAT per person for Bronze and goes up to £15 plus VAT for Platinum.

Building your own funeral wake buffet from the list menu

If you would rather choose the food yourself, or include something that was a particular favourite, our funeral tea list menu lets you choose item by item. You select at least five different items and build from there.

The savoury list includes standard and deluxe sandwiches, deep-filled tortilla wraps, cheese scones with cheddar and mango chutney, mini focaccia pizzas, speciality sausage rolls, homemade individual quiches, frittata bites, Green Fig’s Southern fried chicken strips, homemade scotch eggs, vegan bites, vegetable spring rolls with sweet chilli dipping sauce, onion bhajis with mango chutney, chicken skewers, honey and mustard sausages, vegetable samosas, coronation chicken tortilla cones, roasted Mediterranean vegetable bruschetta, miniature toad in the hole, homemade blinis and individual bags of Sussex Crisps or Kettle Chips.

For something sweet, there are whole scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, a fresh fruit platter, and individual cakes including Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle mini loaves, millionaire’s shortbread and fruity seeded flapjack. Worth knowing that the cakes come as a selection of two or three types rather than the full range, depending on your numbers.

Choosing from the list also lets you include a favourite. If smoked salmon blinis were always their favourite, you can include that too.

How much food to allow per person

With our funeral teas, you do not have to work it out. Everything is priced and portioned per person, so you order one set menu per guest, and we take care of the quantities. The list menu works the same way, priced per person once you have chosen at least five items.

Numbers can be harder to judge. You rarely know exactly who will come back afterwards until the day itself. Give us your best estimate when you enquire and you can always amend it later on. If the wake is being held in the church hall next to where the service is taking place, you can expect that most will drop in. If it involves a drive and many guests are relying on public transport, you may find that less will make it.

Do remember that providing funeral food is a token gesture, particularly for those that may have had a long journey and have a long journey back. If you don’t know the exact number it’s ok. But whilst the food isn’t the main event, we’re always taken aback by the amount of guests that take the time to tell us how much they enjoyed our food, and the volume of thank you’s and testimonials or reviews we get for having completely surpassed expectations and made a difficult day much easier. And very often customers confirm that they are very glad they outsourced what would have been quite stressful for them to do themselves. However handy you may be in the kitchen, any way you can make the day a bit easier will be worth it.

Dietary requirements and allergens

At a gathering of any size, there may be guests who are vegetarian or vegan, or who need gluten-free or dairy-free food. There are options for these across the funeral menus, and items containing nuts are marked. We can cater for all of them, even on the set menus, and will provide alternatives where necessary. If unknown we will advise on what is a safe assumption, just so everyone is covered. If you need more detail on allergens, ask us, and we will go through it with you.

It is worth telling whoever is collecting numbers on your behalf to ask about dietary needs at the same time. Much easier to sort before the day than on it.

Serving the food at home or at a venue

Where you hold the wake will usually decide how much help you need from us.

If you are having people back to the house, our delivery-only service brings everything on recyclable trays with clear lids, ready to serve. You supply your own plates and napkins, and a delivery charge applies depending on where you are. Cold drinks can be provided as well.

If you feel you don’t really need staff but do need additional equipment, you can have the food on a delivery only basis and we can arrange the hire of an urn, crockery, and cutlery, as well as additional tables and chairs. This makes things considerably cheaper than a staffed service, and works well if you have some people you think might like to keep busy or be helpful.

If you would like us to take care of the serving as well, the complete service adds a supplement of £6 plus VAT per head. That covers up to four hours of kitchen and waiting staff, tea and coffee, plates and napkins, and setting up and clearing down afterwards. Glassware and table linen can be hired if the venue does not have them. For a village hall or club with very little in the way of a kitchen, this is usually the one to go for (although we will need use of some sort of kitchen area)

Where we cover in East Sussex

Most of our funeral tea work is around Eastbourne, Hastings, Battle and Hailsham, along with Bexhill, Heathfield and the villages in between. You can find more information on our wake and memorial catering pages, including our pages for Eastbourne, Hailsham, Battle and Hastings.

Talk to us about the food

If you are arranging a funeral wake, you can choose one of our four funeral tea set menus or put together your own selection from the list menu. We know these bookings often come together at short notice and usually midweek, and that is fine by us. Send us a rough number and the date, and we will talk you through the rest. Email info@greenfigcateringcompany.com or fill in the enquiry form, and we will get straight back to you.

If you are planning a much larger event as a Celebration of Life, with a more involved menu and staffing requirements, we can do that too.

Finger Buffet – List Menu

From traditional to contemporary, our easy to use itemised list covers it all.

Finger Buffet – Set Menus

For those who can't decide what to have, our value for money set menus are just the thing.

Funeral Tea – List Menu

Feel free to add or swap items from our set menu giving you flexibility and choice.

Funeral Tea Set Menus

Keep it simple with these set menus - designed to suit everyone and every budget.