Meaning & use
wedding banquet
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Meaning
nouncountable
A large formal meal held to celebrate a wedding, usually after the ceremony, with many guests.
Grammar: Countable, so you can say 'a wedding banquet' or 'wedding banquets'. For the event as a whole, people often just say 'the wedding reception'.
Patterns
- hold a wedding banquet
- attend a wedding banquet
- a wedding banquet for 200 guests
They held a wedding banquet for two hundred guests in a hotel ballroom.
The wedding banquet began at eight, after the ceremony and photos.
In many cultures the wedding banquet is the biggest and most expensive part of the celebration.
Word forms
| plural | wedding banquets |
|---|
Common combinations
- hold a wedding banquet
- Her parents decided to hold a wedding banquet in a traditional restaurant.
- wedding banquet hall
- The wedding banquet hall was decorated with white flowers.
- a lavish wedding banquet
- They spent months planning a lavish wedding banquet.
- wedding banquet menu
- The hotel sent us three options for the wedding banquet menu.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wedding reception
- The usual everyday term in Britain and America for the party after the ceremony; a banquet is specifically a large, formal, seated meal.
- wedding feast
- More literary or traditional, often suggesting a big celebratory meal rather than a modern catered event.
- reception
- Shorter and more general; it can include dancing and drinks without a full formal meal.
Word family
- banquet noun
- A large formal meal for many people, often to mark an occasion.
- banqueting adjective
- Used about rooms or facilities designed for formal meals, as in a banqueting hall.
Commonly confused: wedding banquet or wedding breakfast?
wedding banquet vs wedding breakfast
Despite the name, this British term means the meal held after the ceremony, not a morning meal. It is similar to a wedding banquet but usually less grand.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'wedding banquet' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Hold a wedding banquet for + number of guests' is the natural pattern. Option 2 adds a purpose that makes no sense, option 3 uses the noun as a verb, and option 4 uses the wrong preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wedding banquet”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.