1 Hour Between Ceremony & Reception Question

Can you fit a cocktail hour into your budget? An hour gap is pretty annoying for guests as there is not enough time to really do anything.

ETA: I read your post wrong and saw your cocktail hours starts after the hour gap. Could you move it up?

What about guests not staying in a hotel? Guests with their own transport?

Why can't cocktail hour start at 5 and then have the reception start at 6?

If they need to check in at that time and there's a shuttle it should be okay. It's not ideal, but I'm not really one to look down on gaps.

If you are not doing a first look your pictures should be taken during your cocktail hour. If that is already included in what you called the reception, yes you are not being thoughtful of your guests.

Gaps are one of the most annoying things I have ever experienced at a wedding and i have been to many!

Why do you have to start your cocktail hour later in order to take pictures? We are not doing a first look either and our ceremony will be from 5 pm to 5:30 and then cocktail hour will start immediately after. We will be taking pictures while our guests are at cocktail hour. Can't you start your cocktail hour at 5 pm? I guess I'm not understanding the need for the gap.

Nope nope nope! It is your responsibility to host your guests from start to finish. Leaving a gap is hella rude and not okay. Your cocktail hour must start immediately following the ceremony. (factoring in travel time, if any.)

Of course you can eliminate the hour gap; you just decide to do it . Cocktails should start at 5:00. If you're not doing a first look, you miss it; you don't make your guests wait around for at least an hour (since few ceremonies are an hour unless they're a mass.....)

Problem solved.

Can you start cocktail hour at 5:30? Also, what about doing a receiving line after your ceremony so you have time before the reception to spend with your guests? That is on of the biggest complaints/regrets from brides and guests: no time to spend with guests or brides who aren't able to stop by every table at the reception. A receiving line can kill about another 20 minutes, plus the 20 minute commute, and then moving cocktail hour up so your gap becomes 10-15 minutes.

I'm not sure how I feel about this because if you're getting married at a church and then having a reception somewhere else, I feel like I'd want to put on my party dress/gown for the reception. So, I'd use that extra time to change from my church dress into something for the reception.

Also, are your guests mostly from out of town? Staying in a hotel?

I honestly don't think an hour is a huge deal. Adults can figure out what to do with a short time frame without it being an issue. I see no issue with your time frame.

I totally disagree with a majority of people, you do not have to accommodate people every hour your special day. It's whatever you want to do, because it is your day! I wouldn't want to miss my cocktail hour, so I say do whatever you want! If the reception is 20 mins away, it's really not a hour in between anyway, so I say worry about what you and your future hubby think feels right! I wouldn't stress....too much,

On*

The whole purpose of a cocktail hour is to have your guests occupied (well fed and boozed) while you are taking pictures. If the couple is not doing a first look, this is when their pictures are taken. They do not attend cocktail hour.

If you don't do a first look, your pictures should be taken during cocktail hour. If you want to attend the cocktail hour, you need to do a first look.

Look at it from the perspective of your guests. Would you want to wait around for an hour? Your guests will probably be getting hungry waiting for the cocktail hour to start.

Start your cocktail hour at 5:00, and if you guys miss it that is just part of not having a first look. Don't make your guests sit around unhosted because of your first look preference.

Yeah, Daina, you kinda do once they've gotten dressed up and arrived. If it's the couple's choice not to do pix first, then they miss the cocktail hour. It's that simple.

And perhaps you're too new to know this but 'It's your day" isn't a valid argument for any kind of rude behaviour.

My wedding is at the same time as yours. so while we are taking pictures there is a cocktail hour that starts at 5.

Op, Your reception is used as a way to thank your guests and frankly I'll be annoyed if I had to wait an hour for cocktail hour to start. I think it would be a good idea to make your cocktail hour earlier.

And just because it is "your day", doesn't mean you should treat your guests like crap, Daina.

Thanks for the feedback, all!! It may sound silly, but we didn't want to miss the whole cocktail hour - that's where all the good food is! So the combination of that and not wanting the first look was a little confusing to me. Thank you!

Daina is right: "you do not have to accommodate people every hour your special day."

In this case, you don't have to accommodate them until 3:30. But once your event begins, you are responsible for hosting your guests. You can't just press pause and tell them to GTFO for an hour while you do a photo shoot. You either do a first look and take the bulk of your photos beforehand or you miss the bulk of your cocktail hour. And that's WHY the cocktail hour exists in the first place, anyway: so that guests are properly hosted while you are off doing photos.

You can have a staff member save a tray of cocktail hour apps for you if you want to make sure you get some. But you can't just make your guest sit around and wait for you to be ready to host them again.

Can you have your caterer do a private meal for you before the reception? We don't want to miss the appetizers either so after we take pictures but before we enter the reception (and while our guests are being seated), we will have a quick private meal (of just appetizers and drinks) in a separate room. ETA: If photos take longer than expected, our caterer will pack up the appetizers for us to eat later.