5:00 reception

I will never complain when I'm being fed as long as I am being fed. NOM NOM NOM

Can you do a cocktail-free cocktail hour after the ceremony? Meaning, soda, iced tea, virgin drinks, and light apps? That way you're not serving dinner right at 5:00 and can wait a little until the meal without starving your guests

ETA: I don't think 5:00 is too early, my suggestion is more if you're trying to extend the reception a bit longer.

I see nothing wrong with that. I'm having my ceremony at 3pm with a cocktail hour so dinner is at 5pm.

My reception starts at 4:00, we will do our first dance then serve the food. I don't think it's too early at all.

We ate at 5 and the venue ended up kicking us out around 10. Most guests left between 9 and 9:30. We had a cookies for people to snack on throughout the evening.

That doesn't seem to early to me. Our ceremony is at 2:00, appetizers and cocktails start at 2:30 and salad and bread at 3:40 and entrees served 4:00 which seems early but I know it's a long day for everybody so I am ok with the time.

Cocktail hour doesn't have to be about drinking. We're serving a ton of non-alcoholic beverages and nice appetizers. It's a good time for people to just wander around and talk to each other before the music gets going.

But I see nothing wrong with a 5:00 dinner.

A few questions, if I might. Are you getting married at the reception site and is it a religious ceremony? Seems to me that the ceremony might last more than 30 minutes and than travel time. The times seem very tight to me. When will you do pictures?

I'm calling my cocktail hour "social hour" If you're serving appetizers of any kind you could do that and then give you and your new hubby a chance to breathe inbetween

We're having our ceremony at 3:30, but we're having a cocktail hour before the reception, so our reception also starts at 5. Not too early, in my opinion.

SO much better than making people wait forever to eat.

Great idea for social hour. Cermony is at same place as venue... absolutely no travel time

As long as I get to eat I am happy! No worries if it's a tad bit early!

I'm having a cocktail hour in between 5:00 ceremony and 6:00 reception...my half of the wedding doesn't drink either but it still offers a great time to mingle, walk around the venue, enjoy some appetizers (Mexican themed food - NOM NOM NOM) and for FH and I to take pics with BP for sunset.

Would you be interested in a social hour or something of the like? Depending where you live, most people eat dinner between 6-8 pm.