Appetizers at cocktail hour?

It's usually a bad idea to serve alcohol with no food. If anything, I would cut 1 or both of the other activities to allow for the food during cocktail hour. Are you doing this at an all-inclusive resort? If so, you can just arrange with your guests and say "we'll be at this bar from this time to this time" and have the guests join you if they would like. That way, whoever wants to party can do so, and if everyone if staying at the same resort, then any drinks/food they order should be included in their room rate. You don't need a whole organized event. Personally, after tons of time traveling, I want to just relax and do my own thing.

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Thank you, that is helpful. The resort is not all inclusive. I figure by the time the cocktail hour comes it will be close to 5:45ish. I should start the 5 hour bar service at this time so that it ends with the DJ. Small food items would be available to purchase for the guests at the poolside bar if they were so inclined. But I don’t like the idea of making them pay for food items at a wedding. At lot of my guests have not travelled a lot, and pretty much none of them have been to Jamaica. Fitting this group event into the 3 day span of all the guests being there, does seem tricky. I may skip this outing and have the appy and drinks on wedding day and still keep the welcome appy hour and room gifts.

I would have some food there with drinks. however is there bar options available to make it cheaper? like can you do wine and beer only for a lower price at least?

View Quoted Comment Yeah, that sounds like a good compromise of everything!

I would do either alcohol and apps or non alcoholic drinks only before dinner. And welcome baskets are super nice but you don’t need them.

View Quoted Comment That is the cheapest bar option. Wine, champagne, 2 types of beer, and rum punch. Also includes coffee tea pop juice ect.

Thanks everyone. I can say alcohol with no food is not the best idea now!

To save money on a gift basket you can just leave a card with a nice note and a single flower or a small dry flower bushel.

Something like this. Plain cards and dry flowers are pretty inexpensive.

Do not serve alcoholic drinks without some type of food.


We did welcome bags for our hotel guests— 50 rooms. We bought snacks from Costco, Trader Joe’s and local asian supermarket (the snacks were an ode to our honeymoon destination as some of our favorite snacks) as well as included a “Newsletter” with a welcome note as well as the weekend itinerary. It cost less than $300. HOWEVER, this is not at all necessary.

I would skip the welcome bags. We didn't do then and our guests didn't think anything of it. Alcohol and no apps just calls for trouble.

You mentioned that your dinner came with some appetizers. Is there any way those can be served during cocktail hour instead of with dinner?

I agree with others - definitely need food when drinks are served and you could do without the welcome gifts. Maybe just leave a personalized card? People appreciate the little things!

If you have a lot of out of town guests, the cost of welcome bags can grow very quickly. I think a better use of that money would be to put it towards appetizers at the cocktail hour. If people are going to be drinking for an hour before the reception, you should offer them some food to go with it.

Also, I like PP's suggestion of just welcoming your guests, and letting them know you'll be at the resort bar when they arrive if they want to party. You're not hosting anything, so your guests can buy their own drinks (if they choose to have a drink), and even snacks.

I know after travelling, all I want is a comfy place to sit and put my feet up! So, a welcome party is another thing that you can skip, or do it in a way that doesn't cost you money.

Never serve alcohol without food because you will have a ton of drunk guests. Most places require that you serve food for liability issues.

Welcome bags are optional and they get expensive.

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Thank you everyone for so many suggestions and help. I think I’ll keep the welcome day appy hour, but people can buy drinks if they want. There are so many of the guests that have never met. I don’t mind skipping the welcome bags, or just having a small thing like a card or maybe a small item from Jamaica. This would keep the costs lower. I completely agree with everyone’s comments and food with drinks! It makes total sense. I certainly don’t want everyone drunk early. I’ve also decided to get rid of the group event, and this will take the pressure of the money. I may be able to find guests coupons or deals for them, so if they do want to go adventure, they get a “wedding discount”

Thank you all very much!

Apps with booze. Can you ask them about less apps- 2 instead of 3 for example? I personally would skip the arrival party unless you think everyone is arriving same time and they’ll all want to start the party. I would be like-ugh. I would do 4 hours of booze. (1 hour pre-dinner, none during dinner and 3 after). 5 hours is a long time for wedding booze. You can do gift bags cheaply if it’s limited. Mine will be 2 bottled waters, goldfish crackers or ritz, peanuts or almonds, and candy like m&ms. I bought smaller brown paper bags. Im putting in area tourist attraction brochures I got for free from local chamber of commerce and a note with local restaurants and direction to venue

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Thanks Leslie

The welcome appy hour, is to get some food into the guests and to say hi and meet people. We will be there 3 days before the guests, and everyone else is arriving at the same time. At least that is the plan. This may change with a more limited flight schedule. The appy hour is not to start a party, I will not be serving drinks. Seems like the appy welcome hour is 50/50 with the feedback from everyone. I just feel like they have come a long way, will be starving and I want them to know I appreciate them.

This is the first trip for some of my guests, and most have never been to Jamaica. Some guests are nervous about not knowing people, there are no plus ones, so some are also travelling alone, and to have some people they have met might be valuable

I Need to do something extra for my guests after all that cost and time to travel all that way.

The minimum bar service is for 5 hours at 50 pp

Believe it or not but bottle water, even though simple, is expensive and a pain. In Jamaica a bottle of water will cost me 4-6 usd per bottle and travelling internationally with bottled water would be annoying and heavy.

The gifts I wanted for the welcome bags were to be more authentic items local to Jamaica. Jerk sauce, spa item from resort, tamarind, plantain chips ect.

So maybe I skip the appy and do nicer welcome baskets????

I jjust feel like there should be something bringing us all together before the wedding day. It’s a small resort and a smallish wedding, and I personally would feel awkward knowing people are there for the wedding and seeing them around for 2 days with out meeting,

Thank you for your suggestions and thoughts. I’ll have to really think about this. Maybe I should simply ask some of my guests what they want lol

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People will also be able to accept or decline the welcome hour. It would not be mandatory......