Backyard Cocktail Hour

Rink option. I also do not have a bartender so it was going to be self-serve. What do you guys think of this idea, or how are you setting up your cocktail hour at home DIY style. Are you serving hot foods, or keeping it simple? Thanks ladies

I loveeee the coffee/hot chocolate bar personally. What a cute touch.

With 150 people, that's a lot of food to put out and have people self serve....maybe do something people can grab and go, like a little snack pack or popcorn? If not, I'd suggest platters like veggie trays/ cheese and meat trays because it'll be a nightmare to do hot foods without a serving staff.

Have you considered just doing cocktails at the reception location?

Thanks MrsMoralesTB, I am pretty excited about that . That was my thought about hot foods, I don't think I could pull it off without a serving staff. I have just begun to look into what that would cost me for a few hours (setup,serve, clean up), but I just don't want the extra expense and stress of relying on more people.

The reception hall is fairly small, and so I did consider this, except my guest would have to have the cocktail hour in the same room as the reception, and I didn't really want that. A snack pack is intteresting. I did think about veggie/meat trays and then I also thought maybe some hot food trays decorated like hot wings, egg rolls, etc (

Just another thing to think about...I'd worry about my guests drinking too much and then driving to the reception.

If you don't have at least one person to watch over the coffee and cocoa bar it will become a mess really quick. Do you have any friends that have responsible teenagers that want to make 50 bucks for a couple hours of work. Cleaning up the coffee/ cocoa station and replenishing fruit and veggie trays. If you just have them taking care of coffee/ cocoa station you could do a popcorn and chip bar that can be set up well in advance and a cookie bar with individually wrapped snack pack cookies. I am a germaphobe so I like individually wrapped stuff LOL. I guess you could do store bought cookies in airtight cookie jars so they don't go stale. You can also do nuts and mints. You could do brownies on the cookie bar and make it more of a dessert bar. As far as signature drinks go make up sangria in those pretty glass beverage dispensers with some nice plastic cups and call it done LOL. With the sangria, water, and coffee/cocoa bar you have done enough. 150 people is a lot of people. I am planning for about that many. If you do the popcorn bar it is suggested 5oz of popcorn per person. If you do cookie bar I read it is like 2-3 cookies per person. My family is COUNTRY and they like to eat so I would have to double that LOL. Have fun planning.

I also think cocktail hour implies alcohol selection...so maybe not calling it a cocktail hour is a good idea if you're only doing non alcoholic beverages (nothing wrong with that-- that said, I would hope your guests know their limits driving between the two spaces, or else you have bigger fish to fry).

I'm a professional event planner and in my experience, hot foot trays, even if premade and heated before your ceremony, often leave the food luke warm and soggy (especially things like egg rolls and fried foods). The hot food just adds an extra element of stress--- someone has to be delegated to heat and serve the food in the minutes after your ceremony instead of enjoying and celebrating.

I think I would rather have cocktail hour in the back of the reception space with a bartender and some basic appetizers. I would rather spend a few extra dollars than worry about a DIY cocktail hour

But more cohesive. Sorry my computer did that to me

If it's going to be chilly enough for them to need hot chocolate, then the cocktail hour should not be outside. I would be *pissed* if I had to stand outside for an hour (or more) in January.

^^ I agree with MrsMoralesToBe. I am SO glad that my original plan fell through and I hired somebody to cater. I had 175 guests (we were told by "experts" that of the 200 invited, we wouldn't have more than 150 show up. HA!) and we did the cocktail/reception in the same space with the bar out front (outdoors, but it was super warm in September) and people could mill around after the ceremony in the same space and have appetizers before the "reception" started. I think you should have them go from ceremony space to your venue and go inside for the cocktail time. I don't think there's anything wrong with that since you're not doing a plated dinner anyway, right? Even if it's just hiring a small team to do minimal work, you don't want to have to worry about clean up, refilling things, etc. It's your wedding! Have a bar with a limited menu (we did wine, beer, one signature cocktail, and basic non-alcoholic beverages) and a bartender that worked for tips (she made $300 in the 6 hours)

Maggie- I love the sangria idea, that is probably a go.

Sunshine- It will be chilly, but not freezing. I live in Phoenix, AZ so it will probably be somewhere around 60 degrees outside.

I went to the reception venue yesterday though, and started toying around with having the cocktail hour there. My package includes beverages so if I do it there, I don't have to worry about additional water or soft drinks, just the alcohol. I am going to contact the caterer about how much it would be for a few hot appetizers, and maybe just bring in the cold stuff myself. I have a DOC so she could be in charge of making sure that gets set up. I really wanted it to be outside because it is a beautiful place, but its starting to seem like more of a hassle. Gonna play around with it this weekend and make a decision next week. It's like the more I get done, the more there is to do :-( (excuse that last rant)

@TheFutureMrsDavis

I live in Phoenix too! January can be so so lovely here! Where are you getting married/ where are you from in the valley? Now I can offer better local solutions

I would be concerned about having a cocktail hour with alcohol before a 30 minute drive to a separate reception location. The hot chocolate bar sounds cute, but adding additional alcohol seems potentially dangerous and, depending on your state, could be a liability for either yourself or the homeowner.

I would not recommend having even ONE cocktail and driving 30 minutes in Arizona. Strictest DUI laws in the country (due to the highest rate of DUIs, smdh).

Mandatory time in tent city prison too. Not a good favor to take home from a wedding at alllll.

@ MrsMoralesToBe

YAY city twin....I know, I am really excited about it. Our ceremony is at a close friends home in Waddell, that is north/west like 177th ave and olive. Then our reception is at this place called La Princesa on 59th and Indian school. It is a little hood on the outside, but nice and intimate on the inside. I grew up in the west valley near Tolleson and Avondale, so that is why our wedding events are there. FH lives in el mirage, and I live in north phoenix like between Paradise valley and Sunnyslope. ANY ideas that you have are welcome. Are you having any entertainment during your ceremony, like a photo booth...if so, any recommendations?

8815wedding and MrsMoralesToBe-- Ya I hear the concern about the alcohol and then the drive. I was going to make a cute sign of sorts that said drink responsibility or something like that. However, I do hope that my guests are not so silly as to come and get hammered at my wedding ceremony, or at least have chosen a DD; because there will be alcohol at the reception and they will still have to get home. I can't stress over the possible irresponsible behavior of my guests. Also, Arizona I don't believe Arizona has a dramshop law, which imputes liability for an individuals reckless or negligent behavior on the individual that provided them with alcohol, and if we do have one, it would probably have to be really egregious. The crowd that will be coming aren't really heavy drinkers either, so I don't foresee it being to big of an issue.

No outside in January. Except in Hawaii. I love the hot chocolate bar idea, but it seems like a very dangerous combination of cold, alcohol and driving.

Phoenix in January is gorgeous. Its like October in the Midwest. We get 4pm high temperatures of 70-75 and sunny (I am a notorious January daisy duke & ugg boot wearer---- don't judge meeee) so I think an outdoor cocktail hour is just dandyyyyy. If it was July in Phx, I would say NO to an outdoor happy hour for sure.

I'm having my wedding in Chicago so I'm super unhelpful when it comes to wedding here.

That said, we should be bridal buddies because I have only one bridesmaid who lives in state and she's tired of hearing me wedding chatter, I suspect. Also, I live right at Desert Ridge basically so super close to you.

Groupon has some great deals on photo booths in Phoenix right now as well (I'm jelly bc I need one to pop up for Chicago ASAP).

I have a friend who just got married out in Goodyear in October and her live band at her reception was like 6k...which I thought was a bit pricey. But she also had super fun lawn games (cornhole, horseshoes, croquet" which she rented and had delivered for under $100 total. Might be a fun thing to have if you do the outdoor cocktail hour

YES, those are the kinds of things I wanted to hear! Some of my guest can be stuffy, but I think outdoor games sounds really fun.

We can def be bride buddies, my email is ********@*****.***...**** free to chatter. I know I am always wanting to explode about the planning of this wedding,.

I actually bought a groupon for like $350, but the hidden fees drove the price to a little over $700. Now I am looking for a different one :-/

I just sent you a message on gchat, so now you have my contact info as well.

$700-- lawd. I hadn't looked too hard at them at all. Thank god group on is good with refunds!

The yard games were a really big hit and they're not too physically demanding so people can play in their nice clothing and not get too rumpled looking.

Also, if you can't find a photobooth company. My FH has professional grade camera equipment. I bet he would come do the "photobooth" photos for your guests and we can craft up a backdrop and find the photo booth accessories for super cheap. We're local anyways, he loves doing photography--even silly stuff. I was just at a wedding in NY that did the faux-photo booth with a photographer and sent prints to all their guests in their thank you notes!

Well I actually just went to my friends wedding in Waddell and they had the entire event in the backyard and it was beautiful! It will not be to cold to have it outside I would suggest maybe a heater or 2 just in case. I would say probably just do no alcohol until everyone is actually at the reception Especially since it's kinda out in the middle of nowhere. Once the cops have found out what is going on (and they will with all of the unusual traffic) they will be just looking for reasons to pull people over and you do not want people getting DUI's on the way to your reception. I actually live in Litchfield park like 10 minutes from waddell if there is anything I can help with. and My wedding is November 15th if you want any of my stuff once the wedding is over