"Cocktail hour" prior to the ceremony?

For such a late ceremony I like the idea of a cocktail hour with food before. Otherwise, your guests will not be eating until after 8. You can add in your timeline or with DOC not to let guests take thier glasses to the ceremony site. Staff members can be at the entrance to get any glassware. Just notice your date is soon. What time did the inivitation say to arrive?

Where I live, 8 PM is the most common time for a dinner on a Saturday night. But if too late for your crowd, I have been to a wedding where the cocktail hour was before the reception. It was a Saturday night, Jewish wedding, and the Rabbi would not drive till sundown. It was fine. No problem with getting people in.

I agree with PP that it would be a good idea but then hade staff retrieve glasses before they head into the ceremony area

My group will not want to wait on dinner for a cocktail hour so that's why we're forgoing it. Most of our guests are our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and they won't want to party the night away.

And I don't think I would care if they have a drink during the ceremony. They are all adults but maybe there's a risk there I haven't considered?

My FSIL got married in September it was about 95 degrees. The wedding ceremony occurred outside in the beating sun. They had an open bar before the ceremony. I was working with the DOC. I had to beg and plead for people to sit down at the ceremony site. The limo was on it's way and everyone was still at the bar! The DOC and I finally agreed to let them bring their beer to the ceremony site. I actually brought people beer while they were sitting at the ceremony site because I wanted them to stay there.

I do not see anything wrong with cocktails before the ceremony. But, it might be hard encouraging people to leave their cocktail.

edit - spelling

Maybe just the pictures of the ceremony with people holding glassware. One wedding I worked a couple weeks ago had glasses of champagne passed while guests were arriving. But, as guests went outside for the ceremony we collected the flutes.

I was thinking what @Kristin said. Maybe just make sure your day of coordinator or someone gets them all to the ceremony on time! But I think a cocktail hour before a late ceremony is a good idea!

Seems like it would work with your timeline.

Following. I'm having my ceremony/reception on a local steamboat with a cruise- I know some of the folks on my list tend to be either a few minutes late or cut it super close, so I thought having the cocktail hour before the ceremony would prevent people from literally missing the boat. I haven't decided if I want to miss out on the cocktail hour or if I'm ok with guests seeing me before the ceremony.

Many of our venues automatically do a mini cocktail hour before hand; we invite for a half hour ahead in 99% of our cases anyway, so it's a nice welcome.

My wedding on Sunday had people arrive early; it was in a beautiful flower farm the guests were loving taking photos with the flowers and chatting. They had a limited bar open; wine,beer, sparkling rose and sparkling water, and people did take their drinks into the garden for the ceremony. It kind of surprised me; we did a toast from the couple to the guests near the end; a waiter brought them all flutes of the rose, and when I urged them to toast, almost the entire group had a drink! It was really pretty funny!

For many situations; weeknights, city weddings, groups that are chronically late, this is a great idea that helps get the ceremony off the ground on time. I like it!

I think it makes a lot of sense with your timeline. It's a little different so people may not know what to expect, but if you're feeding them and they're drinking, they'll be happier in the long run, regardless of what the schedule is.

Our invite time is 7pm. We expect the ceremony to start a little later than that but not too long. My family is from out of town, just over an hour away so they will be arriving early and want to leave by 10pm at the latest since they're close enough to drive but still have a trip, if that makes sense. Another reason for no cocktail hour after the ceremony.

I'm really not super concerned about beverages in our pictures or anything like that. I'd rather that than have a group that get there too early and are bored until time to get started.

I went to a few like that and loved it. some snacks and drinks prior worked great.

I've never seen the cocktail hour before the ceremony but I think it sounds cool! I might be confused if it wasn't specifically spelled out on the invitation, though. Something simple is all I would recommend:

Cocktails at 6pm

Ceremony at 7pm

I like the idea of the cocktail hour before!!!! I think itd be nice to spread out the food and let everyone have a drink prior to the ceremony. I say DO IT!

Most of our guests had to take a ferry to our wedding, and the best ferry time put them at our wedding a half hour before our ceremony start time. So we had a mini-cocktail hour. We had a huge cheese plate with different crackers and dips, and the bar was open. People got there up to an hour early and wondered around the gardens at our venue (and hung out in the outdoor lounge area next to the bar). I did not care if people took their glasses into the ceremony space. Several guests complimented us on having the bar open early. We also had a standard cocktail hour after the ceremony and before the reception.

Other than my own wedding, I have never been to a wedding with a cocktail hour before the ceremony even though I am half Jewish. I think cocktail hour before the ceremony is traditional for Jewish weddings (none of the Jewish weddings in my family had the kabbalat panim).

Best wedding I went to greeted you with champagne and fruit kabobs. The collected the glasses before letting us into the ceremony. DO IT!

I went to a wedding that had cocktails before the ceremony and a cocktail hour with appetizers after it too. I liked it and thought it was a good idea.

It is a nice idea. I think it would be appreciated by not expected.

We are greeting everyone at the entrance with a glass of rose from our favorite winery outside of Charlottesville (where we met) and will have sparkling water for those who would prefer non-alcoholic. The full bar will open immediately after the ceremony for a cocktail hour.