Cocktail Hour- To be or not to be?

For my FH and I's wedding the cocktail hour is for 1 hour proceeding the ceremony. (My reception and ceremony are at the same venue but different areas) So while we are running around taking pictures, our venue is serving appetizers waiter style with drinks. So its our transition between reception and ceremony. Honestly it is up to you though and what you think flows the best. People usually go to a wedding expecting some kind of meal and a cocktail hour isn't really a full meal. I bet you could make it one by adding a little more finger food options.

Our food is a little on the fancier side too but so is our wedding. What you serve depends on the venue and your wedding. Just an idea ours is, Coconut Jumbo Shrimp with a chili sauce and Macadamia Nut crusted Chicken Skewers.

Ok.... First of all... Please don't try and turn cocktail hour into a meal by serving more finger foods. Just... No. Typically the ceremony runs a half hour. Guests go to the cocktail hour. Exactly what it sounds like. Some provide a little snack, some don't. FH and I most certainly will. After the hour is up, guests file in the reception area where they wait for everyone in the BP to be announced in. Then comes the special dances, usually followed by a little more dancing. Somewhere in there dinner is served. More dancing. Cake. Sparkler exit. And end wedding. Unless you'd rather have something like a tea party. Then I'd move the ceremony to the early afternoon and skip the whole reception dancing thing and have finger foods and drinks. Not cocktails.

If you aren't doing a first look before the ceremony, I recommend at LEAST an hour and 1/2 to take pictures! The point of cocktail hour is to allow time for pictures/travel in between the ceremony and reception. Don't forget to factor in travel time to your start times if you aren't having your wedding all in the same place. Serve some appetizers and drinks to give guests time to mingle before the reception starts. Don't try to turn your cocktail hour into a full meal. However, you certainly could pare down your reception meal if you would prefer not to serve a full dinner during the afternoon.

We are getting married at 3PM. The ceremony will run until about 3;30PM. After that we are going to do some mingling with all the guests until about 4PM. We will start our pictures at 4PM until about 5:45PM. While photos are being done, finger foods(shrimp,mini BLT sliders & mini grillled cheese with a mini soup) will be served and the bar will be open for an hour. Guests can enter our reception tent at 5:30PM. Wedding party announcements into the reception will then start at 5:50PM...ish and then dinner at 6PM.

This is just what I'm doing but it really depends on the type of wedding YOU want. In my opinion, I wouldn't want cocktail hour foods and then have my guests do a bunch of dancing and them going home hungry.

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks ladies! That does help. I think what we'll do is push the time back so people are actually hungry for dinner and just serve cocktails while they wait for us to finish up photos.

Sounds like a good resolution Liza. Remember, the earlier your ceremony, the earlier you gotta get up to get your hair & makeup done, etc. I'm all about sleeping in, so can't imagine wanting to get up super early to have an afternoon wedding.

It's my wedding day dammit, and I wanna sleep in a little at least!

Hey Liza! We're going for a late afternoon wedding at 5pm on a Friday. Our ceremony and reception will be at the same place so we are allowing an hour for pictures and having our cocktail hour from 5:30-6:30pm (simple appetizers) then doing our announcement in at 6:30pm and mingling around till 7 then dinner from 7 to 8. That's the plan atleast ....I am going in with no expectations incase something F*%^s up