Cocktail hour.... why?

So your guests are able to have some food and drinks while you, the BP, and family take pictures. I attended a couple of weddings with no cocktail hours and let me say it's pretty brutal just sitting around for an hour.

Thanks! That actually makes a lot more sense. Would that be something that could be avoided then by doing pictures before the ceremony?...

Most of the reception areas here in NJ/NY/CT areas offer cocktail hour as part of their PP charges since it's a pretty common part of weddings here. Cocktail hour makes sense for some people because a lot of the reception will be dancing and some scheduled bridal things (cake cutting, bouquet toss, first dances, etc.) and the cocktail hour gives people a chance to find their place cards, mingle, and chat or whatnot. If you're having a long reception with plenty of food and drinks, you shouldn't feel obligated to have a cocktail hour.

And if you're doing photos with your FH before the ceremony it's even more of a reason that you don't need a cocktail hour.

Were having one so the bridal party can drive around town to take pictures.

It gives people a chance to drink and socialize before dinner starts

You should never cut this from a Wedding. It's a sign of a good reception lol I don't think its a good idea to void. It gives your guests time to mingle. Nobody wants to go straight to their table. My last wedding was in Malibu. Nice venue but the poor guests were in the sun during the ceremony. They all need a break. In fact one needed medical attention.

We skipped it. Our ceremony was at noon, so lunch was not going to be until about 2:00 anyway. We didn't want to delay it further by having a cocktail hour. And we had photos of all our guests, so people weren't just standing around waiting.

I like mine to be 45 minutes, for ALL posed formals, including bride and groom photos.....everything else captured documentary, so it actually looks natural. It's very important, no reason to not have it

You could skip it - but I probably wouldn't, for the sake of what Jay said. There's something about that "OMG WE'RE MARRIED" glow and smile that you just can't get with pictures before hand. And I promise you - while someone before me mentioned your guests needing that time - YOU will want that time to yourself&your husband/your closest friends, too.

We're doing a first look, and basically saving cocktail hour time to take a few pictures and catch any pictures we didn't during first look because we were late or something, but we plan to be at our own cocktail hour for at least half of the time.

I would rather mingle with and greet all of our guests with drink in hand instead of doing a receiving line at the church, or going table to table during the reception and potentially forgetting to eat.

It's a social hour for people to get drinks and mingle with guests who are not at their table. It gets people in a good mood, party mode. You have time for a few "we're married!" photos of you did most of your pictures before. Don't cut the cocktail hour!

We're skipping it, but mostly because we're having our ceremony and then maybe getting a few pics and hopping on a train with our guests to go to a river boat and cruise the Ct river for the reception. there's no room for it.

Because COCKTAILS!!!

You'll have photos to take, even if you do a first look. Unless it's an early brunch, people love a time to mingle and have a drink before they sit down with the eight people you put them with to have a meal.

And it's fun.

And....COCKTAILS!!!

Like Celia said, because alcohol.

Cocktail hour is great for pictures, and also for giving your guests a chance to grab some appetizers and drinks before your dinner. If your dinner is served instead of buffet, it can take a while for some guests to get their food, so having a chance to grab some apps is usually greatly appreciated. I have been at a few weddings where the people at the first 10 tables were well finished eating before the last table was even served.

Ya I agree don't skip it. As others said, it was originally to give the bride/groom time for pictures before this whole "first look" thing started. It also gives everyone time to meet each other grab a drink and snack on appetizers prior to the grand entrance of the bridal party.

We did 90% of photos before ceremony. We had a literal cocktail hour... 1 hour. We had a receiving line after our wedding that took 30 minutes, so after guests went through the line, they went to get a drink while we continued to greet people. Otherwise they would have been just standing around. Then we did just a few pictures after (grandmas/greeters/readers/people who weren't there for pics before the ceremony). We had dinner starting at 5:30 so we didn't do appetizers, but if it's longer than an hour or dinner won't be until 8, I'd suggest having apps. We just opened the bar (and had an open bar) starting right after the ceremony.

ETA: also gave guests a chance to use the restroom, find there escort card, and of course mingle with other guests.

We plan on doing a very short cocktail hour to save money on appetizers and what not. We are doing all of our pictures beforehand. Our ceremony and reception are in the same location so after we get married FH and I are immediately going down the block for a few photos of just us again. This way we get a few minutes by ourselves. This gives our guests and bridal party time to get a drink, use the restroom, find their seats, sign our guestbook, etc.. Our ceremony is from 5:00-5:20 and they are announcing the bridal party entrance at 5:50. Dinner will be served at 6:00 pm. So it will be about 30 minutes tops.

I have only been to one wedding that didn't have one but the planned it perfectly. My nephew and his wife took EVERY picture prior to the ceremony. EVERY ONE. When they walked by down the aisle as husband and wife they got directly in the car and went to the reception venue (his lifetime parish hall where beer and wine were more than welcome).

They welcomed all their guests as they got there and beer and wine was flowing. As soon as everyone was there (maybe 20 minutes?) we were seated, the food was blessed, and the buffet lines were open. I think if it had gone passed the half hour mark it might not have been a good idea because alcohol and no food is a bad combo, but it worked flawlessly for them. I do love cocktail hour, but this one worked.

We did all photos before the ceremony, so after a quick few minutes alone, we joined our guests for cocktail hour. I LOVED being able to be there. It was a great opportunity to greet our guests while everyone was still flying high from the ceremony. I guess you could go straight into dinner, but I found it harder to genuinely greet people when we went table to table. Cocktail hour felt much more natural and intimate to me.