Cocktail Hour

Cocktail hour doesn't necessarily have to be an hour, but it's a transition between ceremony and reception for guests to arrive, mingle, find their seats, use the restroom, etc. and have a light snack and drink while they wait for bridal party announcement and tables to be called for dinner. I think with most hosting events, there is a social period before going straight to the meal.

View Quoted Comment In addition to this it gives you and your new spouse a little time to yourselves after the ceremony which is so important. The whole day is such a whirlwind you need a few minutes to enjoy a little alone time before the party begins.

The bride, groom, and wedding party often take photos during cocktail hour, especially if they didn't do a first look. Cocktail hour would give the guests something to do during this time. It doesn't need to be a full hour, but would give guests a chance to grab some drinks and a light snack and socialize a bit before the formal reception events begin. If not doing photos during cocktail hour, it's totally fine to skip this and just go right from the ceremony to the reception.

Even if you do first look and photos before the ceremony you’ll probably want to take photos afterwards to include other guests. But totally up to you. I think it’s nice to give guests a small snack just so people aren’t starving before dinner too. But obviously food is important to me haha. When I get hungry I’m really hungry.

You could use the cocktail period to informally greet your guests and for your guests to catch up with each other. Your photographer can get great candid pictures during cocktail hour as the energy is pretty high. Also, if you are having a separate ceremony space, this gives persons extra time to travel and park for the reception. Your dinner will be more formal and everyone seated. Do keep in mind, not all of your guests will be able to stay the entire evening. Greeting your older guests early will allow photos and more conversations. Best wishes.

We had one so the family photos could be taken between the ceremony and reception. There was no additional expense since we were already planning to have appetizers and a full bar.

We are not having a cocktail hour. I agree that it's another expense and not always necessary. My ceremony and reception are at the same venue. After our outdoor ceremony, the officiant will announce that dinner is served. Guests will probably mingle around and gradually go inside to find a seat. However, we are not holding dinner. The serving line will be open immediately after ceremony for guests to start lining up and eating. The bar will be open, too. We are allotting 20 minutes for photos outside with the bridal party and then have our grand entrance.

Our cocktail hour is included with our package. We are doing first look so we can enjoy cocktail hour. We love our food and this cocktail hour is going to be out of this world with appetizers and different stations. Plus, we also get to sneak away for a few minutes to enjoy a moment with each other and take it all in.

We are taking pictures with guests and enjoy the hour waking around with our guests. While it sounds sad we didn't want to miss something we were paying for. Plus it's a fun time to hang out with friends and family in a more.

We didn’t do first look pics, so all the photos of my husband and I together were taken after the wedding. We knew that would take a lot of time, and only so many people can wait too long without food or drink. My only regret is that I heard the hors deurves were really good, but we didn’t get any! As soon as we were done with pictures, it was time to line up for reception intros.

As a guest, cocktail hour is one of my favorite parts. An easy way to nibble & mingle with guests you’ll likely later sit with at dinner. We had first look and did cocktail hour to take family photos, then dash off to change outfits.

Ours is included with the package. So even though we're doing first look and most of our pics before hand, we're going to use the first 15-20 minutes to take larger group pics with our extended families (aunts/uncles/cousins/etc so they don't all have to get there super early) and to go do a few couples portraits and have a moment to soak it all in. Then we'll go and get to have some fun/informal time to hang out with our guests before the formal reception/dinner/dancing/etc. It gives us more opportunity to get to thank our guests for coming and talk to everyone.

Initially i really didn't want one. i was already offering so much food at my reception but my mother in law wouldn't let it go and in the end she said "let me deal with it" so she handled it all and it honestly came out really nice and people enjoyed themselves.

I agree with many of the above posters. Personally I love cocktail hours I find its often the best food at an event and its a fun time walk around mingle and take in all the little details the couple put together. For the bride and groom its a great time to take some more pictures at the venue (esp if the ceremony and reception are at different locations) and often more family and group photos are taken at this time. Some couples decide to join in on the cocktail hour for a bit while others take some time to themselves and have the venue set aside some food and cocktails for the bridal party in a separate space. Its completely up to you if you have one. Happy planning!

As a guest, cocktail hour is my favorite part of a wedding! I am doing a first look just so I can attend cocktail hour at my own wedding.

We're having 2 hours for our cocktail "hour". Like others have said, I think it's fun and we will have craft beer and cool cocktails for guests to try. We're taking most pictures before the ceremony, but it'll still give us time to eat, mingle, and get some family pictures taken.

We only had one cocktail hour, and it was immediately following the ceremony while we did pictures. We did pictures with the bridal party first, and then we dismissed the bridesmaids and groomsmen who weren't family. They went out to the cocktails. Then we did my family, then my husband's, and finally just the two of us. Why on earth would you have a cocktail hour during getting ready? Who wants to drink that bad that early? LOL. My husband and I also didn't do a first look.

We are doing cocktail hour to give the vendors time to repurpose our flowers from the ceremony into the reception. I also want to be really involved in the day. I am determined to not be one of those couples that doesn't have time to talk to some of their guests. I plan on talking to guests at cocktail hour and ENJOYING MY FOOD at the reception!!

We're having a 2 hour cocktail "hour" because I think it's fun. It's also when we'll be introducing the scavenger hunt. We want to eat and drink at our wedding, so we'll be taking pictures before the ceremony and trying to get a professional picture with each guest starting at cocktails.