Day of itinerary with pre-ceremony cocktail hour

Are you planning on joining cocktail hour? Usually it’s utilized to take family photos. I’d do separate pics from 4-4:30 with parents & bridal party. The first look at 4:30 with couples’ photos until roughly 5:30. Coed bridal party photos until 6 and then crank out family photos at the beginning of cocktail hour or as soon as Bridal party pics are done. It’s also a good way to grab photos with your guests as they arrive. Then you can mingle for the remainder of the hour before your ceremony.

I’m having both - hospitality hour (pre-ceremony) with prosecco, rose and macarons 2-3pm. Ceremony 3-3:30pm. Cocktail hour 3:30-4:30pm with open bar. Dinner served at 4:45ish. We’re taking as many photos as possible before the ceremony. We’ll take some photos during cocktail hour.

View Quoted Comment I believe we are gonna use the cocktail hour as a time for us as a couple to be alone, relax and take it all in before the ceremony. MOH and BM will host the cocktail hour for us.

Cocktail hour was one of my favorite parts of my wedding. Definitely not something you should miss.

View Quoted Comment What does "MOH and BM will host the cocktail hour for us" even mean? Are they paying? Or will the bridal party just be able to go enjoy it?

I'm also curious if you and your FI are wanting to take advantage of the sunset for pictures in addition to your ceremony. If yes, you may want to have your ceremony more in the 6:45-7:15 window so you can have some romantics taken with that lighting.

Also, unless all of your pictures are scheduled to be taken before the ceremony, you will need to schedule some length of cocktail time after the ceremony. And since the preceremony cocktail time is during a meal time, you should plan for some apps as well.