Do I need to serve dinner at my 3:00 -7:00 PM reception?

I say yes. And it should be a meal. If you did like 2-5 I would probably say no. But spilling into evening time, most people want to eat by 7.

Yes, you do. My aunt's wedding ran that length of time and she had a buffet dinner. That's around dinnertime for people.

If he wants finger foods only because he believes it will cut costs, he's wrong. You'll need enough finger foods to replace a full meal for *each* guest; that can get to be quite pricey.

I eat dinner by 6 so yes, I would say a full meal at 4:30 or 5:00

Yes you do. But you can cut the guest list......

Yes please, otherwise expect people to leave early to get dinner

Yes. I would be SO cranky if you served me finger foods during a meal time. I probably would get pretty drunk as well and then leave looking for food. If its during meal time then feed them dinner. If you are on a budget, BBQ or Italian would be just fine If he really wants finger foods, can you move it up to a morning ceremony and then do cake and punch reception?

So should I serve dinner between 4:00 and 5:00 PM? And still serve finger food at 3:00 PM?

You could do a BBQ buffet with some traditional sides, and cold salads and fresh fruits to lighten it up a bit if you didn't want to make it feel too heavy for being a late lunch/early dinner.

I'd either serve a meal or finish earlier. Without a meal, there's no real reason for people to stick around for four hours anyway. All the finger-foods receptions I'v ever been to finished in two hours or so. And that wasn't a bad thing - we had fun! That's just how long it feels right to stick around chatting and eating caprese skewers for.

Check out Pinterest

Yes

Yes. It's during a meal time.

3-7 runs through dinner time, so yes, you need to serve a meal. You have a number of options.

1. Back the time up to 1-5 and serve finger food

2. Serve dinner and keep the time

3. Reduce the guest list if you can't afford to feed everyone.

Bear in mind that costs do add up such as for alcohol, servers, catering, tips and etc.

Yes. If you are having your reception during dinner hours you need to serve a dinner. If you just want finger foods I agree with everyone else and move the time up to just after lunch. Then it can be like afternoon tea.

If you don't want to serve a meal make the event from 2-5. The current time you have requires a meal IMO.

Dinner is a must your reception doesn't end before dinner so a full meal necessary

Yes

Yes

Yes.

5:00 p.m. is when you enter the universally official Dinner time period. lol

People will be hangry by 7:00. (I'd be hangry by 4:00 actually....Haha! )

If you are having a cocktail hour (when you will be taking pictures with your photographer) then light refreshments are courteous, even if you are serving dinner at 4:00 or whenever in the evening.

7 PM starts flowing over into the dinner hour. But 4 PM is painfully early for dinner. If it was up to me, I would move the whole thing an hour earlier and then you would be in the clear with just finger foods. 1-5 doesn't really give people time for lunch before the ceremony, so I would avoid that.