Fancy appetizers with wine and beer?

If you’re having a reception at dinner time you need to serve people a full meal!

You can have a meal time reception or you can serve appetizers, you can't do both.

If you only plan on serving appetizers, you should have a much earlier wedding time so people can leave afterwards to go eat dinner. Having your reception at dinner time, people will expect and should be serving them dinner food or you might have a lot of people leaving to go eat.

You can have apps as your meal as long as there is enough to equal a full meal. It's been done several times before. But it can cost the same amount sometimes more than a regular meal

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It is a good idea but as other people said I would not do it at 5 p.m. Can you move the reception up? It is suggested to do a reception like that at about 2p or 3p that way people have had lunch and most likely won't come hungry and will leave around dinner. If you plan to do that I would state that somewhere in the invitation because any wedding I have gone to I do not eat in advance and expect to be fed but if forewarned then I will be sure to accommodate.

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We had all appetizers and had more than enough food to keep our guests full and happy. It is possible, but you have to be more aware of what apps and how much you provide. A veggie platter and some bacon wrapped shrimp won't be enough at dinner time. We had almost 20 apps with multiple proteins, vegetarian, and vegan options. We are still hearing raves about the food at our wedding, and no one left early to eat dinner. We also served wine and beer along with one signature drink and included a champagne toast. Our reception was set up more like a cocktail party which is not only what we wanted, but becoming more common. Talk with your caterer to see what options they have if this is something you want to do, and I also recommend letting guests know the reception with be cocktail party style so they don't skip the apps while "waiting for dinner".

I think 5 pm and beer is involved ppl are gonna want to eat an actual meal.

Honestly, I prefer a cocktail party style affair. Have stations set up that people can go back to throughout the evening. I think it brings a nice social dynamic to a wedding and gets people moving around and dancing. Also, for a 6 hour party, 20 to 30 small finger food bites are enough per person. They really fill you up without realizing it.

As a guest, I would expect a meal to be served at a dinner time reception. Lighter appetizers during cocktail hour with a full meal, with beer and wine, would be the more ideal option.