Here's the dilemma...We are only offering alcohol to our guests during the cocktail hour...thoughts?

If I found out that I was only going to be able to have alcohol during the cocktail hour I'd try to grab at least 3 drinks so I could space them out later during the reception.

This is 100% rude. Your guests are adults and they can regulate themselves...and if they can't then your bartender should know when to cut people off from the bar. You're going to make some people upset by keeping the bar open for cocktails and then closing it suddenly. Having an open bar for cocktail hour implies to your guests that there will be an open bar for the rest of the night and when they find out otherwise you're really going to upset people. It's like inviting people over to your house for a party and then saying "Ok, you can have one glass of wine each, but since I don't like drunks you can't have any more after that!" rather than trust your guests to do the right thing and control themselves.

Haha, are you also going to monitor them to ensure they wash their hands after they go to the bathroom? Say please & thank you?

Your reasoning is so rude its almost astonishing, Judgy McJudgerson.

I'm normally pretty care free when it comes to these things, but I do think it's a little odd to offer alcohol at the beginning and then cut people off. I think you should either have no alcohol at all, or let adults make their own decisions and keep the bar open.