Hors d’oeurvres reception

I think you can get away with heavy hors d’oeuvres, but I would definitely state it somewhere. Something like "heavy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and dancing to follow" would work.

You CAN get enough appetizers to equal dinner but it’ll cost you more than dinner! For that timeframe you do need to serve a full meal. If you want appetizers only, consider a 2 pm wedding.

How substantial is the menu? If it’s enough to fill people up as a real meal (carving station, mac and cheese or potato bar, etc) I wouldn’t worry about mentioning it.

So long as you're having enough food to substitute as dinner, I wouldn't bother mentioning it. I would be worried that you might end up paying more for enough apps to equal a full meal, but it all depends on the caterer!

If it is enough to constitute dinner (and includes all meal components- meats/proteins, starches, vegetables), I don’t think you need the pre-warning, as people will have all the food they need and don’t need to worry about being sure to eat beforehand.
That said , I would make it clear somewhere that it will all be hors d’ouvres style as if I were at an evening wedding , I’d expect a meal so would probably pass on a lot of apps, not wanting to fill up before dinner ... and then be bummed I missed those opportunities when I realized that WAS dinner.

I would probably mention on your wedding website somewhere if you're having one because that time period is definitely dinner time. I don't usually eat many apps before dinner at special events so I would appreciate knowing that that's dinner so I eat enough to fill up.

View Quoted Comment Completely agree with this!

I agree with others about not needing to mention it I'd theyre substantial enough to be in place of a meal

We did something similar, and while the food was substantial enough to replace a meal we still indicated it on the invitations.

I would put hors d'oeuvres reception on the invite and on the website. I'm personally not a fan of these at all, it's never enough food in my experience.

Definitely let your guests know that there will not be dinner, especially since your wedding is at dinnertime. We went to a wedding last year where the couple did hors d'oeuvres only and didn't advise guests. Everyone was STARVING afterward and I definitely felt like we had over gifted considering we hadn't received a full meal.

Your dad is right. 5:30 is dinner time. I'd either move up the reception or just go with a dinner. We would leave a reception if there was no real food.

Yes! Definitely make it clear on the invitations.

You can say "Please join us after the ceremony for a hors d’oeuvre reception"

This way people won't be surprised when they don't see a buffet of food and they may decide to have a heavier lunch just in case.

I went to a wedding this year that included “heavy hors d’oeuvres” on the invitation and I did appreciate knowing this in advance. I was pleasantly surprised that I was full after one trip through the food buffet.

The timing is where you could go wrong here. We are having a cocktail party reception but our ceremony is at 2. Most guests will expect a meal at a meal time. Having said that, we added the details to our website... "Please join us for a cocktail party reception at the same location with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and merriment." Guests will be aware of what to expect and will hopefully be surprised by the amount of food, but also know to eat lunch first.

Hors'doeuvres can definitely amount to a meal, it just depeneds on what your definition of heavy hors d'oeuvres are and how formal of a wedding you plan to have.

Our friends LOOOVE to do get togethers and do potluck finger foods/hors d'oeuvres and honestly it'll keep you full all night, so long as there's enough for people to go back for more than 1 sitting.

As long as you keep the food coming people will be good - just make sure that if you have an open bar, make sure you actually have a lot of food for people to munch on, so that they don't get super drunk and have to drive home like that. From a guest point of view, Ive been to cocktail hours that were super skimpy on the food and i've hated that, but the ones that have like 3-5 stations, and like 6-8 different passed canapes are amazing and quite frankly by the time dinner comes around i'm so full already that it's hard to eat dinner.

As for mentioning it - you can put 'cocktail reception to follow' on your invitations if you want to ensure transparency.

I would be sure to let everyone know. I like what one person suggested for wording "hours d'oeuvres, cocktails, and dancing to follow"

It gives everyone attending the heads up that they will be taken care of but a formal dinner is not going to be served.

I second a number of previous posters. You should say "hor'deouvres, cocktails and dancing to follow". Some posters have made a good point that heavy apps can definitely be as much or even more than a full meal, since you'd be needing far more if you're doing it around dinner time. We were going to do an evening wedding but we changed out mind and are opting for a 2 PM wedding followed by a cocktail reception. We plan on saying on the invites what I mentioned above! I hope everything goes out

If my FH would have agreed I TOTALLY would have done a cocktail hour reception!!!

I would do plenty of appetizers, a salad bar, and then follow up with several desserts. That way nobody goes hungry & you are still cost efficient!