Hors D'oeuvres. Is it necessary?

I recommend having something for your guests to nibble on if you are giving them a complete open bar. Perhaps decrease the number of apps?

What are your guests supposed to do between the end of your ceremony and 5pm?

You should for sure have cocktail type food for cocktail hour, especially since you will have the bar open. I am sure some will go and get something to eat in between the service and reception. But, I would have something out as your guest arrive. Cheese and fruit are a good option.

Yes, have appetizers/hors d'oeuvres. People will have traveled from afar to get there early before the ceremony, so it's more than just 1-2 hours of not eating, plus they won't be eating instantly when the reception starts; it'll be closer to 3-4 hours of not eating by the time dinner is served. I assume you're having cocktails (I hope so anyway)... You should provide some appetizers so people don't have to drink on an empty stomach.

ETA: I just saw you mentioned cheese, crackers, and fruit. That, plus a little more, will suffice. We had cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, dip, and I forget what else (if much more). As long as you have at least a few options of food, that's good. You don't have to get all extravagant with appetizers. However, if you have a very formal venue/reception, just cheese and crackers and fruit may seem a little out of place if everything else is fancy (our wedding was not fancy so the apps didn't seem too low key).

You really need to have something in my opinion, even cheese and fruit is fine, but have your caterer do it, do not just bring in cheese platters from publix and plop them down. Also that's a pretty large gap you got there...

I wouldnt serve alcohol without food. Why such a big time gap between ceremony and reception? Can you move it up to 4? ,maybe or 3:30? I dont really have any other ideas, our Hors D'oeuvres are included in our package.

^^ I agree with JuJuBee... Have the caterer put it together, it will look much more presentable and appetizing when done by the caterer; don't just do trays from a grocery store.

As a guest I always look forward to the cocktail hour food more than the plated meal. You definitely need to provide something, especially with the alcohol flowing.

We are having a catholic mass, so our ceremony will go until 4. So between the ceremony and the reception, there will only be around a half an hour (due to the receiving line at the end of the ceremony). During that half hour, they will be traveling to the reception venue, since the ceremony and reception are at different locations.

Thank you for all the input! I definitely do not want to leave my guests without any kind of appetizer, we are just trying to figure out our budget and what would be best without going broke! alot of our caterers we've been looking at just for our seated dinner, is around $10,000, for we are having around 250 people...so appetizers were looking to be around another $3,000!

You're working your budget backwards. You figure out how much money you have or will have. Then you figure out prices of venues and catering per person prices.. then you know your guest count. Not the other way around.

You definitely need appetizers. Guests should not be drinking on an empty stomach! That's a quick ride to sloppy drunk town.

If you're doing cheese, crackers, and fruit (totally agree with PP about having it plated nicely), you might want to add sliced French bread and brie in addition to regular hard cheese. Soft cheeses tend to class up a cheese plate. You could also add some summer sausage with stone ground mustard, olives, or something similar.

We are having a few passed appetizers (enough for each guest to have one of each) and then our caterer offers a fruit tray and a cheese/cracker tray. I would tell your caterer your budget and ask them for suggestions on how to cut costs!

If you skip cocktail hour and go straight to serving dinner at the reception then you can skip hors d'oeuvres! But if you are having a cocktail hour I'd give your guests something to nibble on - even if it is something smaller like displays of cheese & crackers, fruits, and nuts.

I would do the hors d'oeuvres for sure.

You need some sort of appetizers. They don't have to be super fancy but a cheese and cracker platter, a veggie tray and some fruit would be nice. Give your caterer your budget and see what they can do.

You should at least pick a couple of the hors d'oeuvres for everyone to nibble on while they have drink. You don't want people getting tipsy too soon.

I do recommend having something available. The last wedding I went to had a cheese/cracker/bread/fruit table and it was more than enough. You can find some great ideas on pintrest for this!