Ideas on what my guests to do between ceremony and reception

That's usually when a hosted cocktail hour is provided, with drinks and snacks.

View Quoted Comment Yes I just don't want my guests to just sit and stand around and not do anything

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Honestly if you just provide some food and drinks, people can easily socialize for an hour or so.

Is there a big gap between the ceremony and reception?

View Quoted Comment Hour or two

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Ok, well I think with travel to the reception, and getting everyone settled etc, an hour long reception should be fine. I don't think you need to provide more than food, drinks, and maybe some music.

How long of a gap are you talking about? Ideally, the gap should only be as long as it takes to drive from ceremony venue to reception venue if they are at different locations. In that case, guests socialize. Are you talking about the “Catholic Gap” where guests are left to their own devices for hours on end? Many people view that as disorganized and bad hosting. In reality, guests don’t nap, sightsee, shower to change into different fancy clothes, and the list goes on. They take that as a signal that the couple does not want them to attend the ceremony or reception so they will either attend the ceremony and go home or skip the ceremony and go to the reception only. Either way, they don’t attend both events. Contrary to popular belief, they can be eliminated entirely but it requires planning that not all couples are willing to do because it means going outside the box. For example, a church has specific rules and set times. There are a million reception venue options in any given medium to large city. There is an unspoken belief that receptions can only take place in all inclusive venues that actually have much more rigid rules than the churches do. They have specific times that you can enter and when you can leave, and they don’t align with church times. However the flexible blank slate venues (that include tables and chairs in most cases) that couples are discouraged from renting by online forums and articles, which have no such starting time restrictions. Which cuts out the gap that people say they abhor but do nothing to actually eliminate , and you don’t have to organize activities for guests or worry that they will skip the ceremony or they won’t show up to eat their $200/ person meal.

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You have too much to say for a Catholic wedding and an inclusive venue when you chose neither. Get current. Not everyone wants to have a blank slate wedding in a forest.

OP, you have a cocktail reception with drinks, water and light snacks or appetizers. Your guests will socialize informally.

I think if the gap is the usual 1 hour in length, then a standard cocktail should be fine. Provide music, hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, and people are usually good to go! If you want to give them things to do, you can have some sort of interactive guestbook or activities during the cocktail hour (we’ve seen boardgames, little wedding-themed scavenger hunts, and photo challenges). Or you could hire entertainment! We’ve been to weddings that have had caricatures artists, tarot card readers, aura photography, and contortionists.

As long as your guests are provided with refreshments and adequately hosted during that time, that’s fine. Some add background music, live or digital. I would focus on giving guests the opportunity to mingle and socialize. That’s not the same as “doing nothing.”

View Quoted Comment Agree with this Michelle here. It is possible to eliminate the gap without settling for a blank slate venue where you have to pay out the wazoo to bring in a bunch of vendors and still have a Catholic wedding. We had a Catholic wedding and found an “all-inclusive” venue that did not impose strict start times. There was about an hour and our guests were able to happily start cocktail hour at our reception venue.

View Quoted Comment Agreed! Blank slate venues are a nightmare IMO! They require sooooo much more time, work, vendors, coordination, etc. There’s a reason all-inclusive venues are so popular!

View Quoted Comment We thought it would be so cool at first and then we mocked up a spreadsheet on one we were looking at and were like “NOPE!” 😂😂😂

OP, I also have a two hour gap between ceremony and reception. I guess that makes us "disorganized and bad hosts" hahaha. My fiance and I created a whatsapp chat group for all of our friends so that they can plan to hangout together before the reception starts. They decided to go to a swanky bar near the reception site. The family was also given the same list of places and things to do, and they decided to go straight to the venue and hangout on the beach (venue is a beach house). We will have snacks and drinks for them. By time people get to the reception location and take photos with the bride and groom, it will only be a one hour gap.

At the wedding’s I’ve attended, the cocktail hour went by pretty quickly, honestly, so I wouldn’t worry about that. By the time people reunite with other guests they know or introduce themselves to new guests (“how do you know the couple/weren’t those flowers at the altar gorgeous?”) a few times, they’re rounding you up to start the proper reception.

View Quoted Comment Huh what u talking about. U said no to what

View Quoted Comment Blank slate venues. It was a reply to Cece’s earlier comment.


While the idea of being able to make it what you want can be enticing, ultimately they can be more expensive and force you to coordinate more vendors. We thought about this as a way to lessen a ceremony-reception gap, but ultimately we found an all-inclusive venue that didn’t put a constraint on when our reception could start.

View Quoted Comment Yes we have ours all day so no rush

Yes I just don't want my guests to just sit and stand around and not do anything

Again, socializing and mingling with other guests while having refreshments is about the farthest thing from standing around doing “nothing.” In fact, it’s one of the main objectives and activities at any social event or reception. Presumably, most of your guests are adults, not tiny children in need of outside games, activities or constant distraction other than conversation.


Are you posting from two accounts?