Invitation wording.. "Following the Ceremony...."

Maybe leave out "immediately" sense there's about half an hour in between? Definitely wouldn't go with "cocktail hour" sense there will be no alcohol during that time period.

We are having a cocktail hour right after and on the invitation we put "reception following ceremony" at the very bottom.

Generally, the wording is just, "Reception to follow," at the bottom of the invitation.

How far from the ceremony space is the reception area? Are guests even going to have to deal with the 30 minute segment where there is no bar?

Personally, I find it kind of rude to have a cocktail hour with no cocktails, but at least you're hosting the bar the rest of the night. At least, I hope it's hosted. Anyway, I'd just put reception to follow, but I also wouldn't be surprised if people didn't realize there's a bar open when the reception starts and they leave early.

Are the ceremony and reception at the same venue? Why not just have the cocktail hour for 6:30-7:30 instead of splitting it up?

I'd just add real cocktails to the cocktail hour and say, "reception to follow". It's confusing and sorta without a purpose to have non alcoholic beverages right after; the bartenders will have to explain it to every single person.

Just put reception to follow. Or dinner and reception to follow. Leave our the word immediately.

Is your ceremony and reception in the same place?

Sorry for omitting some of the details.

The ceremony and reception are located on the same site. The bar package beginning immediately after the ceremony was not an option, unless we were to pay for an additional 1/2 hour (sometime I suspect which is a way for folks to make money, but that's just me.) So instead we opted with the punch/fruit/cheese option before open bar begins at 7pm.

In my mind, it's more of "refreshments immediately following the ceremony" and then "reception beginning at 7p with dinner served at 7:30p."

I could look into how much more it would cost pp to add an extra hour, but to my understanding, folks might not be allowed to enter the reception area until 7:00 p.m., until which, they'll just hang out on the ceremony grounds and have access to the historic manor. This is something I can ask the venue coordinator.

As PP state, if you take out immediately you should be fine with "Reception to Follow" - the important details are that it is in the same place and that you will be hosting them for a reception. Both of these points are implied by this wording. If you do a program, that's the place to put in that there will be a cocktail hour (or refreshments if you aren't serving alcohol) before dinner. This is really common at weddings I've been to recently so shouldn't be too confusing. Just make sure a few key people know the plan to spread by word of mouth if there is no program.

You are over-thinking it. Reception to follow is correct!

We did reception to follow w/ the reception start time listed, since we also had a half hour gap- but 15-20 minutes of that half hour was used for driving, so it didn't really impact. "Reception to follow" is perfectly fine!

Dinner and dancing following ceremony.

We are doing "please join us for dinner and dancing after the ceremony"

Mine says reception to follow. My ceremony and reception are in the same location, and I'm hosting an open bar cocktail hour (with lots of food) immediately after.

So....pay for an extra half hour. No one wants punch after your ceremony; they want a glass of wine.

I agree with "Reception to follow" being totally fine! Most invitations say this, not "cocktail hour immediately to follow, follow later by the reception then dinner"

You could also do something fun like "Dinner, drinks, and dancing to follow"!