Is it tacky to be at the cocktail hour?

My fh and i are doing the same- we are taking pictures before because our ceremony is on the top of a mountain and its hard to take pictures elsewhere due to time if we dont do it before. We will be taking some pictures outside with the view and then going into the cocktail hour- that way we dont have to go table to table if we dont have time during dinner- we can enjoy one another. Plus everyone loves cocktail hour and appetizers- so u have to have it! they will be glad ur there too!

I had no idea that it could be considered tacky to be a cocktail hour! I learn something new every day on this site. I know it's not traditional but I didn't realize it was tacky.

I've seen it done both ways. My personal opinion is to do what you want. As long as your guests are fed, have beverages and are comfortable I think it would be ok for you to be at cocktail hour too. I also like the idea of mingling a little to be sure to greet/talk to everyone.

I would have to disagree that cocktail hour only happens to give your guests something to do while you are taking photos. It is a time to have appetizers and a drinks and mingle with lots of other guests before sitting down with the 7 or 8 other people at your table. In our case, we are taking photos before the ceremony, a few afterwards, then joining everyone at cocktail hour. Our ceremony and cocktail hour will (hopefully) be outside then we move inside for the reception, so it's also a time to spend outdoors before dinner and dancing.

I agree with Danielle. I don't think of it as "filler" time. When you go to most dinner parties there is a cocktail hour and the hosts are there. It's a time for people to mingle in a more casual way before being seated for dinner. I don't think it's tacky at all! I hope that we get to be there for ours!! I want to have time to mingle before sitting down to eat. In our case, both of our families live all across the country and we don't get to see them often. I want to spend as much time with them as we can! They are traveling all that way to share in our special day. No sense making them wait to see us!

I didn't read most of the posts but we had a cocktail hour and loved it! While we took pictures at the beginning of the cocktail hour we mingled with guests for close to an hour afterwards. We had to be off the property by 10pm due to noise violation rules so started the day pretty early. We wanted more time with our guests without having dinner at 4pm and it worked out great for us! Below was our timeline from the ceremony through dinner.

Ceremony 3:30

Cocktail Hour 4:00 - 5:30

Dinner 5:30

Martha, I think that if you're not interested in the formal entrance at the reception, etc, then go for it. If you're questioning yourself too much about it, chances are you shouldn't do it. I was in a wedding last year, and the bridal party did go to the cocktail hour to say hello, etc but the bride and groom stayed in their bridal suite until showtime. I'm keeping my bridal party away from the cocktail hour because of pictures, etc. Go with your gut feeling

It's becoming more and more common for the bride and groom to join the cocktail hour.

We will be at our cocktail hour. We will use that time to do the meet and greet so that our reception isn't comsumed by going table to table. of course we'll still mingle and chat with our guest, but at least most of it will be out of the way so we can enjoy the reception.

We're still doing the formal entrance afterwards.

I don't think it's tacky, otherwise I wouldn't do it..

Our cocktail hour started at 7:30 and we arrived at about 8:15. It was fun to be introduced down the stairs to the reflecting pool and mingle for a few minutes before everyone moved to the courtyard for dinner. In fact, now that I think about it...our time at the cocktail reception was filled with screams and big hugs as we saw old friends we hadn't seen in a while. We did a sit-down dinner so I think we would have missed those initial interactions if we had skipped the cocktails altogether!

I am overwhelmed with the responses! Thank you so much everyone for your feedback. I feel a lot better about going to the cocktail hour, plus I'm really looking forward to the food! haha. I can't believe my wedding is less than 4 months away, it feels like we just got engaged yesterday!

Good luck everyone with their cocktail hours!!

We plan to be at ours. We are taking pictures before hand, and can't wait to mingle with our guests.

So far- and this could change over the next year- but as of right now we are doing a first look and some pictures before the ceremony, then a few more pictures after the ceremony, and then we are going into the private room for the wedding parties private cocktail hour- but we also talked about asking the party to mingle for a little while so that we can spend some alone time- even if it's for a few minutes to soak everything in. We may also go in and visit our guests for a little while. I always saw cocktail hour as a time for guests to mingle and get some appetizers!!! I saw go for it.

We are absolutely going to be at our cocktail party. Hell, I am planning on chugging a few beers and eating some apps. We will be introduced after cocktail hour, right before dinner. We will go into our first dance immediately. We will then have toasts and dinner.

I like that idea. There is nothing tacky about it.

I like it. Isn't that similar to a recieving line? I don't think you go through the recieving line after the B&G are announced, that happens before, right? If we finish in time, I'm sure we will, but why not have the DJ announce you when you're coming in? It's not like people can't clap and cheer for you while standing up But what do I know about weddings, right? We'll probably have ourselves formally introduced as the reception starts with our first dance.

Hmmm... It never even crossed my mind that it would come off as tacky. I specifically decided to do picture prior to the ceremony just so we can spend time with out guests as the cocktail hour...oh well, it's your day and do whatever you please!