Is NOT serving a dinner considered bad taste?

Victoria, as long as you let guests know and it starts a bit later I think a dessert and coffee bar would be lovely. Its only rough when you hold a 4-5 pm wedding then a reception without feeding people or letting them know there is food. I think your concept sounds really nice . Good luck in your planning.

7 pm is dinner time, particularly on NYE. So yes, you should serve dinner. Or move the wedding for later, or some other day at non meal time.

I agree that 7pm is dinnertime. Plus consider that if your ceremony was at 7pm, that your guests are getting ready and traveling to you during the early dinner time. I would ether serve dinner, or I would do my ceremony early and have a very long break. I would start the reception at 9pm or so and then let people party,

You sould at least serve a few hor dourves most people who attend a wedding typically expect that food will be served afterwards. Its ok to serving dessert and coffee but some guest might be offended by not having some type of food. if you are not going to serve any food at all I would definitely start around 8pm instead of 7pm and to answer your question alot of ethnic brides do start there weddings around 8 or 9pm just because of thats typical for their culture. But definitely take into consideration your guest especially if you have older guest attending.

Okay, 7 might be too early, I agree. We'll go past midnight so it won't just stop- haha! Maybe 8 or 9... good advice, thanks!

I just want to get most of the "important" stuff over before midnight (first dance, cake cutting, etc) because most of our attendees will be family and they are a bit more mature in age (which I envision them having earlier bedtimes).

Our wedding starts at 7:15 on a Friday evening. We aren't doing a sit down dinner but we are doing appetizers and light dinner dishes. My FBIL is catering it for us so he is just going to do a ham, chicken/rice and wings for the kids. It's a laid back beach wedding.

I think desserts and coffe on NYE is a beautiful idea for a wedding, but I do agree it should start later, like 8 or 9. Sounds exciting!

We are starting ours at 2p on a Sunday, before dinner & after lunch & since it is more casual, I included on the invites that it would be a fingerfood, cake & punch reception, so my guests will know to eat before coming.

Moving it to 8 or 9 sounds much better. I agree drinks with just desserts are not always a pretty combination! Even just adding something heavier like cheese and fruit would be great. You could have foods like you would have at a wine tasting or something like that.

I think it's crap to end a new years wedding at midnight. The ball drops and kick everyone out. New Years eve is a party night and no one will be able to go anywhere after as everywhere will be full. If you are planning a new years eve wedding close down shop at 1:30am same as the bars, leaving 1/2 hr to clear out.

I just read on (good on not ending at midnight). Keep in mind the old folks might not wrap it up as early as you think. Dh family is old. His parents are in their 70's and they along with some aunts and uncles stayed till almost 2am.

Definately need to serve some kind of food besides dessert. 7pm is dinner for most people. Also, NYE is a heavy drinking night for a lot of people. It might be dangerous to have a bar and no food

If not dinner, at least appetizers/hors d'oeuvres

I would definitely need something to eat especially on NYE's... I would be likely to sneak off for pizza half way through the night....

Honestly, on New Years Eve, I do not care what time your reception starts, you NEED to have more than coffee and dessert. You do not need to do a full dinner, but you do need appetizers, which may cost more than actual dinner fare.

In my world, dinner does not start until 8PM, so if I were invited to your 7PM event, I would expect dinner, or at least heavy apps.

On NYE, heavy apps would need to be served all event long, as people will be celebrating a bit more than normal.

It's always so interesting to see posts where different part of the country do things differently.... i'm in nyc and dinner here is typically 9pm.... and about 80% of weddings are at night / sunset etc.

i think it is especially tricky NOT to serve dinner or at the bare minimum VERY heavy apps on a night when most people go out for big dinners and parties usually. you also do not want to have people drinking from 7pm to past midnight without some heavy food...

but i think the idea of a NYE wedding is lovely, and you can definitely make it work! congratulations!

7ish is dinner. NY's eve is a late evening anyway, so if you're JUST going to do dessert, don't start until 9ish, do dessert and order pizzas for the end.

I think it's not in poor taste if you mention it, that way people don't show up hungry. Although, not everyone may only want dessert, so perhaps offer a healthy alternative too? Something a little lighter... could be as simple as finger food.

For what it's worth, a lot of my family members who normally can't go to bed later than 9-10pm manage to stay up till past midnight on New Year's Eve, so you might not want to count on the guests wanting to leave early for bedtime. Although I like the light appetizers idea, I don't think your original plan is in bad taste at all as long as you warn your guests ahead of time.

What is sad is that the origanal reception was for the guest to bring gifts to help the bride & groom to set up their home and future together. Today the guest believe it is a dinner & party for them the celabrate the new Mr & Mrs. Now the bride & groom (or the parents) are in debt :0( I think your Idea is a great one. evveryone is worried about the drinking and having something to eat with it HAVE CAKE LOTS OF CAKE. You have let your guest know that there will be no dinner, that is fair. Let them go out & eat before they come. ENJOY

I think 7 would be fine if you let everyone know ahead of time. I do think you should have some appetizers and desserts.

Our wedding is at 7pm and we're doing appetizers, dinner, dessert, and open bar. I think people will expect it so maybe you can at least has appetizers during a cocktail hour. I think it is in poor taste not to serve people food because of the duration that a reception lasts. But if its not in your budget you just have to get more creative about what you can offer. If you're only doing desserts you may want to limit your guest list to just family and close friends because they'll understand your budget and not be bothered by the lack of food.