No cocktail hour???

With your 32 guests are you all going to dinner together right after the ceremony? If you all go right there and start dinner right away, I think that's fine. You could probably get some formal photos while people are settling in and eating salad (you'd need to take these photos at your reception site I think). If you are planning to kick off dinner right after your ceremony with no time in between, then I think you could skip a cocktail hour, but if there is any time between ceremony and dinner where your guests have nothing to do, then you should feed them something. It doesn't have to be crazy fancy, but even a crudite would be something. Good luck!

My friend just had her wedding, and just had beverages for cocktail hour, which was fine because they had a huge buffet after. No snacks and it was only an hour long.

Idk I would say yes Don't do it if they had something to do while waiting. That's the biggest thing I hear when there's no cocktail hour "we were just standing there". But you also have to know you're crowd, I know my and my FH family need cocktail hour but yours may not.

We’re only having 15 guests and we are having a cocktail hour. For the first 30 mins of it my FS and I will be finishing up our wedding pictures and then we will head to the venue for dinner. There will be buffeted apps they are included with the dinner menu.

Personally I'm not doing a cocktail hour and I have a much larger guest list of about a 100 people. However mind reason is that it's out of church and no alcohol beverages allowed. I'm gonna do a coffee bar during the time when pictures are being taken.. I think you should do whatever you're comfortable with its your day

Your guests need to be hosted from the minute they arrive until they leave. So if you are going from the ceremony straight to dinner, you are fine with no cocktail hour. If you are taking pictures or doing anything else, you need something. And if you are serving drinks, you NEED to have some food. Is it going to be at a restaurant? Just order some apps off the menu. Otherwise, have your caterer give you a quote for a couple of apps, 2-3 should be plenty.

Well, I'm guessing that you don't have 32 people IN the wedding. If they are not in the pictures you're taking, they are going to get hella bored watching you take pictures and may even start leaving if they don't have something to do. It doesn't have to be cocktails, but entertain them somehow.

We did our pictures before the wedding, and then went straight from ceremony to reception with dinner, no cocktail hour and it was totally fine!

We're doing the majority of our pictures before and only a couple right after the ceremony. (The whole bridal party inside the ceremony location is all) Reception is in a different place, but maybe 5 minutes away. By the time everyone else gets in their car, gets to the reception location, grabs a drink and finds their seat, we'll be there. But, we're also having a short-ish afternoon reception, so that makes a difference to me. If it were in the evening, we'd have a cocktail hour and not do as many of the pictures before the ceremony.

Will you be taking pictures? If there is a period between the ceremony and reception where people are just hanging out, then yes, definitely at least service drinks but I think snacks are important too...you don't have to go crazy with it. I find though if people are hungry, thirsty, too hot or too cold, these are the things they will remember most.

I think it makes a wonderful transition from the ceremony to the reception to have even a short cocktail event. As for food, I'd would have some, but it doesn't have to be a large selection or a huge amount. Cheese and crackers and a display of fruit would be fine if you are trying to be budget friendly. Just a little to snack on provides so much hospitality.