cocktail hour to be there or not?

CaylaSummer

Hi ladies,

I thought I should post it on here to find out what the norm is in our city when it comes to reception.

So my ceremony is at 3 pm. It will likely last at the latest at 3:45. I can have a receiving line on the steps by the church as soon as the ceremony is over. I have pictures at a park at 4:15. Our permit is for 2 hrs.
At the reception, we have a cocktail hour then dinner. I was thinking the cocktail hour would be at 6 pm then dinner at 7.

My question is am I suppose to be at the cockatil hour with my wedding party? or am i suppose to arrive when all the guests are seated?
If the guests were to arrive for the cocktail hour then who would greet them if me and my new husband aren't there? would that be the parents?

I only have the photographers and videographer for 8 hrs and their start time is at 1:30, I just want to make sure they get everything so I feel like if the dinner starts at 7, there is not enough time to get everything on camera until 9:30. I'm thinking then that I should make the cocktail hour for 5:30 but then if I have to be there, I won't make it because I'm out taking pictures.

Is this confusing?

dixie1337

I know a lot of brides are taking pics during cocktail hour, and I am one of them.  I never really though about who "greets" the guests.  The bartender?  Best greating around, haha

Littlin

I was in a similar situation to you - wedding at 3, done by 4.  What we did was first did family pictures - grandparents, parents, etc., so that they could head back to the venue or do what they wanted between the ceremony and cocktail hour at 6 (luckily there was a great pub across the street from our church that most people went to).

Then we did bride & groom pictures, then wedding party (who were also grabbing a drink while waiting).  Once that was all done, we were back probabably around 6pm, but did a few more bride & groom pics at the hotel, and were down by 6:30. 

We did a few group family pictures, some mingling, but I missed most of the cocktail hour.  Luckily DH's dad kept popping grapes and other finger foods into my mouth as we were surrounded by people - he was worried I wouldn't get to eat, which was really nice of him.  The dinner started at 7.

The parents did everything - they made sure everything was set up, they greeted guests, etc.  We didn't do a formal receiving line, but we did go to as many tables as possible between courses and throughout the night.  I don't know if it was perfect in terms of etiquette, but it worked for us!

ring_pop

It's nice of you to be there or at least drop by near the end, but guests probably won't expect you to be there the whole time. A lot of brides use the cocktail hour as their photo time. We asked a few friends and cousins to be around in case anyone needed to know where to drop off gifts etc so I guess they were the 'greeters'.

CaylaSummer

okay thanks ladies. I can do family pics then send them to the reception to make sure they are there to mingle with everyone and to make sure everything is where it's supposed to be. i know they wouldn't mind that.

I guess I'm more worried now about making sure the photographer and videographer gets everything. They have to leave by 9:30, is that enough time to cover everything?

Were doing 6 speeches 5 min each. Cake cutting, first dance, garter and bouquet toss. i'm still finalizing the performers whether we are even having them. There will also also be a welcome speech by the MC. I feel like all of this is tight to get in 2. 30 hrs. 

Should I prepare to ask these vendors to stay an hour later?

naomikb

It's probably a good idea to ask them up front (now) what the cost would be for an extra hour and if they're available just in case.

I'd say 2.5 hours for dinner and speeches seems reasonable.  You can have the speeches during the dinner (between courses or during dessert) so that they aren't an extra half-hour at the end.  Can you do the performers after the photographer leaves?  It's up to you but in my mind, garter toss and bouquet toss aren't as important to have recorded for posterity as speeches/cake cutting, so maybe you could do those later in the night and just have a friend take pictures instead of jamming all of the "events" in before the photog/videog leave?

CaylaSummer

Thanks everyone. The photographer we hired is actually suppose to be there between 8-10 hrs. When we booked him I asked him about that and he said that if there things happening then he would stay. I am seeing him in 2 weeks for my e-pics so I have to clear this up, to me it's either 8, 9 or 10 hrs. That would be really helpful and its not extra pay. The videographer is for sure there for 8 hrs but I do have to let her know ahead of time if I need more hours.

miellen

I was at the cocktail hour partially - it was great to see the guests but I was also grabbed by every person who saw me - I could barely move from one spot to another! So in my opinion, it's totally okay to miss out on the cocktail hour. Hehe.

StephieBow

I will be there for the entire cocktail hour, that said, I will have a 2 hour gap between the church service and the cocktail hour.