Different ideas for "cocktail hour"

raeannewatne

Our reception and the ceremony are the same location. The photographer wants us to allow an hour for pictures with the wedding party and family right after the ceremony. Our wedding is laid back and on a farm so i feel that a cocktail hour doesn't fit with everything but i am not sure what the guests should be doing while we are taking pictures..
Any ideas of something that could take place of cocktail hour?
What are you guys doing?

Thank you in advance!

snwilson0416

You could still have appetizers and drinks for people.

raeannewatne

We dont have a lot of room to serve them. The area that we have for food is the taco bar. There will be drinks for everyone but dinner will be shortly after the pictures so i don't want everyone to get full off appetizers.

I was thinking of possibly setting up a photo booth section but i want something else as well

medusia00

If it is a laid back vibe, what about games? Lawn games? A lot of ladies in here are doing games at their wedding, I think it could be fun!

Tanq&Tonic

Cocktail hour means an hour where appetizers and drinks are available, not necessarily like "cocktail party".  You can have it laid back and reflect the style of your event -- beverages served in mason jar mugs, cut triangles of grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.  A little food, drink, music, and even games would be really cute!  Can you just have those items out in the taco bar area, and not actual tacos?

slwager

karoake?  hay ride?  tour of the farm if it's interesting?

jyllyen

I would definitely serve some sort of snack.  People won't get too full... in fact they could get peckish standing around for an hour.  It can be something really small.  Maybe you can have a small snack be your seating cards, like individual bags full of cherries or popcorn with their names and table number printed on them?

You did say you're serving drinks right?  My family would riot if there weren't drinks post ceremony ;-)

I love the idea of a taco stand for dinner... yum!  Something to consider about the photo booth is that it's a pretty static activity... only a few people can be involved in it at a time, and the others are still stuck waiting around.  I like the idea of lawn games too!  What about a hay ride since you're at a barn

JuneMaggie

I think people will still expect food- if watching countless hours of Four Weddings have taught me anything, people get pissy if there isn't enough food!  

So I would still do some type of light appetizers and drinks- even if just cheese, fruit, crackers, or something small- 

natalieanne87

I really like the idea of lawn games! That would be a good way to pass the time while you get your photos taken.

ogrady88

We're going to have lawn games, photos, drinks, and apps.  Plenty to do to pass the time as they mingle with friends and family.  Serve light appetizers, no one will get full on those.

graywedding6912

I recently attended a wedding that had a gourmet popcorn bar. Sounds lame, but it was amazing. They had cone cups and you had a variety of flavors. Chocolate chipolte, lemon tarragon, salted caramel etc. It could be a DIY if you bought popcorn from costco and created flavors....

RoxieBee10

we are having a cocktail hour at the ranch where we are getting married.  after the ceremony, our guests will go to the "beer garden" and have drinks and light apps.  make sure you're feeding people if you're going to be serving alcohol. 
after we're done with our photos, we're going to join our guests in the garden for a while and start the mingling.  we're gathering to toast to the day at sunset before we go inside for dinner. 

oma11ey

We are having our wedding at a barn- ceremony and reception. We will have a 1 hour cocktail hour. A couple tall cocktail tables, with mason jar and garden flowers... apple cider and donuts on a table for self service. We also have access to a farm house museum that will be open to our guests.

aprild86

We plan on having our wedding and reception in our back yard in June 2012. I was thinking about how we would fit in the pictures with the wedding and reception. I am thinking about getting the wedding party together about a week or so before the wedding to do some pictures. Then of course get some on the wedding day. You could also have someone go around to people and record their wedding wishes to you and your husband.