Cocktail Hour....

FLGatorGal88 · December 2012

Is everyone here doing some type of cocktail hour? I was looking over our budget and started to think if they are really necessary? We are getting marries at the same location and we are also doing majority of our photos before the ceremony. I know that they cocktail hour is for guest to mingle as we take more pictures until the reception area is ready to be revealed. Have any of you been to a wedding with and without a cocktail hour? What did you think?

MrsBad13 · December 2012

I have never been to a wedding without a cocktail hour. I am having a cocktail hour even tho ceremony and reception is at same location. We plan to take about 40 mins for pics and then use the last 20 mins to enjoy the cocktail ourselves. after all we are paying for it and I want to be able to enjoy every part of the day.and eat some spring rolls and meatballs too...ya feel me lol.

I say if your guest arent going to miss it and its not in your budget then dont do it. Just make sure there is something for guest to do for the little bit of time you guys will be out for pics. Most guest are hungry by the end of the ceremony and are usually ready for the food and drinks. Keep that in mind. Cocktail hour is big in my area and within my circle.

Danny&Mel2003 · December 2012

I've only been to a hand full of weddings but they have all had a cocktail hr. Since FI doesn't want to do a first look we need our time for the pix. Our ceremony and reception are in the same place as well!

FLGatorGal88 · December 2012

We can fit it in our budget that would just mean I would have to come up with a cocktail hour menu... Doing the original menu was a pain because of my picky eater of a FI. Then again that's why I love him lol

beckyh77 · December 2012

We are having a cocktail hour. Our reception site is 30 min away from the church with the hotel nearby so we figure out of town guests can go check in and meander over to our event. Around here it is common to have a cocktail hour even if you aren't doing pics after the ceremony. However, within our "circle" of the work couples FI knows and the 3 weddings we all have attended in the past year, the group has gone to an offsite bar for snacks and drinks first. Why, I have no idea......I kind of go along with that part. Our menu is tba for that part......likely some sort of stationary appetizer.

melb2013 · December 2012

If you don't take pictures after the ceremony, there is no reason to have a cocktail hour, but I've never been to a wedding without one. That being said, we're not doing a traditional cocktail hour. The ceremony room is on the first floor. After the ceremony, we will meet the guests as they come up the stairs for a receiving line and then they will go directly into the reception room on the second floor. We are serving cocktail hour food though, but it's not in a separate room so some people may not think it was really a "cocktail hour"? I wanted to have one so we would have time to get through the receiving line, bustle my dress, and make sure some of the ceremony stuff is brought up to the reception before the reception officially starts. I only anticipate actually being part of the cocktail hour for the last 20 minutes or so.

TogetherPerfect · December 2012

We are doing 90% of the pictures before, so our guest will only be waiting for about 15-20 minutes before we get there, so no cocktail hour for us. I think it's fine to skip it if the majority of pics are done beforehand.

Krikin22 · December 2012

So do you go straight to dinner if there isn't a cocktail hour? We need time to change the ceremony space into the dinner space so we will be having a cocktail hour and we also need this time to do pictures.

I think cocktail hour is nice because it gives the guests time to mingle together before they sit at their assigned seats. I'm also more excited for our appetizers over the meal lol.

FLGatorGal88 · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_may-2013-weddings_cocktail-hour?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:ea657a87-d1dc-4588-999f-31c9deeef720Discussion:4bdd299e-d84c-4a26-a837-53b1ffa0c114Post:e526a90b-330f-4371-b9d4-31ef61894428">Re: Cocktail Hour....</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>So do you go straight to dinner if there isn't a cocktail hour? </strong>We need time to change the ceremony space into the dinner space so we will be having a cocktail hour and we also need this time to do pictures. I think cocktail hour is nice because it gives the guests time to mingle together before they sit at their assigned seats. I'm also more excited for our appetizers over the meal lol.
Posted by Krikin22[/QUOTE]

Pretty much... Atleast that's what we would do if we don't do a cocktail hour.

VJones1981 · December 2012

I agree with pps about it not being necessary if you are doing pictures before the ceremony. I do, however, like cocktail hour, even if it isn't anything fancy. I went to a wedding a while back that didn't have a formal cocktail hour in a seperate room, but they did have a few things for us to snack on, and the bar was open when we arrived. It was nice to be able to have a small bite to eat, since there was a little down time before the bride and groom made their entrance. Then they did all special dances, then opened the buffet. They didn't do anything excessive, since dinner was being served soon after. It was something like a meat and cheese platter with crackers, some fruit and veggies with dip, and mixed nuts. Just something to nibble on while sipping a cocktail.

chipmunk112511 · December 2012

Most weddings I have been to have not had a cocktail hour, now if ours were at different locations I would probably have one but seeing as its the same place except outdoor ceremony & indoor/outdoor reception we are just having people go to the reception space where there is a bar, so they can start drinking and there will be appetizers. We are doing stations and they will start eating before we get done with pictures so that way once we are done we can head up and just grab our food and start eating as well, so there is like a "psuedo" cocktail hour without there really being one. Our wedding planner suggested this with our venue and I love the idea. After we eat then we will do the first dance and all that shebang.

MamaBear904 · December 2012

Maybe you can compromise? I am in a similar situation as I am doing most photos beforehand and my reception is in the same location. I am not doing a full hour, just a half hour. And I am doing just some light cheeses, fruit and crackers. The other reason I am limiting my cocktail hour to a half hour (beside money) is because I have a limited amount of time at my venue for the reception and I want to make sure there is plenty of time for eating and dancing, so I'm dropping it down to 30 mins. I'm ok with this and I'm pretty sure my guests will be ok as well, since the food will come right after.

mss274 · December 2012

Personally, I love cocktail hour so we are really doing first look photos so we can attend ours. Sometimes people prefer the food at cocktail hour. I have not attended a wedding without cocktail hour. However, I live in an area where weddings tend to be more formal when compared to the rest of the country. I have attended cocktail hours where they only had veggies and cheese to snack on and open bar which could be a great alternative and help lower your cost. Are your guests the chatty type and like the idea of mingling with other guests before everyone is assigned to a table? If you need to cut costs then this is a great area to help reduce significantly. Or you could look into eliminating a course at dinner, change high grade beef/fish to a cheaper selection, not have premium/top'shelf alcohol or only beer, wine and signature drink, etc

FLGatorGal88 · December 2012

It's not so much the added cost... I was just wondering since we are taking majority of photos before do we really need a cocktail hour? The weddings we have been too really haven't been all that formal... Out of majority of our friends who have gotten married I believe our wedding will be the most formal. Idk what we will do but we have a little over 5 months to figure it out...

bburkel · December 2012

I was having a similar dilemma. We wanted a cocktail hour, since we are having our receiving line at the reception, but I didn't want to deal with the expense of passed appetizers. I think they are a waste when people are getting a full meal an hour later.

When we met with our coordinator at the venue, we came up with a compromise of a table of snack-type food (cheese and crackers, veggie tray, popcorn, etc) that we will have set up during the cocktail hour. Any trays that aren't brought out during that time will be saved for our late-night snack food. So, there are still snacks, but we don't have to pay for 4 servers to bug people with them.

Carson386 · December 2012

We are doing cocktail hour, our ceremony & reception are at the same location. We are having a very casual wedding so I didn't go all out with the menu. We have a veggie tray, chips & dip, meatballs, cheese & crackers, and sliced up fruit.

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