Cocktail hour????

BMSawa · April 2012

As the bride and groom, do we usually attend the cocktail hour and then leave and re-enter for the introduction? Or do we just hang out/finish pictures until cocktail hour is over and then enter after that?

jemmini6 · April 2012

Generally, the whole point of a cocktail hour is to provide guests with something to do while the B&G are taking pictures after their ceremony, so you don't attend it at all.

After the ceremony, you and your H and any BP/family will stay behind to take pictures while the rest of your guests go have apps and drinks. Once your BP/family pictures are finished, they will join the cocktail hour as well, but usually the B&G stay the full hour so you can get pics of just the two of you. Once you are done, the cocktail hour is normally over and guests have made their way into the reception space, so you'll do your grand entrance from there.

[Deleted User] · April 2012

Very good question. We are also going to cocktail hour. It is a very big room with plenty of seating, so no worries of getting dirty.... We can have a private one but we are having all kinds of cooking stations we don't want to miss any good food. I was thinking we would dissapear to our private room right before they ask the guests to move into the reception room. I'm curious to see what others are doing.

[Deleted User] · April 2012

We have 3 1/2 hours in between the end of ceremony start of cocktail hour, so plenty of time to take lots of pics in church, park reception site.

ChristineNB · April 2012

you can handle the cocktail hour however you wish. Me and my fiance wish to spend it socializing with our guests, and will do pictures before the ceremony. If we do an announcement (which I do not see as necessary) it could be at the beginning of dinner or at the beginning of cocktail hour.

HobokensFury · April 2012

You can do either. After such a hectic day DH and I enjoyed the quiet time with our BP and did not attend ours.

pattib5 · April 2012

Our cocktail hour and reception are in the same place. So once we're done with photos after the ceremony, we're going to be announced during the cocktail hour. We didn't want to miss our cocktail hour entirely and it seemed silly to attend it, then leave and return just for a formal announcement during the reception.

jessicabessica · April 2012

We took most of our photos before the ceremony, so we attended our cocktail hour. It was all at the same venue--ceremony outside, cocktail hour outside, reception inside--so our venue coordinator had everyone go into the ballroom, and then we were the last ones in and were announced then.

ETA: I disagree that the point of the cocktail hour is so the couple can take photos. It does work out that way, but having a time for socializing and less formal conversations is nice before sitting down for a meal.

molly&dale · April 2012

Generally I have not seen the couple attend their cocktail hour. They've used that time to take photos. If you do attend your cocktail hour it seems like your introduction should be made there.

Viczaesar · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_cocktail-hour-19?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:51315163-4743-4229-a44b-adae40bb4421Post:45857a4e-91f9-42f7-b88d-9775b9122730">Re:Cocktail hour????</a>:
[QUOTE]We have 3 1/2 hours in between the end of ceremony start of cocktail hour, so plenty of time to take lots of pics in church, park reception site.
Posted by Qzees[/QUOTE]
Gaps are rude. The point of the cocktail hour is to avoid such gaps.

AdeleDazeem · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_cocktail-hour-19?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:51315163-4743-4229-a44b-adae40bb4421Post:85a7658a-0b7b-4b33-a471-6d62f4c9ca0e">Re:Cocktail hour????</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:Cocktail hour???? : Gaps are rude. The point of the cocktail hour is to avoid such gaps.
Posted by Viczaesar[/QUOTE]

Ding. 3.5 hours is a ridiculous gap.

And yes - the cocktail hour is for entertaining guests while pictures are being taken. However, if you've done them all and want to attend then go for it. What isn't okay is having a gap to take pictures so you can attend the cocktail hour. You've missed the point of the cocktail hour completely then.

alithebride · April 2012

it's totally up to you! we took most of our pics before the ceremony, had no gap other than the 10 mins it took to drive from church to recdeption and took about 20 mins worth of pics at reception during cocktail hour. the other hour (it was 90 minutes) we attended!! and had a great time!!

manderson3 · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_cocktail-hour-19?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:51315163-4743-4229-a44b-adae40bb4421Post:01cc5dec-8915-4410-b9b6-abc2d9633d61">Re:Cocktail hour????</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:Cocktail hour???? : Ding. 3.5 hours is a ridiculous gap. And yes - the cocktail hour is for entertaining guests while pictures are being taken. However, if you've done them all and want to attend then go for it. What isn't okay is having a gap to take pictures so you can attend the cocktail hour. You've missed the point of the cocktail hour completely then.
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

<div>I don't find a large gap to be rude at all. In fact, as a guest, I enjoy it. Out of the 7 weddings I've been to in the last year, only 1 did not have a large gap between the ceremony and reception. And that was because it was an evening ceremony in a remote location.</div><div>
</div><div>As for us, we do plan on having a 2-3 hour gap between the ceremony and reception, and plan on showing up to the cocktail hour about half way through. We're going to use that time to talk with guests so we can lessen the amount of tables we walk around to visit during the reception.</div>

AdeleDazeem · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_cocktail-hour-19?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:51315163-4743-4229-a44b-adae40bb4421Post:bca26c30-514b-4a88-b39a-33160554839b">Re:Cocktail hour????</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re:Cocktail hour???? : I don't find a large gap to be rude at all. In fact, as a guest, I enjoy it. Out of the 7 weddings I've been to in the last year, only 1 did not have a large gap between the ceremony and reception. And that was because it was an evening ceremony in a remote location. As for us, we do plan on having a 2-3 hour gap between the ceremony and reception, and plan on showing up to the cocktail hour about half way through. We're going to use that time to talk with guests so we can lessen the amount of tables we walk around to visit during the reception.
Posted by manderson3[/QUOTE]

Congrats to you, but gaps are rude. This isn't a personal opinion thing, it's an etiquette thing.

librababy · April 2012

I will be at my cocktail hour, sort of. After the ceremony I hope to mingle for at least 15 minutes before taking pics and then heading off to the reception site. I also wanted to get in a few family shots before we took BP pics.

BMSawa · April 2012

Thank you for all the opinions on the COCKTAIL HOUR! I've definitely figured out what we are doing. But those of you still posting back and forth about THE GAP and about whether it is an etiquette thing or a personal thing, get. over. it. Everyone has a different wedding day plan and to each their own. For both ways.

AdeleDazeem · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_cocktail-hour-19?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:51315163-4743-4229-a44b-adae40bb4421Post:307c2a7c-c0c4-4aeb-aa42-fa34250b3bc8">Re: Cocktail hour????</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you for all the opinions on the COCKTAIL HOUR! I've definitely figured out what we are doing. But those of you still posting back and forth about THE GAP and about whether it is an etiquette thing or a personal thing, get. over. it. Everyone has a different wedding day plan and to each their own. For both ways.
Posted by BMSawa[/QUOTe]

Oh, I should stop posting because you said so? OOOOOOH. Okay.

Your wedding sounds lovely! Some of your guests are going to be ticked about the gap - that's life.

BMSawa · April 2012

Wow. How old are you??? Grow up.

Cocktail hour????

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