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Ideas to replace "cocktail hour"

laurenabernathylaurenabernathy member
in Wedding Reception Forum
My fiance and I are deciding to have our reception in the church we are having our ceremony at in order to save money. I still think we are going to have a lovely reception, but since it will be held in the church, we will not be able to serve alcohol, and have that to keep our guests entertained while we take pictures. Does anyone have an idea as to what we could do or serve for that 30-60 minute time period? We will be having a dinner, so we don't want to have guests fill up on too many snacks ahead of time. Thanks for the help!
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Re: Ideas to replace "cocktail hour"

  • doeydodoeydo member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    You can have a "mocktail" hour, with non-alcoholic drinks and some sort of appetizers. 
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  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    "Cocktail hours" is basically just a term used to describe the hour your guests will be eating apps and drinking liquids (whether alcoholic or not) while you and your groom and whoever else gets pictures done. 

     You don't need to call it anything. Just have apps and drinks (soda, tea, water, etc) available to your guests when they walk into the reception area.

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  • mimiphinmimiphin member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    laurenabernathy said:
    My fiance and I are deciding to have our reception in the church we are having our ceremony at in order to save money. I still think we are going to have a lovely reception, but since it will be held in the church, we will not be able to serve alcohol, and have that to keep our guests entertained while we take pictures. Does anyone have an idea as to what we could do or serve for that 30-60 minute time period? We will be having a dinner, so we don't want to have guests fill up on too many snacks ahead of time. Thanks for the help!
    What church (Denomonation) do you go to? Most of the churches(Protestant) I know of already serve wine every Sunday during communion. My aunt's catholic church serves champagne on Christmas eve. In fact every wedding I have been to that was in a church has had wine/beer/hard liquor after.

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  • s-aries8990s-aries8990 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Call it a "social" hour - regular appetizers, punch, soda, lemonade
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  • OliveOilsMomOliveOilsMom member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    mimiphin said:
    laurenabernathy said:
    My fiance and I are deciding to have our reception in the church we are having our ceremony at in order to save money. I still think we are going to have a lovely reception, but since it will be held in the church, we will not be able to serve alcohol, and have that to keep our guests entertained while we take pictures. Does anyone have an idea as to what we could do or serve for that 30-60 minute time period? We will be having a dinner, so we don't want to have guests fill up on too many snacks ahead of time. Thanks for the help!
    What church (Denomonation) do you go to? Most of the churches(Protestant) I know of already serve wine every Sunday during communion. My aunt's catholic church serves champagne on Christmas eve. In fact every wedding I have been to that was in a church has had wine/beer/hard liquor after.

    It really depends on the parish, not just the denomination.  My Catholic Church specifically stated that if they saw alcohol on their premises, they would call the police on us.  So even if we wanted to have a champagne toast right after, it wasn't allowed.  We waited until we got to our reception venue to have our toast to ourselves.  And all activities that go on in our community center are non-alcoholic.  We do serve the Communion wine each mass, but the liability is way low when each person is only having a sip.
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  • kerbohlkerbohl member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    I am having a winter wedding, so I'm having a "coffee" hour.  I am also having a reception in the church basement to save money, but they are letting me have one glass of wine per guest, so we'll use that for toasting.  I'm also having apple cider and tea, and mostly just finger food for a little bit while we take pictures. 

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  • Rebl90Rebl90 member
    First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper
    As PP's have said, you don't need to call it anything. We are having our ceremony and reception at a "dry" location and we are hosting appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks during the time we are finishing our photos. We aren't calling it anything in particular, and are for sure not referring to it as a cocktail hour. 

    Just make sure you have enough appetizers and beverages for everyone for the full amount of time and you should be fine. Please don't have the mindset that people will "fill up" on appetizers, I assume the majority of your guests will be adults, and therefore capable of self-control. We are over-buying for appetizers because the last thing I want that day is a hungry guest! 
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited December 2013
    mimiphin said:
    "What church (Denomonation) do you go to? Most of the churches(Protestant) I know of already serve wine every Sunday during communion. My aunt's catholic church serves champagne on Christmas eve. In fact every wedding I have been to that was in a church has had wine/beer/hard liquor after. "

    Most churches do not allow alcohol to be served on their premises.  Sometimes this is also forbidden by state or local law.  In many places you must have a liquor license to serve alcohol.
    Many denominations have switched to grape juice for communion instead of wine.  This is out of consideration for people who may be alcoholic, and are sensitive to even small amounts of alcohol.  They also offer gluten free bread.

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  • MrsDeRuyter87MrsDeRuyter87 member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper First Anniversary
    You could do an italian soda bar, or a hot chocolate station, another idea would be different types of lemonade (uncommon flavors like blueberry mint or something to that nature)
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