Is it weird for a bride to attend her cocktail hour?

irishgal391 · March 2014

irishgal391 · March 2014

Our bridal party is not getting a private cocktail hour!

STARMOON44 · March 2014

There are many problems with your plan, but attending the cocktail hour isn't one of them.

irishgal391 · March 2014

I'm sorry I included a stupid timeframe in my original post that made no sense, but the main question is if it's weird to go to my own cocktail hour?

KatWAG · March 2014

irishgal391 said:

My fiance and I are getting married in a place where there is no private cocktail hour for the bridal party. My church is going to be at 2 pm, which would be over by around 3:15. We would then take photos 20 minutes away from the Church which the photographer said would only last about an hour and a half to two hours. If it took two hours, we would be done by around 5:30ish and it only takes 10 minutes to get to the venue (which is a hotel). SO my fiance and I would have like an half hour or hour to ourselves depending on how long the photos take when we get to the venue. Is it weird to attend the cocktail hour since we'll be getting alone time before the reception anyway?

Wow. its sounds like you are having a huge gap, which is really rude. If your ceremony ends at 3:15, then your reception needs to start at 3:45 at the latest. If you have 2 hours worth of pictures to take, then you need to take them ahead of time. What are your guests supposed to do for 2 hours? Wander aimlessly?

And no, its not weird to attend your cocktail hour. I wanted to enjoy every second of my reception.

irishgal391 · March 2014

KatWAG said:

irishgal391 said:

My fiance and I are getting married in a place where there is no private cocktail hour for the bridal party. My church is going to be at 2 pm, which would be over by around 3:15. We would then take photos 20 minutes away from the Church which the photographer said would only last about an hour and a half to two hours. If it took two hours, we would be done by around 5:30ish and it only takes 10 minutes to get to the venue (which is a hotel). SO my fiance and I would have like an half hour or hour to ourselves depending on how long the photos take when we get to the venue. Is it weird to attend the cocktail hour since we'll be getting alone time before the reception anyway?

Wow. its sounds like you are having a huge gap, which is really rude. If your ceremony ends at 3:15, then your reception needs to start at 3:45 at the latest. If you have 2 hours worth of pictures to take, then you need to take them ahead of time. What are your guests supposed to do for 2 hours? Wander aimlessly?

And no, its not weird to attend your cocktail hour. I wanted to enjoy every second of my reception.

Yeah I'm sorry, I realized after I posted it, that the time frame did not make sense and was way too big a gap!

KatWAG · March 2014

irishgal391 said:

Is it weird for a bride to attend her cocktail hour?

@irishgal391 nice try on your DD but i quoted you. What you are planning is rude. period.

irishgal391 · March 2014

That's fine you quoted me, I changed it because I realized it was stupid and rude and I'm admitting it, so please no need to get rude, it was a stupid statement on my part and I'm in the beginning stages of planning a wedding so I have NO idea how the whole timeframe thing works yet, that was just an example that was given to me by someone

irishgal391 · March 2014

So thank you actually for bringing to my attention that the suggested timeframe that was given to me, is actually a very RUDE timeframe, I actually do appreciate that

bananasplit472001 · March 2014

It is not rude to attend your cocktail hour. We are attending our cocktail hour as well. We will be taking bridal party photos before the ceremony and will only have an hour between cocktail hour and the end of our ceremony to take photos at the chapel. Honestly your going to be hungry too so if you want to make it to your cocktail hour take pictures before the ceremony so your guests do not have to wait.

JennyColada · March 2014

If I were having a larger wedding with a cocktail hour you can bet your butt that I'd be the first in line. :P

kmmssg · March 2014

My girls have attended theirs because the did all their pics beforehand. They loved visiting with their guests.

mysticl · March 2014

We attended about half of our cocktail hour. My goal was to not have the pictures take the whole time so we could be there for at least part of it. ETA: When we arrived at the reception I asked a member of the WP to let the DJ know we were there and ready to be introduced. When he cam out to the lobby he told me that cocktail hour wasn't over yet. I was like "I know but we are still joining the reception".

jenna8984 · March 2014

I plan to to take all pics beforehand so I can enjoy my cocktail hour. I'm paying for it, I want to be there for it!

I hope you are being genuine about your original plan being rude and you're not just saying that to not get jumped all over. Because it would be pretty ridiculous of you to take 2 hours worth of pictures with nothing for the guests to do.

AddieCake · March 2014

I wish we could have attended our cocktail hour.

Viczaesar · March 2014

dianammobilio said:

It is not rude to attend your cocktail hour. We are attending our cocktail hour as well. We will be taking bridal party photos before the ceremony and will only have an hour between cocktail hour and the end of our ceremony to take photos at the chapel. Honestly your going to be hungry too so if you want to make it to your cocktail hour take pictures before the ceremony so your guests do not have to wait.

You're missing the entire point of a cocktail hour. The cocktail is is for you to host for your guests so that there isn't a gap while you take pictures after the ceremony. Your cocktail hour needs to start immediately after your ceremony ends and run while you're taking photos at the chapel. You expect your guests to stand around with their thumbs up their butts while you're taking pictures?

BlueBirdMB · March 2014

Nope, everyone attended our cocktail hour. I think it's silly to miss something you are spending so much money on. Besides, guests appreciate you socializing with them.

Viczaesar · March 2014

BlueBirdMB said:

Nope, everyone attended our cocktail hour. I think it's silly to miss something you are spending so much money on. Besides, guests appreciate you socializing with them.

This is fine, as long as you don't have a gap.

JMalettas · March 2014

Our pictures took up most of the time we had between our ceremony & reception. By the time we got back, I was able to quickly touch-up my make-up, and get a few minutes alone with my H, and then we were basically starting intros into the reception room. There was definitely less 'free' time than I anticipated!

Happy planning!

*J

emmyg65 · March 2014

We did all our pictures before our ceremony, so we were able to enjoy our whole reception with our guests. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

cupcait927 · March 2014

We're taking the vast majority of our pics beforehand so that we CAN enjoy our cocktail hour

FI figured that since we're paying for it, we want all the yummy apps and drinks as well! I couldn't agree more with him.

LondonLisa · March 2014

I don't think it is weird for the couple to attend the cocktail hour, but I do think it is rude and weird to delay the start of the cocktail hour just so the couple can get photos AND attend.

I think it is fun when the B&G attend the cocktail hour (usually bc they have finished photos early) bc it is a rather informal time to chat.

missteacherlady16 · March 2014

mysticl said:

We attended about half of our cocktail hour. My goal was to not have the pictures take the whole time so we could be there for at least part of it. ETA: When we arrived at the reception I asked a member of the WP to let the DJ know we were there and ready to be introduced. When he cam out to the lobby he told me that cocktail hour wasn't over yet. I was like "I know but we are still joining the reception".

My reception is directly following the ceremony, so our photographer recommended we do the "first look" and the other photos prior to the ceremony so that we can attend cocktail hour (and get all the photos done that we need to)...does that mean we should be announced at the very start of the reception? Or is that a personal preference? I'm confused by that.

BlueBirdMB · March 2014

ShellyDanger said:

mysticl said:

We attended about half of our cocktail hour. My goal was to not have the pictures take the whole time so we could be there for at least part of it. ETA: When we arrived at the reception I asked a member of the WP to let the DJ know we were there and ready to be introduced. When he cam out to the lobby he told me that cocktail hour wasn't over yet. I was like "I know but we are still joining the reception".

My reception is directly following the ceremony, so our photographer recommended we do the "first look" and the other photos prior to the ceremony so that we can attend cocktail hour (and get all the photos done that we need to)...does that mean we should be announced at the very start of the reception? Or is that a personal preference? I'm confused by that.

People typically will attend the cocktail hour, then hide and be announced for the reception. That's how it's worked at all the weddings I've attended. At my own, we didn't do introductions. I thought it was silly to be around everyone, then leave, so I could run out and be introduced. The band leader simply welcomed us to the dance floor to do our first dance- that was the beginning of the reception.

vmj23 · March 2014

we will be having our pictures taken durning the cocktail hour but i am really hoping to finish up in time to enjoy some of it! some past wedding i have been in they had seperate rooms for the wedding party and they brought us food/drinks, but the venue I am holding mine does not, so I def want to get to enjoy a little of it.

Alikat9614 · March 2014

I would like to catch the end of our cocktail hour, but the whole purpose for us is to fill the 'gap' while we take pics, so chances us we won't make it. We aren't doing a First Look, so photos may take near an hour.

MissADS1981 · March 2014

I plan to have half the hour at mine. The venue we are having ours at has a table they set up for us and the staff brings a little of each item to our table for us to taste. We can use the other 30 minutes before that to take our portraits.

We are having ceremony on site so everything will move quickly from ceremony to cocktail to reception so we will need to make sure to stay on schedule

button62 · March 2014

I agree, we are paying for our cocktail hour and we want to enjoy it too! So we are taking pics prior to the ceremony. It will give us more time to spend with our guests too, so I cant think of a reason people would think it is weird! It will help make you a better host! Enjoy!

theartistformerlyknownas · March 2014

I hope to catch the tail end of mine! We're taking photos separately before so we only need pics together after (no first look) so I will be hustling everyone along as best I can to be done in under an hour. I want those apps! The DJ will just announce us whenever we happen to get there.

Is it weird for a bride to attend her cocktail hour?

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