Cocktail Hour Seating Opinions

Re: Cocktail Hour Seating Opinions

• Maggie0829 member

  

  April 2014

  So your ceremony area is also in the main room?  Did I read that right?

  
  

  Why not just have your cocktail hour in the lounge room?  Is the room big enough to do that?  If not, I think it would be find to have the cocktail hour in the main room.  Almost all the weddings I have been to the cocktail hour took place in the reception room, not in a separate area, so I wouldn't think anything of it.

  
  

  My only question is will your guests know that cocktail hour is first, not your ceremony?  Are you not taking pictures after your ceremony?  Also, if your ceremony space is in the main room won't the changeover to dinner possibly be a bit noisy and interrupt your ceremony?

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• alm&mdm member

  

  April 2014

  The ceremony is in the main hall but there's an alcove like area that we can set up the alter portion and the chairs sit in front. Its a more easily draped area. And then that becomes our dance floor.

  
  

  Unfortunately the lounge room will not hold our 350-400 guests. It's going to have seating for maybe 25. It's not a huge space. 

  
  

  We clearly stated on our invites 

  Cocktails 6 pm

  Ceremony 7 pm

  Reception to follow

  
  

  We will take a few posed pictures aftert he ceremony but they're literally going to take about 5-10 mins and the photographer is just going to grab us during the reception. We are doing the bulk of our photos before the ceremony because we have several locations at various points across the city to hit. We'd never get them all in otherwise. So we are doing an early first look and photos all afternoon. 

  
  

  I asked the caterer about the noise and we can position the tables with some separation from the draping, each table with have 3 servers assigned to it so they all only to reset like 2-3 seatings  and can do it more slowly so it won't get super noisy. 

  
  

  All the professional vendors are on board with the idea and they work in the space on a somewhat regular basis. I was just concerned because I've never been to a wedding where they used the main room for the cocktails. 

  Report1 Reply
• Maggie0829 member

  

  April 2014

  I think having it in the main room will be fine. People will be able to find their tables prior to the ceremony so there won't be a delay of any sort afterwards while people find their seats. And if people feel comfortable they can leave their jackets or shawls at the their table while they attend the ceremony. I think if your venue is confident with it then I would just do as you are thinking and don't be concerned about the cocktail hour taking place in the main reception room. At least this wat you know there will be plenty of room and seating for everyone.

  
  

  Report1 Reply
• SBmini member

  

  April 2014

  I've been to a lot of weddings where cocktail hour is in the main reception room. Benefits- people find their tables, there's always plenty of seats, and everyone is ready when you make your entrance. Downside- not as much mingling as people tend to stick to their table. But there is nothing wrong with having a cocktail hour in your main room. Our space is up a grand stair case. There's an exterior 'loft' like area where the bar is. But there is only room for about 10 tables (5 high tops, 4 8 seaters) which isn't enough seating. We're going to open a door up so people can go into the reception area if they want more space. 

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• tammym1001 member

  

  April 2014

  Our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception are all taking place in the same room. Our guests will actually be sat at their tables for the ceremony as well. I don't see any problem with it. Every wedding I've gone to has always had the cocktail hour in the main reception room. 

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• traditionallyuntraditional member

  

  July 2014

  I think it will be fine are you able to have the bar and some high top tables set up away from the dinner tables to encourage mingling? If the bar is in a fixed locating I wouldn't worry about it a lot of the weddings that I've been to have had cocktail hour in the main room as well.
  

  Report0 Reply
• ifeelgoodifeelgreatifeelwonderful member

  

  August 2014

  I was just at an event where we were in the same room for both cocktails then dinner. Once more people got there, some people did just sit at their tables, but if you wanted food it was better to stay in the cocktail area as the servers were not going around to each individual table. If they can't hang something from the ceiling, what about a room type divider (the type that sits on the floor and expands). Even if you only had 2 or 3, they wouldn't block off the entire length of the room and people could see around them but at least it gets the point across to stay in the cocktail area. 

  
  

  Report0 Reply
• alm&mdm member

  

  August 2014

  Thanks for all the suggestions ladies. I just met with my event designer again over the weekend. My final mockups are scheduled for about 7 weeks from now so we went over all the big points again. 

  
  

  The gallery space is larger than I remember it being. When I did the first walk through, they were doing police dog training in the room so I only popped my head in. So we are going to play it up a little more and have the main room open. 

  
  

  We're going to drape the alcove and ceremony seating and leave everything else open. Guests will enter off of a second level balcony and be able to see everything but the alcove and the gallery when they enter. I think it's going to a better option to keep just our alter space the surprise since they're going to have a fantastic view of the room from minute one anyway. We have 115 ft ceilings so things like room dividers just don't work. But we can hang fabric panels fairly high and she's got a pretty design to make them more private and block the alcove. Plus are events in the space most of our wedding week so pulling the draping back to a small scale also works better on the time line. My vendors won't be able to sneak in early since they have to wait for the other event to break down. 

  
  

  We have a ton of wait staff lined up so I'm not worried about food. They will make it around to everyone even if they're sitting. And we added bars to the gallery/lounge space. And added some interactive bars to the main room. There's going to whiskey tasting stations and margaritas bar for speciality drinks. Plus our regular full bars will be open and we'll do some passed drinks. 

  
  

  Everyone is really getting excited already. A lot of our guests are higher ups in the service industry and they're taking a big night off to join us. I feel sure they will all live the night up and mingle and have fun. 

  Report1 Reply
• BlueBirdMB member

  

  September 2014

  That's actually the way I prefer it.  I hate when I am juggling my purse, glass and a plate because I can't find a table or chair.  Often I'm also being bumped into because there wasn't enough space at the cocktail hour space.  We had a separate room for our ceremony, but then everyone piled into the main floor.  We had some high top tables out in the main room, some out on the deck outside of the main room, and otherwise, people could find their tables.  The older guests immediately found their tables and hung out there and our younger guests hung out at the high top tables and in front of the bar.  Then they cleaned up the stations for cocktail hour, which was everyone's cue to sit down for dinner.  It all worked smoothly. 

  Report0 Reply