"Cocktail hour"

Knottie70416392 · June 2015

I may sound really stupid but I am constantly reading about brides having a cocktail hour. But what is this? We are getting married and then have 2 hours before our reception for photos. This may be a great opportunity for cocktails, but where do you have cocktail hour? We are having our ceremony at Bellagio terrace and reception Maggianos. Thanks in advance

damnthetorpedoes · June 2015

"Cocktail hour" is usually done as something for the guests to do while the wedding party is taking pictures and the other guests are waiting around for them. So it's almost always between the ceremony and the reception, and usually in the same place as the reception.

I did go to one wedding where cocktail hour was before the ceremony, though!

hmgiffor · June 2015

We did a cocktail hour after our ceremony while we were taking some photos and chatting with people and that's when we had our Elvis come. You could see if Magliano's can do one so guests can go right there or you can see if there is somewhere you can stop. Keep in mind, you usually pay for this. Luckily it was included in our package.

jdaigle44 · June 2015

I am doing a cocktail hour at Maggiano's for while I am off doing photos. It was an extra $125/hr for the room and then I am getting 3 types of passed hors d'oeuvres for an extra $6 per person.

Futuremrshauger · June 2015

@hmgiffor remind me of where you had your cocktail hour?

Futuremrshauger · June 2015

I am have been pondering the samet thing. We have a ceremony at 4pm-4:15ish (Flamingo) and originally had the DDB coming at 5pm, so that leaves about 40-45 mins of time in between. I checked out what most Flamingo bride do, which is Carlos N Charlies as its at Flamingo. However, prices were super expensive. I am talking $5.00 per person (we have about 100 guests) for chips and salsa! We were not going to supply booze during the so called cocktail hour (I know; I know, I already got the etiquette lecture), but it's 45 mins and we will be providing booze on the DDB and open bar at the reception at Star Dust.

SOOOO to avoid the whole thing and spare the non etiquette of the situation, I thought take quick family pics before ceremony; cut out the cocktail hour and have DDB come at 4:30pm. However, since reservation is at 5pm they don't have a bus at 4:30, but told me possibly 4:45pm that then most likely leaves a 30 min window.

hmgiffor · June 2015

We had ours at the Platinum. Carlos and Charlies is STUPID expensive. Hubby and I went there for drinks late one night and it was like $30!!!

Futuremrshauger · June 2015

@hmgiffor I had to keep having the woman clarify, "You mean $5.00 per chips and salsa basket, right, not per person..?" This "cocktail hour" has been my only source of stress as I feel horrible if I don't keep guests busy for 30 mins until bus comes at 4:45pm (I am hoping there maybe a cancellation and he can come at 4:30pm). My finace' said screw it if they want to head to the casino for a bit or belly up to the bar let them. My feelings are mixed, but $500 more with tax for chips and salsa?!

hmgiffor · June 2015

Yea that is insane. I don't 30 mins is that bad.

Viczaesar · July 2015

Knottie70416392 said:

I may sound really stupid but I am constantly reading about brides having a cocktail hour. But what is this? We are getting married and then have 2 hours before our reception for photos. This may be a great opportunity for cocktails, but where do you have cocktail hour? We are having our ceremony at Bellagio terrace and reception Maggianos. Thanks in advance

The point of cocktail hour is to host your guests during any short gap between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of the reception. You should be hosting your guests without break from the beginning of your ceremony to the end of your reception. 2 hours for pictures is too long. Cut the pictures down to an hour and host drinks and light appetizers/snacks during that time, then start the reception.

silverblade005 · July 2015

2 hours isnt too long in vegas, it takes 20-30 minutes to get anywhere on the strip as traffic is pretty bad. So if you want to do pictures in more than one location, time needs to be allotted to get to the next location. My photographer recommended a minimum of an hour and a half.

I'm also stuck as to what to do with my guests. I wanted to rent one of the party buses but we are traveling in the dead heat of the day (3pm) in the dead heat of the summer (August). We've had several tour bus companies tell us that they do not run the buses in the middle of the day as it is too hot and the buses can overheat and/or not provide enough A/C. LOL so it looks like I may be paying for a cocktail hour in the hotel before the reception dinner instead of putting everyone on a bus with drinks to chill.

jdaigle44 · July 2015

In the beginning of my planning I to was worried about having 2 hours for photography and what my guests could do for that period. The closer I get the less I am worrying about it. Its vegas, its not hard for people to find something to do to entertain themselves for 2 hours. In the end I don't think people are going to be thinking "wow that was a terrible wedding because there was to long of a break between ceremony and reception". Personally I am just not willing to sacrifice my photos (which are really your lasting memories of your big day), just to keep people entertained. That being said I did end booking a cocktail hour which starts an hour after the ceremony so people will only have to entertain themselves for about an hour.

americankorean · July 2015

Our guests will have an hour between the end of the ceremony and the start of the reception. I figure that between chatting after the ceremony, walking over to the reception location, and "stuff to do in Vegas," they'll all be sufficiently entertained. If people can't entertain themselves for an hour or two in Vegas surrounded by family and friends, I figure it's their problem, not mine, haha.

Having said all of that, I'm sure your guests would love and appreciate some free booze before the reception.

I just don't think anyone should hold it against you if it's not provided. We're not getting married on a farm. We're getting married in giant hotel/ casinos. :P

adverb · July 2015

I agree that 2 hours of a gap isn't really that big of a deal, especially since people can just go downstairs and do whatever.

Our entire ceremony is going to be in the MGM suite. We just decided to do cocktail hour after the ceremony and then an hour later get the food started so hopefully people will be adequately distracted. But I do imagine the groom and I will be gone taking pictures for roughly 2 hours. I figure giving people booze and food should be enough to entertain them. And if they leave, oh well.

trm358 · July 2015

I completely overestimated how much time everything would take. My photography took 30-45 minutes tops (I took pictures around Aria), and travel to Maggianos took ten minutes via the strip. What we did is instruct Maggianos that once our shuttle of guests got there to start serving. That way, guests were entertained with drinks before we got there.

silverblade005 · July 2015

@trm358 when you got your photos back, may I see what Gin & Sake shot around the Aria? I would love to see how they came out!

trm358 · July 2015

@silverblade005 Here are a couple from our first preview. We did pictures all around but I really think the ones that focus on us (instead of the location/ Vegas) are the most beautiful. These shots were taken in the hotel hallways, in front of the elevators, and outside restaurant row's wall decorations.

Gin and Sake were amazing to work with!!

vegasgroom · July 2015

jdaigle44 said:

In the beginning of my planning I to was worried about having 2 hours for photography and what my guests could do for that period. The closer I get the less I am worrying about it. Its vegas, its not hard for people to find something to do to entertain themselves for 2 hours. In the end I don't think people are going to be thinking "wow that was a terrible wedding because there was to long of a break between ceremony and reception". Personally I am just not willing to sacrifice my photos (which are really your lasting memories of your big day), just to keep people entertained. That being said I did end booking a cocktail hour which starts an hour after the ceremony so people will only have to entertain themselves for about an hour.

I'm not clear on why keeping your guests entertained for two hours and sacrificing your photos are related? You've invited guests, it's your responsibility to take care of them during the wedding activities (which include the gap between the events). It's also your responsibility to allocate enough time for photos. If you believe photos will take two hours, then provide something for your guests during that time, or a good portion of that time. No one's saying you can't take a long photo session, you just ideally wouldn't do so while leaving your guests to fend for themselves.

I can tell you if I was a guest at a wedding where I was told go find something to do in Vegas for two hours, I wouldn't be particularly happy. What is there to do in Vegas? Gamble, eat, drink, shop, see shows, walk the strip, go to Fremont, go to the pool, take a helicopter tour, so on and so forth. Many of those things would require more than two hours to complete; i.e. I can't just go randomly catch a show when you factor in the time to get to it from ceremony, hope it starts at exactly the right time for this schedule, then make it back for reception entrance. I wouldn't want to eat since I'm going to do that at the reception. I'm not going to walk the strip in a suit because it's hot. I might hang out at a bar if I'm a drinker, but what about those that don't drink? I would not have enough time to do most of the other things as I'm not going to go shopping in formal wear, nor would I have time to change, shop, come back, change, get to reception. And last but not least, I would probably not gamble because I go to weddings wearing a nice suit and the last thing I want to do is stand around in a cloud of cigarette smoke for two hours gambling before the reception so I can then try to have fun, eat dinner and dance while I stink of stale cigarette smoke.

I'd actually say a longer gap would be preferable to a two hour gap with no hosted activity. If it's longer, I've got time to change out of my suit, do something fun, come back and change for reception. If it's 30 to 45 minute gap, no big deal, I can stand in place and people watch for 30 minutes without it bothering me much. One to two hours of doing nothing is the sweet spot where I'd get frustrated.

wrigleyville · July 2015

I agree with VG. Anything over an hour or so is too long. Two hours is definitely too long. I was excited to watch you get married, and now I want to celebrate with you, not wait around for you for two hours or more.

You can do most of your photos before the ceremony and save the couple pictures for the cocktail hour.

Or, you can do a First Look and get all of your strip photos out of the way before the ceremony. That's what we did, and it only took about 30 minutes to do all of the post-ceremony shots in and around the chapel.

I preferred that because I really felt guilty making my guests wait for even 45-60 minutes. I've been to weddings with longer gaps, and trust me... I DID gripe about it. I've actually declined going to weddings that have gaps longer than 90 minutes.

hmgiffor · July 2015

We did a First Look (which was super special in itself) and we had a cocktail hour for the rest of our photos. The BIG bonus for me was I got to spend a large chunk of the cocktail hour with my guests having drinks and spending time in the Photo Booth. I am so glad I did not miss out on that time.

vegasgroom · July 2015

hmgiffor said:

We did a First Look (which was super special in itself) and we had a cocktail hour for the rest of our photos. The BIG bonus for me was I got to spend a large chunk of the cocktail hour with my guests having drinks and spending time in the Photo Booth. I am so glad I did not miss out on that time.

lol, we still have people who talk about the great apps we had during cocktail hour; I didn't even get to see them let alone try one since we were gone the whole time.

jdaigle44 · July 2015

I do appreciate people's opinions and suggestions and I think parts of my post were confusing and kind of contradicted eachother. We moved our cocktail hour now so when you calculate in time for travel from reception to ceremony there is only about a 1 hour gap between ceremony and cocktail hour. My fiance and I depending on how long our photos take will be joining at some point during this cocktail hour.
My fiance and I discussed doing a "first look" and the photo shoot before the ceremony, but ultimately we decided that it was important to us that the first time we see each other that day is when I am walking down the aisle.
We have been very open with our guests ahead of time that this break will exist and for the most part people have not voiced an issue with it. I know to some people on here think I probably sound selfish, but to me my photos are a very important part of my day.
If anyone has any ideas as to suggested activities my guests could do during that hour I would appreciate it. I would prefer non hosted activities as my fiance and I are already approaching the top of our budget, but if something was an affordable price we may consider it.

I know in my previous post I probably sounded crass and jaded. I have had a rough time with family members interjecting their ideas and strong opinions as to how my wedding should be and I think that day in particular when I wrote that post was a rough day.

hmgiffor · July 2015

They could do the Linq (takes about 30 minutes), gamble, grab a cocktail at any of the tons of places nearby, play beer pong at O'Shea's across the street. That may be a relatively cheap hosted option (I have no clue on pricing).

vegasgroom · July 2015

How's O'Sheas? Did it retain any of the flavor of the original? I haven't been there yet.

hmgiffor · July 2015

It certainly did. It is your typical dive bar which I love. Fortunately, it did lose the vomit smell

vegasgroom · July 2015

Will be there in a couple weeks; I'll have to try to make it up there to check out.

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