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No cocktail hour

[Deleted User][Deleted User] member
First Anniversary First Comment
in North Carolina
My fiance and I are having our wedding at 11am and the ceremony and reception are at the same location. We don't think it's necessary to have a cocktail since we only plan on taking maybe 30 minutes on pictures after the ceremony. Is this a bad idea? We just don't want to spend more money since we're on tight budget.
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Re: No cocktail hour

  • Knottie1440817494Knottie1440817494 member
    First Comment
    Makes great sense to me.  After all, you're getting married at 11:00.  Who needs buzzed guests before noon?  I would just suggest having family members in place to keep everyone occupied.
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  • jay788jay788 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    You should probably have something for guests to eat/drink, maybe something like coffee/tea and coffee cake/fruit? Shouldn't cost all that much.

    An alternative would be to skip post-ceremony pictures and move directly from ceremony to reception. 
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  • ViczaesarViczaesar member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    trekwars91 said:
    My fiance and I are having our wedding at 11am and the ceremony and reception are at the same location. We don't think it's necessary to have a cocktail since we only plan on taking maybe 30 minutes on pictures after the ceremony. Is this a bad idea? We just don't want to spend more money since we're on tight budget.
    The point of cocktail hour is to host your guests while you're doing photos.  What are your guests who are not in the photos with you going to do for that half hour?  You can't expect them to just stand around without any kind of refreshments, even if it's just nonalcoholic drinks and cheese/crackers/veggie tray.



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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Comment
    As a planner, I would suggest having some non-alcoholic refreshments or maybe a simple breakfast cocktail like mimosas. Also some simple cheese and fruit trays. It is important that the transition period while you and the wedding party are taking pictures is smooth and seamless from the guest prospective.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    I'm in a similar predicament. Our timeline is pretty tight. Ceremony at 6 dinner at 7 The ceremony and reception are in the same place and my FI doesn't want to see me dressed before the wedding (he's superstitious) so post ceremony is our only option. Our bar opens after the ceremony and we will be at a beautiful Japanese Garden, I am asking the DJ to encourage the guests to get a drink ( iced tea, water, beer, or wine) and explore the garden. And let them know dinner starts at 7.
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  • herrble1015herrble1015 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    You might not need a full-blown cocktail hour, but you definitely need to have something for your guests to do while you're off taking photos.
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