Cocktail Hour

We are doing one with an open bar but only because an 8-hour Open Bar is built into our cost per/person. We just want to get the most bang for our buck!

Cocktail Hour is totally at your discretion. We're doing one because it will give our guests time to mix & mingle while our wedding party takes pictures. Plus our friends like to have fun so this will be a great opportunity to get some drinks into them to loosen up for the remainder o the evenings festivities.

Of Course everyone is doing the way he likes and the way they can afford.

At our wedding, my guests comfort is number one and beautiful atmosphere and excellent service.

So drink will be free from moment they get in ceremony and wedding and cocktail hour. Open bar all the time. It will cost, but we have small wedding 30 people.

For our guests it will be holiday. We take care of everything. Their hotel, transport.

So for that reason, I dont think that I will have any gift to my guests. Also we will have Brazilian dancer show, half naked beautiful girls to open dance floor. And also dance fro me and my husband.

I think alcohol is important part of any party. It makes people more friendly, happy, calm, easy going.

But definitely I am cutting expense on something else. I have cut expense on DJ. Photographer and Videographer. But in the end I found them and I believe they will do good job. Also I will save money on my makeup and hairstyle, it will be done by me and my sister will do my hair. I will save as much as I can on wedding dress and maybe will not buy new shoes. Also I have saved a lot on wedding organization. I am organizing everything myself. I only will use day of coordinators. I am putting together my flowers and table center decor. I will use silk flowers for all my wedding.

View quoted message Our reception is going to be about 60-70 people. We are paying for the whole wedding ourselves so it’s a cost thing for sure. Our wedding is small so we don’t think we need a cocktail hour. It’s nice to know not everyone is doing one. I like the whole light refreshments and small food idea.

We are likely going to skep the "cocktail" hour and simply do light refreshments after the ceremony.

No booze, just some punch and light snacks for guests. We cant afford to host everyone at the reception, as our area is quite pricey - but still want them to be able to attend the ceremony and get pictures with us, etc. So this is what we are doing. We are having a photo booth, and depending on time the snacks afterwards may very well be S'mores outside since our church has a bonfire pit and we aren't that high brow.

Our reception is likely not going to be more than 10 people.

As the others have said, if the reception is starting immediately after the ceremony, a cocktail hour is superfluous. But if you have a gap, for the comfort of your guests I would say you should have some food and drink available while they wait. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Even some veggies and dip and pretzels with punch to drink would be fine and inexpensive.

I’m not doing cocktail hour only because it would be another 1000 added onto the price to feed everyone snacks. My church is in a community that’s close for half of my family to head back home to chill while the other half would head to the hotel to check in.

I agree with Tori best way to get around cocktail hour is to go from ceremony to reception IMO. As long as you keep the gap small between the two it'll be fine.

We're doing one, but it works logistically well with our venue.

Our ceremony is at 3-3:30pm and our cocktail hour is 5:30-6:30pm, dinner to follow. Some of our guests (especially family) will want to mingle with others. We are also planning on being present for our cocktail hour (doing grand entrance ~5:45pm) so we have some time to mingle with them as well. I think this way, guests won't mind too much since we get to visit with people.

Its all you two to decide to have a cocktail hour or not. Timing is always where you base if guests will have dinner early as the reception starts or wait for a bit if they have time in between to grab meals from outside.

The venue also does include in their package when discussed or separate. Included is a benefit that won't cost you a dime and guests will enjoy a bite here and there to fill a bit of snacking. Separately, the cost will add up easily and not worth it depending on how many guests you have confirmed.

If your ceremony is late in the afternoon you can skip the cocktail hour! just jump straight into your nights plans

We're not, but ours is a dry event as a whole.

There were also logistic reasons. Our venue has an outside option for the ceremony, but, if weather forecast is bad, they can move it inside. The trick with that is it is the same space for the reception and they need 2.5 hours to flip the space...which is most of our three hour gap. Checking with the venue about any flip time if the same space is being used for both. Could be like us there wouldn't be enough time, or, if you do decide to, you'll know to adjust the timeline accordingly.

Also, consider what is in the considering area around your venue and the time in between. Like Kelsie mentioned, guest can get hungry/thirsty with a larger gap between ceremony and reception. If the venue is out in the middle of nowhere, might not be a bad idea to have something out. If it is near to a lot of places, people will at least have options. (Our venue is near the downtown core, so there are restaurants, goodie shops, museums, etc all nearby)

We're doing one but I understand why lots of people don't do them.

Are your venues the same location? Are you going from the ceremony right into the reception?

We have two separate locations for our ceremony and reception - about 30-40 mins apart, with traffic. There is also a gap of 4.5 hours between ceremony and reception, so although people get to go home in between, we know they're going to be hungry (and thirsty) when they come for 5:30 p.m. - hence the cocktail hour. During the cocktail hour, we'll be doing our receiving line in the foyer and greeting guests. Inside the hall, the guests can eat and drink and mingle, which to be honest, I love doing at weddings.

So yeah benefits - hungry and thirsty guests get food and drinks, there's time for bride and groom mingle with guests and for guests to mingle with other guests. It basically gives guests something to do while greeting everyone.

Negative is obviously, it costs more, unless it's part of your package. Ours was included in our package.

We won't be!!

Instead we will be doing first look photo's before the ceremony followed by wedding party pics and immediate family pics. Then the ceremony at 5:30 followed immediately by the reception at 6!

Main reason of not doing it was to save money on food and drinks that we won't get to have But also because it just comes across as boring imo... stand and talk with people while I go and take pics.... no thanks