Splurge or Save: Cocktail hour?!

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Love the outdoor games idea!

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That sounds like a lovely cocktail hour for your guests!

I had the idea of having somewhat of an "our story" video/slide show play. A lot of my family lives farther away, so that would be a good way to catch up and then both sides can get to see more about us. What one of my cousins did, was serve a soup and have hot apple cider as it was a winter wedding. I'm not sure what would be nice for some sort of refreshments, but so far a slide show and perhaps some games to help guests feel included.

I'm doing things alcohol free, so we haven't discussed food or drink for that. Honestly, with the way the budget is going, it might be something we don't do too much for. Especially with family that would be flying in, I'm sure they'd want to say hi to people they haven't seen in a few years. I'm sure some would like to spend time talking outside after the ceremony (assuming good weather), and I don't want it to be too structured of a timeline.

We are having Cocktail hour and also there's outdoor games, we are also including our guest in a group photo, so they aren't bored waiting for our photos.

For ours, we had bar service and appetizers, including smoked salmon, chicken kebabs and spinach dip (there was about 3 hrs between the end of the ceremony and dinner, so guests had lots of time). We had it start around 4:30 pm, an hour and a half before dinner.

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Right! we have 1 child at our wedding so the charcuterie boards are going to be a hit

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I think charcuterie boards are a hit this year! I know they were with my wedding!

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We haven't committed but I think charcuterie boards will be the way to go- its all adults so I think that will be the best way to go. Our DJ is setting up a sound system for some jazz music for that area as well

View quoted message I most certainly hope so 🤞🏽

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That's great! Have you decided on what kind of food you're going to have with your cocktail hour?!

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I think your guests will love the photo booth!

We have an hour between the ceremony and the reception for photos so we are going to have a cocktail hour

We are having cocktail hour as it is included in our package. Since our ceremony & reception are in the same venue, the staff will transform the ceremony room into the cocktail room. During that quick turnover, we are having some group shots before we go for our pictures. The guests will keep busy with the do it yourself photo booth, Mad Libs (my daughter wanted to incorporate LOL), 3 types of hors d'oeuvres moving around and the Open Bar.

View quoted message Massive savings, that's awesome!

View quoted message Definitely!! We had lots of Costco gift cards and they came in super handy!!

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That's awesome! 100 bucks is amazing!!!

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Oh absolutely! Completely agree! You defiantly don't have to have cocktail hour if you and your future spouse don't want to!

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That's awesome that you had a magician!

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I think that's still a great idea having a special drink and appetizers for your guests when they arrive!

For our cocktail hour we saved as much as we could! Our DJ used cocktail hour to set up but we had a speaker with music playing. For food we used Costco gift cards we got when we upgraded our phones to buy food for cocktail. A friend of the family who is a chef used the food from Costco to make charcuterie boards and other platters. I think out of pocket we spent around $100 total on cocktail hour!

Another thing to add! Obviously logistics can be a thing and if it's not all in the same area it's tough but I think if you can do a cocktail hour, it helps set the mood and tone and transition into the evening : )

I am a huge fan of a good cocktail hour! I think it depends on timeline but a pet peeve of mine is when I attend weddings and there is too much down time in between with not much going on... Our cocktail hour was an hour and a bit but we had 4 different appetizers going around, huge charcuturie board, live music from band, and a magician was doing strolling magic! I think it really helped welcome all the guests and put them in a relaxing party/evening mood!

I am technically ditching this. My wedding ceremony takes place at 3:30 pm and its on the other side of town and the restaurant does not open till 5:30, so when they arrive they will be greeted with a welcome drink and appetizers.

So I guess kind of? But not the usual timing.