Q:My fiancé and I are planning a wedding for late fall. The guest list has expanded by fifty people (on top of the hundred we started with), and as we’re hosting a sit-down catered dinner at a local restaurant, I’m looking for ways to cut some costs. Our ceremony will be held at 1:00 in the afternoon, and dinner is expected to be served around 5:30. We’ll have photos taken between the ceremony and the reception.
I am having trouble deciding whether or not it is necessary to have a cocktail hour before our sit-down dinner at the reception location. I would like to offer guests something, since it is quite a stretch from ceremony to reception… but am struggling to justify the extra cost.
If we forego a formal “cocktail hour” what else can we do to appease guests appetites until dinner is served? Is this our responsibility? Is a cocktail hour really necessary in the first place?
did you have a cocktail hour at your wedding? if not, how did you keep guests happy during down time? what are alternatives to a cocktail hour that have worked for you?
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