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Just Said Yes October 2024

2 hour cocktail hour too much?

Richelle, on January 5, 2024 at 11:54 AM Posted in Community Conversations 0 7

Hello everyone, I am getting married in October and after speaking with my decorator, she requests minimum 2 hours for flipping our ceremony space to the reception. (She has a small team of 2) My venue has a separate floor for cocktail hour, and I have a 10 hour block for the entire day. At my cocktail hour I plan to have drinks, food, and entertainment. Do you all think a 2 hour cocktail hour is a bit much? The majority of my guests are young close friends, along with our closest family and there is enough seating for the vast majority of guests during cocktail hour. I am stressing about this timeline.. thanks in advance!

7 Comments

Latest activity by Michelle, on January 13, 2024 at 10:57 PM
  • Andrea
    Rockstar January 2024
    Andrea ·
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    As long as you provide seating and some refreshment, it’s doable. But that’s a long chunk of time. Don’t be surprised if people leave early in the reception if you’ve made them wait that long. I’d maybe talk about how to simplify the decor for faster flipping instead.
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  • C
    CM ·
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    Your decorator is putting you in an unfortunate position, IMO. An hour and a half is the limit before people get antsy, especially if only "most" of your guests will have seats available.

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  • R
    Just Said Yes October 2024
    Richelle ·
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    Thank you Andrea! I'm thinking of putting a bug in peoples ears and having a printed itinerary for the day of

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  • Michael
    Rockstar October 2023
    Michael Online ·
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    If you have a photographer held through an extra hour or so for flipping the ceremony space, that money might be better spent on having help to flip the room sooner. Also, the guests' time is essentially wasted. So, an improved speed of this process would be better -- plus it reduces how much people will drink before the meal. Even if people just needed to volunteer (if the decorator cannot hire others), that would make things go smoother.

    Maybe another way to do this is with the wedded couple making their entrance at this time and to be greeting people -- which may help keep people interested.

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  • Kate
    Just Said Yes July 2025
    Kate ·
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    My comment disappeared but why i just told you that this menu is enough

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  • R
    Rockstar June 2018
    Rae ·
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    It sounds like the issue is the decorator - if she has wedding experience she should be able to easily do this in one hour. I do think two hours is long for cocktail hour, people are going to be pretty tipsy and hungry by the time you finally sit down to eat. Anyone in the wedding business should be used to cocktail "hour" being an hour... maybe look into a different vendor.

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  • Michelle
    Rockstar December 2022
    Michelle ·
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    2 hours is a lot and way too long for this. She needs to rethink her plan and hire more workers or you need to find a different decorator who is more efficient. Not even considering that you need to have super heavy appetizers (read: extra expensive and guests will not have room for dinner if you serve the proper amount) during that time to soak up whatever alcohol is served, people get antsy standing around waiting for something to happen. Also, do you feel 1000% confident that not one person attending has any disabilities, visible or hidden, that will hinder them during that time? Because they will need to sit and a long wait before dinner will be more uncomfortable for them due to that distraction.
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