Appetizers & Cocktail hour time

How long is the rest of your reception? We had an extended cocktail hour and everyone loved it—great for mingling and to enjoy live music. Our reception, with dinner, was only three hours so our total event was right around 5. I think extended cocktail hours are great in theory, but I would make sure your reception wasn't four+ hours to make up the time.

Also, you definitely want food if people will be drinking for two hours! Your dinner caterer of course would be able to supply options, but if you're going the DIY route and want to go as cheap as possible and your venue allows it, you can pick up deli trays from somewhere like Costco to offer people vegetables + dip, charcuterie, etc. But I'd recommend something substantial!

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The dance would get over at 11. We were thinking eat at 5:30, reception festivities until 7-7:30 then dancing and hanging out until 11. During the dance we will have dancing/DJ, a bon fire, and yard games. Love the idea of getting things from Costco, thank you!

Does your venue have a required caterer or do you bring in everything yourself? Find out what restrictions have on catering. Some venues require you to have a licensed caterer and others such as houses of worship are much more lax and let you bring in frozen appetizers and platters from Costco.


Food is a requirement even with a 1 hour cocktail hour because people need to eat while they are drinking alcohol or else they will be intoxicated immediately, which you will be responsible for any damages resulting at the wedding and after guests leave.
2 hours is long but it’s doable. Some people prefer cocktail style parties. Is there any reason why you can’t push dinner up a half hour?

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There are no restrictions for the venue. We can order in or make anything for food that we would like.

There is not a reason we can't move the dinner up a half hour, I just honestly did not know what a reasonable time for a cocktail hour would be. To me, 2 hours seemed like a reasonable enough time to make it through the receiving line, finishing pictures, and being able to play games with guests. I definitely want appetizers, just WHAT is what I'm trying to figure out.