Cocktail hour without alcohol

I am fine with attending a dry wedding if it is during the day, I know that there will be no alcohol ahead of time, and there isn't an expectation to stay for several hours. I can attend the ceremony, drink coffee for an hour, eat and mingle for another hour and then I would want to leave. A one hour cocktail hour and a traditional 4 hour reception with no adult beverages would be a bit much.

Since you refuse to change venues or have just the reception elsewhere, I suggest just serving cake and punch and calling it a day. You will literally be wasting your money by paying for a DJ for a dry reception. You will also be opening yourself up to a HUGE liability issue if guests bring flasks or alcohol in their vehicles and drink at your reception anyway, which is likely as you've told them it's dry. Since they will have been drinking at YOUR wedding with no licensed bartender present, YOU become liable for their behavior after they leave and while they are there, so if they hit and kill someone? Your problem.

Find a new venue or have an early afternoon cake and punch reception, or expect people to leave immediately after dinner/cake.

I am fine with dry weddings as long as everyone knows as you've said. I agree though, mocktails are too cutesy/draw attention to the fact there's no alcohol/most of the ones I've tried are gross. I think doing different kinds of tea or lemonade could be good, sparkling juice/water

I would just skip it and go straight into the reception- having a cocktail hour isn't a must-do, and is pretty pointless without cocktails.

What about doing a lemonade bar? Like offer large pitchers of lemonade and then fruits to add to it? You could even have sparkling ciders to make it bubbly. I went to a baby shower with one and I thought it was great. You could also do smore tables for your guest on cocktail tables.

It would be waaayyyy better with choice of alcohol BUT....it's an option without

Jamie -- I am also having a wedding without alcohol. We are going to have a brunch reception (it's a Sunday morning wedding) and we will have a fancy coffee bar, tea, a hot chocolate bar, etc. I may have smoothies or fresh-pressed veggie juice.

Lots of places have coffee catering available, too, so you don't have to worry about the park not having an espresso machine.

Also... everyone loves milkshakes.

Honestly, what's needed to make a mocktail is as much of a production as making a cocktail. I say skip the mocktails and do a cake + punch reception; I think your wedding time allows for that to be plausible, so long as the reception remains on the shorter side.

@presentingthepaiges, it isn't an issue of people's lives being "so horrible" or "just sad" that they can't celebrate without alcohol, so the dramatics can stop there. Providing the option of alcohol at a wedding is just good hosting. It's been mentioned multiple times on here before; if you use the search engine, as lackluster as it is, you'll see many posts explaining this.

@Jay I've been on the site long enough to see many of the post bashing people who have dry weddings and I still think it's sad. Just like many of you have the opinion of it being "improper hosting," my opinion is that it's ridiculous that you can't go a few hours without liquor, now THAT is dramatic.

No one said they can't go a few hours without booze. They are just saying if a guest is going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to attend a wedding, being able to have a drink while they celebrate is the least you can do to say thank you

I would probably skip the cocktail hour and wait to do pictures until after the meal. It doesn't sound ideal but if you basically finish the ceremony at 1:30, eat, and be done by 3, everyone has the remainder of their day, you can plan a party that night if you'd like at a bar, and have plenty of time and light after it's all over to do your pictures.

Please copy-paste the exact comment in this thread (or any dry wedding thread, for that matter) in which someone said they can't go a few hours without alcohol. I'm curious because I've never come across that myself.

@presentingthepaiges, I can definitely go hours without drinking. I go weeks without having a drink. But, if I am at a party I will have more fun if I can have a few drinks. A party atmosphere and alcohol, generally go hand in hand. That is not the case for certain cultures/religions, and I can respect that. But if you drink and your guests drink, and you want to have a fun party you should be providing alcohol.

LOL, wut?! "There is nothing wrong with a dry wedding?" Seriously?! Just because YOU choose not to drink, doesn't mean that every other guest shouldn't be able to. Guests potentially spend hundreds of dollars on travel, lodging, gifts, etc. for your wedding. The LEAST you can do is properly host them and supply alcohol if they so choose to drink.

I'm with several other PP's, find another venue or be sure to have some type of alcohol at the reception.

ETA - I can't spell, because I was just at a Christmas party where the hosts appropriately supplied everyone with alcohol if they chose to drink.

A cocktail hour with no cocktails is just an hour.

If you're dead set on having a dry wedding in the middle of the afternoon, I hope you've adjusted your expectations and don't think you're going to have a party atmosphere. There's a reason alcohol is nicknamed "liquid courage".

@Paige: People who don't have a drink in the middle of the day when they aren't working baffle me. lol

And you know what's worse than a 10am brunch wedding?

A 10am brunch wedding WITHOUT a mimosa or a Bellini.

DON'T stay sober my friends.

I'm still waiting for *someone* to pop in and call us all alcoholics...

Shrimp cocktail!

Joking.

It's not a cocktail then, so find a reception venue where you can properly host your guests.

I find not providing alcohol to be the equivalent of not providing a vegetarian option. Exclusions for cultural and religious reasons aside, not every guest is a vegetarian, but someone might be and it would be rude not to have something for them to eat. Likewise, not every guest is going to drink, but some guests will want a nice glass of wine, and it would be unfair to not provide it.

In the case of OP, I think they'd do best with a cake + punch reception given their ceremony + reception, and skipping the cocktails.