Ideas For Backyard Cocktail Receiption

Your wedding is in October? Tell us more about your plans for lighting, heat and rain backup first. That comes before decor. How many guests will you be having?

@Jacks. In our area the weather is great in October. We are going to string lights across the yard. As a backup for rain, we have tents for the entire yard (FILs already own them) and if it is cold we have enough outdoor heaters to heat up the tents.

We will have about 100 guests.

I'm having a cocktail style reception as well.

We're not decorating with anything more than lots of mason jars with white hydrangeas, maybe some larger vases with white roses. Also candles throughout the garden and little white lights hanging above.

The garden is very pretty so it doesn't need anything else.

I do like a mix of tables ... that's what we're doing..

You need tons of appetizers though... and some heavy ones.

@found my prince we are having a food truck, korean mexican fusion. Are you having a chair for each person?

There should be a chair for each person.

@jacks we are not doing a dinner. Only heavy apps, it's a cocktail party. I have never been to a cocktail party where there is a chair for each person.

Can you give us a better idea of the timing for your event? You mentioned stringing lights. Will it be dark? Will it be dinner time? Will you be serving a serious amount of appetizers to make up for the fact that you're not serving a full meal?

At dinner time, your guests will want to chow down. That means piling their plate high with appetizers since that will be what's available and finding a place to sit down while they go to town on their food. Heck, looking back through my pro pics from our cocktail hour between the ceremony and dinner, our photographer snapped numerous pictures of guests seated at tables so they could dig into their apps. Definitely go with seating for everyone, and if this is taking place during a meal time, keep in mind you'll need to provide enough food to satisfy your guests or they'll leave. My DH is a T1 diabetic. He can't skip meals. We would have to leave an event like this early unless there was a massive amount of appetizers available and he felt like he was actually consuming dinner. Guests without medical conditions tend to feel the same way about skipping dinner.

^ ^ what BlueHenBride said. When is the ceremony? Is the reception immediately after? If the reception is an hour or two and ends by 7pm then maybe you can get away with not having a chair for everyone. It depends on the duration.

Your normal cocktail party is likely all relatively young adults. Your wedding may have older people. No, they cannot stand for long. They may not be able to get up to chairs at high top tables. Please rethink this. Rent more chairs and tables if needed.

I have never been to a cocktail style reception that had a chair for everyone. Not everyone will want to sit at exactly the same time.

@BlueHenBride, @mel, @karen, - Our ceremony will be at 1 pm and intimate (parents, siblings and grandparents only). After the ceremony we will have an early dinner with the ceremony attendees.

The cocktail reception will be from 8 pm - 10:30 pm. It will be clear on the invitation that guests are invited to a cocktail reception not the ceremony and dinner.

Despite the fact that it will be a cocktail reception, there will be a food truck and more than enough food for those who want a full meal.

We will have tables and chairs for those who want to sit . And yes, the majority of the guest will be young adults.

Ooo your reception sounds amazing. Is it feasible to have a fire pit? I would say fire pit and marshmallows would be a fun addition. For decor is it more woodsy area or more residential? If its woodsy you might not even need a lot of decor. I would get those citronella tiki torches to double as both decor and bug repellent because bugs can still be an issue in oct in most places and the torches set up would be cute. Also even though its a cocktail reception I would still make sure you have enough chairs or benches for everyone to sit somewhere. Am not sure what else you could add decor wise.

@ Sylphier YES! We have a fire pit and will have a s'mores bar!!!! The yard is a bit of both, as it is on the outskirts of a suburb.

So....you're doing a tiered reception. Not loving that, even though I love me a good cocktail wedding. It's rude. Sorry.

And FSS, stop blaming old people for needing seating. Eventually, almost everyone wants to sit down.

'The cocktail reception will be from 8 pm - 10:30 pm. It will be clear on the invitation that guests are invited to a cocktail reception not the ceremony and dinner'

So the guests don't get to witness your ceremony?

'Eventually, almost everyone wants to sit down.' Sure but not at the same time though. I thought the point of cocktail receptions is to have everyone up mingling? Some people will want to sit later on in the night, some will what to dance, some will keep mingling. I don't understand the seat for every butt rule when it comes to cocktail receptions.

Yes, it is, but there needs to be casual seating for almost everyone. High tops, low boys, banquettes....small and big tables. Yep.

I understand that some might take it as a "tiered" reception, however it isn't really. The early dinner will be at 3:30 pm and 50 miles away from the cocktail reception. We do not want a traditional wedding ceremony and to us it is important for the ceremony to be intimate, plus we are only allowed 6 guests at the ceremony (SF City Hall rules).

Oh, and I realize we are getting married in the US, but in our culture tiered receptions are the norm.

@Celia Milton, I agree everyone will eventually need to sit down. We will for sure have a mixture of seating options (benches, ottomans, etc.) for everyone to sit should they choose/want to, just not at a table. Also, what does FSS mean?

For shit sake.

Courthouse and lunch makes this make a bit more sense. Thank you for clarifying. And SF is a beautiful courthouse.

@VickiG I hope it is amazing for you! We're doing a smores bar and fire pits for my wedding also and it's one of the things I am most looking forward to for our reception. Maybe you could string up a couple of hanging flowers or hearts around the edges of the yard as a sort of backdrop? We made paper hearts and are putting them on fishing line to hang around the venue against the walls.