Anyone not doing a cocktail hour??

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

we are going to have our ceremoy at 10:00am at the Wedding Pavilion and would like to start the reception at the Atlantic Dance Hall around 12:00pm or so. Our coordinator said we really should have a cocktail hour that way we can have more photo's taken and our guests will have somthing to do while we do that. Now he never said we HAD to just that we should. I don't think our guests will mind not going directly from ceremony to reception(I know I wouldn't). Since it is a buffet I don't want my guest getting full on the appitizers then not eating when it's time for the reception to start. Plus we are having the dessert party later that night. I just think that is alot of food. So is there anyone who did not have a cocktail hour??

 

[Princess SarahK]

You could do a shorter (maybe half hour) pre reception with a fruit and cheese display. I think those are pretty inexpensive and it would give your guests time to mix and mingle. I personally think it makes it easier on you to have one because it keeps your guests occupied while you take pictures. BUT if you are doing a "first look" and taking pics before the ceremony then you dont necessarily need a cocktail hour. Just my opinion..you should choose what you and your fiance are most comfortable with and go from there. Good luck! Let us know what you decide

 

[Pooh's Corner]

I thought that too, until I looked at how much longer it is til you acutally eat! Here is our schedule

12 wedding
12:30 coctail hour with fruit and coffee
1:30 we arrive
1:45 First Dance
1:50 Toasts (BM and MOH)
1:55 Blessing
2:00 BRUNCH

It seemed alot to ask people to wait til 2 to eat anything! And we moved everything up closer because our ceremony and reception locations are close enough together!

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

When you add a cocktail hour in does that take away an hour from the reception time making it 3 hours or does it add it on for a total of 5 hours? That's another concern we have too we want to spend the full 4 hours at the reception. If they add that hour on it may sweetin the deal.

 

[Princess SarahK]

The cocktail hour does not take away from your reception. As long as youre a Wishes bride you are allotted a 5 our reception. Which actually includes your 1 hour cocktails and 4 hour reception. It really does sweeten the deal I think! We are having ours at the GF, so our string trio will go to the cocktail hour at Whitehall and play modern hits and classical ones too for our guests as a sort of entertainmnet while they much on fruit and cheese and wait for us to arrive. Then we go into the ballrooms and party with the DJ!

Another thing Ive seen some other brides do is serve their hordevours at the pre reception instead of before the meal. But if you are doing a buffet im not sure how that would work. HTH!

 

[PartofDisney'sWorld]

Hey! We are doing the same as you, having the ceremony at the WP at 10 and then reception at ADH at 12. I was thinking the same as you because our pre-reception and reception are in the same place, so why even bother with a pre-reception? I asked my planner a couple months ago about this and she said we would pretty much need that cocktail hour for our guests while we go take pictures (unless you are doing a first look, then you probably would then not need the cocktail hour as mentioned above). I was thinking, because I had heard from other Dis brides that they ended up getting to their reception early, even after their pictures, so I figured we would get to ours early, but my planner said that because of the location, we'll be lucky if we even have 15 minutes to spare. SO, what we are doing is we are just going to have coffee/tea/juice and danish/croissants type thing for the pre-reception and I'm thinking that it's all going to be in the same place, not like one upstairs and one downstairs like my consultant was telling me. That way people can mingle, get a little nibble and find their seats. HTH!

 

[SheilaHeartsDisney]

But heres my thing if i don't want to have a cocktail hour my guests can just hang out at the board walk till it's time for the reception to start. It's a disney wedding they won't know they are not getting a cocktail hour they'll just think ohh here the ceremony then we wait an hour then we have lunch. You don't have to do a pre reception Disney can't make you do one right???

 

[girli565]

But heres my thing if i don't want to have a cocktail hour my guests can just hang out at the board walk till it's time for the reception to start. It's a disney wedding they won't know they are not getting a cocktail hour they'll just think ohh here the ceremony then we wait an hour then we have lunch. You don't have to do a pre reception Disney can't make you do one right???

Im sure they won't force it on you but I know that if I had to wander around after a wedding and not go into the reception location to at least be able to sit would be weird and I don't think I'd like that. I think most people expect a cocktail or something along those lines if they are going to have to wait for the couple to take pictures, whether it is an at home wedding or a Disney wedding.

 

[PartofDisney'sWorld]

I have to agree with Girli, most people know that there is usually some kind of cocktail hour in between the ceremony and reception, Disney wedding or not, it's pretty standard at any wedding; and they might think it's rude that you haven't provided them with a place to go to/sit down in between while you are taking pics. But, it's your wedding so you can do whatever you like.

 

[sambycat]

and it can be as much or as little as you want. i had similar concerns, mostly in just wanting our budget to be at a certain place and not wanting the reception itself to be drab or thin. for our brunch "pre-reception", we just pared out some things from the brunch menu itself, the danish/pastry items and coffee and tea. i did minimal decor. it was a place people could just gather but not be hanging out in a public area or having to pay $3 for a soda. i do think the pictures took longer than i "thought" they would, so i was glad we did do that. it doesn't have to be some big shindig unto itself. i know i see lots of people talking about centerpieces and linens and elaborate hors doeuvres. those are all fine and good (fabulous even!), but it didn't fit our theme per se, the time of day or our budget. all in all, i am glad i took the planners advice in this case because our friends said it was nice to mingle and chat.

 

[lurkyloo]

We did not do a cocktail hour because I think they are a waste of guests' time. We did all our photos before the wedding (including an amazing first look), so at the end of the ceremony we took group photos with all our guests for about 20 minutes and then went to the reception together. We sorta had a cocktail half-hour with the pastries from our brunch menu set out before we did first dances and brunch, but I would have cut that too if I'd been thinking straight, cuz we totally didn't need it.