After sundown/Late start weddings?

Hi ladies! Quick question: Since I''m Jewish and my wedding is in May, my invite is not until 9:00pm! My mom recently told me that she''d like to think about doing coctail hour before the ceremony instead of directly after the ceremony to allow everyone time to eat so they don''t have to wait until 10:00pm! I actually am intrigued by the idea - the downfall though, would be that I''d miss my coctail hour and therefor have much less time to make the rounds (we''re having about 230 people which will be almost impossible to fit in during the reception only), and my FI will be very unhappy missing the coctail hour food. (and another downfall is that at my catering facility/temple, the transition from coctail hour to the reception is a dramatic rising of a curtain which i am told is very exciting and beautiful - and I''d miss that too) What are any of you late start brides going to do? thanks!

After sundown/Late start weddings?

We are getting married at 7:30 on a Saturday night. Since it is in February sundown is earlier than May. We are doing coctail hour after ceremony. We had a choice but we refused to miss the coctail hour. We went to a Saturday night wedding in June and did not eat dinner till after midnight. It really was not that bad and the guests understood but the coctail hour was before the ceremony. Elisa

After sundown/Late start weddings? (Long)

I am also getting married in a temple, but our invite is 7:30pm. We are having cold canapes and hors`deouvres (spelling?) during the hospitality (7:30-8:00p). See if your caterer can do this. However, I am going to a wedding in 2 weeks in which the cocktail hour is first, so I can let you know how it is. Why would you miss your own cocktail hour?? Are you planning on not seeing your FI before the ceremony? I`m not having this, but many people have a bedeken (unveiling of the bride) during the cocktail hour that precedes the ceremony. Good Luck!

After sundown/Late start weddings? (-Lauren)

Our caterer is doing cold canapes and champaign also during our hospitality right before the ceremony, and I feel like that will tie the guests over until the coctail hour if it's after the ceremony. To answer your question, I do plan to see FI before the ceremony, but I really don't want to see the majority of our guests until after the ceremony so I would not attend the coctail hour if it was first. (Kinda ruins the 'grand entrance') I think my FI will though. Let me know what you think about the wedding you go to! Where is it?

After sundown/Late start weddings?

I think it would be nice to have some small appetizers for everyone to nibble on beforehand just in case someone didn`t eat. However, if I got an invitation for a wedding that started at 9:00 I know that my husband and I would have something to eat on our own closer to our regular dinner time rather than wait until 10:00 or later to have dinner, so I wouldn`t worry too much about people being hungry. I think they will realize by the invitation time that they should plan accordingly if they expect to be hungry before 10:00 and have a light snack at home before they leave.

After sundown/Late start weddings?

We had a similar experience as well. The caterers had champagne, sparkling water, and juices along with fruit and vegetable platters to nibble on before the ceremony. You might want to consider this.