Canapys/Cocktails before civil ceremony??

Twizzle2000

I am looking for a bit of feedback/opinion on something please! We are looking for a casual enough wedding, more like a party really and am hoping to rent an exclusive house for the afternoon/evening. I am toying with the idea of inviting people for canopys and cocktails first (for about an hour - no risk of drunkenness!), followed by our civil ceremony on site, followed by informal BBQ/substantial tapas style food and then dancing etc. While chatting about it the thought also crossed my mind to be there for the pre-ceremony mingle and chats and to welcome my guests along side my hubby-to-be! I think it might be the non-formal feel I am after but how would people feel as guests with this set up do you think?! Any opinions welcome :-)

(PS: Was maybe thinking I could arrive at the venue with my immediate family slightly after himself so that we still had a private 'big reveal' to each other and some time for photos etc before the celebrations began)

amdublin

Sounds excellent!!!!! The more food, served early, the better.

I'd love if everyone did this!

Milly33

You can never have enough food, Sounds great really nice idea to have the food and cocktails before the ceremony as a lot of the time especially if you are going for the relaxed feeling. Having the food and drinks straight afterwards the dinner is wasted then as it wasn't that long ago when you have eaten.. Plus it gives people a bit of time to go get their own pictures and not be worrying about a rumble in their tummy or to go back and maybe freshen up.

The arrival at the party before the wedding I am not too sure about that now. I kind of like the idea of first seeing the bride at the alter. You could maybe have the groom and his men arrive and then let them head into the ceremony room, and then you arrive with your ladies and family and follow him in. The guests could still stay outside perhaps make a bit of hype for you before they take their seats..

Twizzle2000

Thanks so much for the feedback. Easier in a way to get the opinion from anonymous people than get it from family and then go ahead and ignore them!!! :-P

Toots

I was at a wedding where there was canapes and cocktails before and it was great! The wedding was slightly later in the afternoon than the usual, and it was a lovely to arrive and be able to chat rather than arrive and scurry into your seat for the ceremony. I second what Milly said, in a wedding you can never have too much food.

Twizzle2000

Toots wrote: »

I was at a wedding where there was canapes and cocktails before and it was great! The wedding was slightly later in the afternoon than the usual, and it was a lovely to arrive and be able to chat rather than arrive and scurry into your seat for the ceremony. I second what Milly said, in a wedding you can never have too much food.

Brilliant, glad to hear you have seen it work! Was thinking a late enough start alright. Especially if we don't do a long sit down meal.

Toots

Twizzle2000 wrote: »

Brilliant, glad to hear you have seen it work! Was thinking a late enough start alright. Especially if we don't do a long sit down meal.

Just a bit of advice, if you're serving the cocktails pre-made by the hotel, confirm exactly what'll be going into them - you don't want people too well oiled! The ones at the wedding I was at recently were a nice balance between alcohol and fruit juice/mixer etc. I don't drink any more but I tasted my husband's one and it was really nice, but not too boozy. Even if they had been a bit stronger it wouldn't have been too bad because the cocktail hour was at 3pm and the wedding was at 4:30, so people would have had their lunch and all before coming out.

I was at another wedding a few years ago where there were cocktails with the 'drinks reception' (where the guests mill around while the B&G get their photos done) and these cocktails were like rocket fuel! Honestly, if I'd been told it was neat vodka with fruit flavour and a bit of orange food colouring, I'd have believed it! Now don't get me wrong, they were lovely but the worst thing was they were very 'more-ish' and a LOT of guests were three sheets to the wind before we even got to dinner. That being said, this was at an earlier wedding (ceremony was at 1:30) so people would have had pretty much empty stomachs even if they'd eaten a bit before they left for the church. I'd say had they had sambos or canapes with the drinks reception it would have provided a bit of soakage

Milly33

Its only 10.30 and im thinking about Mojitos already!! I woke up smiling this morning after dreaming of something like you are describing Twizzle2000 along with a bit of music from The Princess Frog "You gotta dig a little deeper".

Dreamt of walking into where the ceremony was, with a group of close friends and family walking along with you to the venue all Cajun style and guiding you to the hubby to be.. Really liking your idea of greeting the guests beforehand and them kinda of seeing you beforehand..

Twizzle2000

Toots wrote: »

I was at another wedding a few years ago where there were cocktails with the 'drinks reception' (where the guests mill around while the B&G get their photos done) and these cocktails were like rocket fuel! Honestly, if I'd been told it was neat vodka with fruit flavour and a bit of orange food colouring, I'd have believed it! Now don't get me wrong, they were lovely but the worst thing was they were very 'more-ish' and a LOT of guests were three sheets to the wind before we even got to dinner.

Haha definitely do not want that! Some of my guests are rowdy enough without adding rocket fuel to the mix!

Milly33 wrote: »

Its only 10.30 and im thinking about Mojitos already!! I woke up smiling this morning after dreaming of something like you are describing Twizzle2000 along with a bit of music from The Princess Frog "You gotta dig a little deeper".

Dreamt of walking into where the ceremony was, with a group of close friends and family walking along with you to the venue all Cajun style and guiding you to the hubby to be.. Really liking your idea of greeting the guests beforehand and them kinda of seeing you beforehand..

Even more sure it's what I want after reading that :-)

lazygal

Not quite the same OP but where we got married the guests were able to have a drink beforehand and it was a major plus which we hadn't even thought about! No one went mad, it was a quick drink (and I wasn't late so they didn't have loads of time for getting plastered) and a chance for a chat before the ceremony. If I'd known that the bar would be serving I'd probably have organised some nibbles too (but we had a short ceremony and did canapés and drinks straight after).

CazSpeak

That sounds lovely and definitely keeps it relaxed. We are hoping to do something similar but will probably do a 'first look' privately before that. Also depends when your wedding is but if your ceremony is later in the day you may want to do photos beforehand for daylight. If doing that it's probably natural to mingle with guests together and the ceremony becomes a part of the whole day rather than the start of your day. Best of luck, your idea of a relaxed day is exactly what we'd love to achieve