Traditions differ in every part of the world, but cocktail hour is an important part of any West Michigan Wedding!
**Cheers to You Bartending pictured here**
Cocktail hour is not usually at the top of the list for planning the perfect wedding. The reason for that blind spot is because this is not part of the couple's day. For the couple, this is the time for getting all of those picture perfect moments on film. It is a glorious time of creating those images that will adorn your wall for a lifetime. ...But for your guests, cocktail hour is a really really big deal.
While planning a wedding, we spend an infinite amount of time obsessing over every small detail. But when you think back on a wedding you've attended, you rarely reflect on the specifics of the decor, or think about the shoes that the bridal party wore. What you think about is whether or not you had a good time that day. Cocktail hour is a big chunk of that day! Guests will spend more time at cocktail hour than they will at the ceremony, or even dinner. The average cocktail hour is about an hour and a half, so it is easy for guests to feel restless and bored if not planned well.
At Bell Tower Falls located here in West Michigan, we have thought about this ahead of time for you. The flow of our venue is designed to create separation between your cocktail hour and reception. One of the ways we do this is to steer our couples away from consolidating the bar into one location. If you are thinking about colsolidating your bar, here are a few things to consider:
Cocktail hour is an event: It's important for the cocktail hour to feel like it's own thought out planned out part of the day, not a time of waiting for the reception. Having a dedicated cocktail bar providing light duty service provides a cocktail hour experience that is separate and different from the reception. At Bell Tower Falls, we provide cocktail tables in the green space near the cocktail bar for your guests to enjoy. Your DJ will fill the air with music, and guests have a chance to grab a drink and start to unwind. The elevation of our property is a huge crowd pleaser, so we often see guests walking the property taking landscape photos. Guests make their way to the waterfalls, and have an opportunity to sign the guest book. No matter the venue space, consider how important it is to have a dedicated area and dedicated bar for your cocktail hour which is separate from your reception.
Change of Scenery: It's a long day, so you'll want to give your guests a change of scenery whenever possible. Combining your cocktail hour into the reception space extends the amount of time that guests are in one location. If the dining tables are in view, it begins to feel like the start of the reception which is not quite ready. Having a separate cocktail hour location creates a sense of purpose, and allows for a change of scenery from cocktail hour to dinner, signaling the start of the next phase of your event.
Yard Games: Many of our couples take advantage of our naturally beautiful scenery by placing yard games for guests in the lawn during cocktail hour. There is nothing more fun than having a few drinks and a little friendly competition while celebrating the marriage of a loved one!
First Impressions: When guests are called to dinner, they are treated to a beautiful first impression. The area is perfectly staged and clean as people locate the seating chart and find their seat in anticipation of dinner. If you have opened the bar in the dining area ahead of dinner, people will naturally flow into the reception area and sit down to enjoy their appetizers. By the time your DJ announces dinner, and announces you into the room, the linens, dishes, and room in general will no longer be in a clean and pristine condition.
Catering set up: Your caterer will be busy setting up the food stations for dinner while your cocktail hour is taking place. If your guests have begun to flow into the dining area to stay close to the bar, your guests will be watching this behind the scenes set up. Rather than feeling like they are in a cocktail hour event, this creates the vibe of waiting around for the reception to start. Keep your guests out of the dining area and out of the way of your caterer with a dedicated cocktail space.
Cocktail hour appetizers: The majority of our couples provide a refreshment and snack for guests during cocktail hour. The cocktail hour food is located by the cocktail bar for a reason. If you consolidate your bar into the receptoon space, and you also have selected a buffet as your dinner option, it can be a little confusing to guests, and they will sometimes try to dig into dinner before it is dinnertime.
If you have your heart set on consolidating your bar into one location, is it the end of the world? No, of course not. Many venues only offer only one single bar, and they run very successful events. At our venue, we still have some couples who prefer the idea of a single bar location, and their weddings have turned out wonderfully. On occasion it becomes necessary for us to consolidate the cocktail bar into the reception bar because the weather simply will not permit a cocktail hour to take place outdoors. This blog post is merely intended to call attention to a few things to consider while planning for your cocktail hour. It is not a portion of the day that should be set aside or forgotten because your guests will surely remember it! To talk about how we may be able to help you plan your very special wedding day, contact us today for a tour! belltowerfalls.com
Thank you for stopping by our blog today! We hope to continue providing content that you love. We use our blog to bring awareness to locally owned wedding venues. Locally owned venues provide you with a much more personal touch than corporate owned venues. As you select a venue, we hope that you consider locally owned. You can find a map here: https://weddingvenueowners.com/venue-map-search/
Here is a shoutout to other locally owned wedding venues around the country!
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