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I'm personally not a huge fan of this. Seeing the bride before the ceremony as a guest would be kind of like giving someone an unwrapped gift... does that make sense? I guess I just love seeing the bride for the first time at the ceremony!
If you want to do this, go for it! But I suggest you not attending, you really want your grand entrance to the ceremony and the WOW factor when everyone sees you for the first time. We went to a wedding where they had a bar before the ceremony but not food.
I've been to a few weddings where they did this. One was a vow renewal, and was much more casual. At a certain point, guests were asked to make their way to the ceremony, and the bride and groom lingered back, and still got their entrances.
It does create a more casual air.
Oh, I love this idea! Our venue serves cruditie and sparkling water...but I would love it if they would also serve champagne. Alas, Mrs. Penguin and naangel55 made a very good point about the wow factor. It's not just about the dress (which you could eliminate by, as you suggested, changing clothes), but the hair and makeup as well.
However...if you're going more casual for the whole thing, it might just be lovely.
Clearly, I'm of no help!
My only problem is there is no where for me to wait while the mingling is going on. The lodge literally has the large room, bathrooms, kitchen and the patio. That's it! There isn't anywhere to get ready other than the bathroom and I'm not getting ready there nor will I hide out there! HAHA Hmm, maybe it just won't work.
Hobochic---no! Everyone is helpful :) No worries!
I don't see anything wrong with it and I think it would be fun to attend. I've never seen it in person but I have read on other sites about people doing this and it turning out great, and that the bride was even mingling after getting dressed for the ceremony. But with so many traditionalist couples still around who don't even take pictures before the ceremony per their photographer's advice to cut out a gap, I can see how it wouldn't work for some people. And really though, it isn't any different at all from the couple taking pictures beforehand while guests are milling around waiting for the ceremony to start, which does happen. But if you feel having a cocktail hour beforehand would work for you, then do that.
While the officiant is legally able to stop the wedding if either the bride or groom is clearly intoxicated during the ceremony, most people won't get anywhere near trashed enough before the ceremony for that to even be an issue. If you do serve alcohol, you will be required by most caterers/venues to serve substantial food at the same time.
I agree with the "wow" factor. Keep them in suspense, but feed them, too! Maybe the bridal party can do a little mingling while you and your groom take couple shots.
We are actually doing our photos before the ceremony so that's not a problem for us. Lucky for us, we don't have a venue that mandates we have a bartender and we can use whatever caterer we please----major selling point for us. Saves money!!! Since our appetizers will be basic stuff, not like heavy apps or anything, we'd probably stick with non-alcoholic drinks anyways. The wedding will be on Labor Day weekend and don't want people drinking from 4:30-10:30pm and leave plastered so alcohol won't be served until dinner around 6:00ish or so.
We thought about doing this until we had a scheduling thing with our band.
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I recently read in a book about having the cocktail and appetizers before the ceremony so everyone can mingle and there isn't awkwardness prior to the wedding starting. The groom and bride would of course attend too so it's more casual. I personally think this is kind of neat, get some photos out of the way with people if possible and then announce the ceremony is about to start. Only thing, if we are going to knock out the photos before the wedding I'll already be in my dress. Would it be weird to see the bride for the first time at this pre-ceremony mingle session or okay? Since my ceremony will be outside I don't want a fussy and big dress anyway since it would be hard to keep clean outside so it may not be an issue. Oh, as for the cocktails, it'll probably be more like just tasty drinks of lemonade, iced tea, and others since I don't need someone downing too many alcoholic beverages and making a turd of themselves during my ceremony.
What do you think? Ever heard of this? Think it's a fun idea? Or think it would be a hassle with the dress and everything else?