Cocktail Hour Timing

Cocktail Hour is one of the most important parts of your reception. By this time guests are generally pretty hungry and ready to get the party started. Even though the standard timing for cocktails is just 1hour, we always like to suggests our clients to do 1.5 hours of cocktails.

Here are the 5 main reasons:
1. Most guests tend to run a little late, therefore if cocktails are 1hr they are missing out on most of it.

2. Cocktail hour is where guests tend to eat and drink the most, so give them time to enjoy and mingle.

3. Extending the cocktail hour allows for the Bride and Groom to make a small appearance, even if just for 30min at the tail end.

4. If you are hosting your ceremony and reception in the same space, flipping the room might take a while, so giving your decorator and venue an extra 30min to set up can be a huge help.

5. If you are already paying per person, you want to make sure all guests are there to enjoy it. This way everyone has fun and you are not wasting your money.

Buffets and Food Stations

Buffets and food stations are a great alternative to a sit down dinner, providing guests with a variety of great cuisine at you wedding. The deliciousness of the food can quickly be overshadowed by the long line guests have to wait on before they get their food. To avoid this problem, we suggest that our brides have 1 buffet and/or food station per every 100 guests. This prevents guests from crowding one buffet line and still allows the guest to choose what they want to eat. We get asked all the time what is the magic formula to prevent long lines and this far, this is the best best solution ( just always make sure you do double sided buffet lines).

Cocktail Hour

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of an Indian wedding is food. It is the different colors of food that make the spread of an Indian wedding both unique and fascinating. Many of our brides ask us how much is enough food for a cocktail hour. You don't want to over do it with to much food, but at the same time guests will be hungry and will want different options. We recommend a butler pass combination of 5 Vegetarian, 5 Non-Vegetarian items with an additional 3 Stations. Let the games begin... err... appetizers be served!

Here are some of our favorite:

Vegetarian Appetizers:

1. Samosa
2. Chutney Tea Sandwiches
3. Vegetable Pakoras
4. Vegetable Spring Rolls
5. Paneer Chutney Pakora

Non-Vegetarian Appetizers: 

1. Chilli Chicken
2. Seekh Kababs
3. Drums of Heaven
4. Reshmi Kababs
5. Chicken Manchurian

Food Stations: 

1. Dili ki Chaat 

Aloo Papri
Chaat Pani Puri
Dahi Batata Puri

2. Bombay Street Food 

Bhel Puri
Radga Pattis Chaat
Mini Pav Bhaji Sliders

3. Tandoori Station 

Tiranga Chicken
Tikka Lamb Chops
Tandoori Paneer