What time should a cocktail party start?

[goldenstar]

My mom wants to host an engagement party for FI and me and we wanted to do a cocktail party, which is a huge departure from our usual gathering style. We usually have gigantic and elaborate meals for our parties. Thus, our knowledge of cocktail parties is somewhat limited.

What time should we set as the start time? It would be on a Saturday. We''ll be sure to make it known that it''s a cocktail party, so that guests won''t be confused and expect a meal (although with my mom''s reputation, they might still expect a meal). I feel like it should be late enough so that it''s too late for dinner, but early enough to enjoy drinks and have time to socialize. Maybe 7 pm?

 

[So_happy]

Well, I''m having a cocktail reception as my wedding and it''s starting at 7pm so I am thinking 7 is good. You could probably get away with 8pm and really play it safe if you wanted to. What time do your more traditional dinner parties usually begin?

 

[jcrow]

7 sounds good. i think ours was 6-8 or 9. it was a cocktail party and a lot of people went out afterwards.

 

[sumbride]

Our engagement party was a cocktail party - from 6-8 pm. My family went out to dinner after, and we ran into a LOT of our guests at the restaurant my mom picked! It was really funny!