A sit down or cocktail affair?

So I am desperately trying to find a way to make our wedding at Hopewood Estate in the beautiful Southern Highlands town of Bowral a reality. The amazing estate with its superb gardens can cater for up to 130 people and our guest list is currently sitting at 170 guests. Try as we may, we have revisited our guest list quite a few times to see how we could possibly cut the list down – but it has proven to be impossible. My fiancé is Italian and I am Lebanese. We come from huge families and our 170 guest list is a major achievement!

Very early on in our wedding discussions, we had firmly agreed on a sit down dinner. Food is very important to this kind of celebration to both of our families and it was the only option. But every day I wake up more in love with the idea of a Garden Estate wedding! A cocktail wedding was going to be the only way we were going to be able to have both but my fiancé has been to many a function where the cocktail menu left everybody starving and he did not want that embarrassment! So I have been hard at work trying to find out the pros and cons of a cocktail versus a sit down dinner for a wedding.

Some facts I may be able to use to convince my fiancé that a cocktail wedding can be just as successful:

PROS

1. An intimate and less formal affair that allows our guests to mingle and get to know each other.

2. Much easier to co-ordinate a cocktail reception with no table seating to be arranged.

3. We can do it differently! We can organize a food station style of cocktail event.

4. We can make the cocktail menu very seasonal by coming up with an unusual selection of food that  reflects the season; a lot more exciting than the standard sit down dinner.

5. We can ensure a huge selection of dishes – even a fabulous desert table.

6. We can create a fun and amazing bar area.

CONS

1. We could underestimate the amount of food we need to keep everybody full and satisfied and that would be a disaster.

2. Our older guests might find it quite uncomfortable that there is nowhere to sit comfortably.

3. How can we work in some dancing and entertainment as well as our first dance together as a married couple?

Even though the pros outweighed the cons, with our guests, a sit down dinner is a must.

So now the search continues. We’ll have to look for a much larger venue…

Are you having a cocktail party to accommodate more guests?