We are hosting a wine and cheese open house for D1 and her new groom as they had a destination wedding outside of the country. I want it to be an open house for people to come and go rather than an all night party or a dinner. I had thought to just put a 4:00 pm time on the invite but am now thinking I should put an ending time, too. Something like 4:00 - 7:00 pm. What do you think?
Yes, indicate it is an Open House so people will know they can come and go and put a beginning and end time.
Invite definitely says open house. I don’t want to do a dinner at my house! I am hoping people would view this as a cocktail party before they go out to dinner on their own! 
Guest count should be around 50 people.
You may want to hire a couple of servers. If the staff starts cleaning up it is a sign to leave soon.
If you don’t want to make it a meal, I would specify it as a cocktail party on the invite as well.
I wouldn’t call it a cocktail party if you are only serving wine & cheese! Why not just call it a “wine & cheese open house” or say something like “Open House 4:00 -8:00. Wine & cheese will be served.”
Don’ misunderstand. I drink wine, not hard liquor. However, a lot of young couples these days are into cocktails and if i’s called a cocktail party, they will expect you to serve cocktails.
The invite definitely says wine and cheese in BIG lettering. I will have charcuterie platters with meats, cheese, fruit, veggies/shrimp cocktail(maybe some smoked salmon canapes) and then a dessert buffet. There will be four different rooms with stations. One room will be the dessert buffet, one room a beer area with appropriate snacks (nuts/pretzels and mustard, etc) and the other two areas will have the meats/cheese/fruit/olives/veggies. I have an 8 foot wooden serving board that my other son-in-law made that will be on the dining room table and the food arranged on that and other wooden wine crates and tiered trays. I do not want anything hot/heated to alleviate kitchen congestion.
Sounds like it will be a wonderful gathering and celebration, @NorthMinnesota. I think you have all the bases covered with how you plan to word it.
I might start it a little earlier --say 3:00 to 6:00. People are less likely to be hungry or to expect substantial fare at that hour. I think if you put “Open House” on the invite, most people will show up an hour late. That’s been my experience in my region, but it could be different in your area. I would definitely put an ending time no later than 7 if you are not having dinner or very heavy hors d’oeuvres.
I personally appreciate descriptive invitations, so I would like an invitation that said “wine and cheese” or “cocktails” or “drinks and snacks” or whatever because I like to know whether to eat a hearty lunch and whether to plan for dinner. “Wine and cheese” would be the descriptor that would lead me to be less likely to expect substantial food.
Your description sounds fabulous!! Sounds like there will be plenty of food. Your post describing all the wonderful food was not visible to me before my last post. It sounds like the food will be substantial enough for folks to make a meal out of it.
NorthMinn, that’s the way open house invites are usually worded in our area. Most people arrive exactly at the appointed hour and stay the entire time - your party sounds fabulous! Congrats to your D and her new husband - they deserve every happiness.