Party timing etiquette, dinner or no dinner?

I'm having a Saturday evening party (a week and a half away)that will have about 35 to 40 guests. It's a summer, outdoor, pool-side, deck party, no kids type party. I was planning to start at 7pm and serve drinks and hors de voures.





With the possibility of evening thunderstorms and the fact that my house can't fit 35-40 people inside comfortably, I was thinking of starting the party earlier. However, I was not planning on serving dinner for 30-40 people. How early could I start the party and still not have to serve dinner?





If I started the party at 3pm, would it still be appropriate to only serve hors de voures?

Party timing etiquette, dinner or no dinner?
Nope You can have a party with food, or you can have an after dinner cocktail party with snacks. You can not ask people to come over at 3 , stay all night drinking and NOT FEED THEM! Why cant you serve dinner? If its financial, have everyone bring a dish to pass. Eat a pot luck, buffet style. Or let people know you will be taking up a collection to order a load of pizzas.
Reply:i would not start the party before 6:30-7:00 if you are only serving hors de voures. people need to have a chance to have their dinner and possibly change clothes after a busy saturday.
Reply:If you start the party at 7 you should be able to get away with heavy hor'douvres. But you should expect some people will come without having eaten dinner, since most people eat between 6-7. If you start the party at 3, you should have dinner. It doesn't have to break the bank, but if you don't provide a meal people either won't stay long or they'll be disappointed in your party. I'm sure most of your guests would be glad to bring something for a potluck if you told them you wanted to change the time to an earlier time and include dinner.
Reply:If you start it at 3 with no plans for dinner, expect people to leave at 5 or 6 so they can go home and have dinner. You should serve something substantial any time a party is around a meal time.
Reply:Unless you specify on the invites 3pm-6pm people will expect dinner. Since it's a pool party light the grill and serve hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone will RSVP and ask "what can I bring", now's your opportunity to say potato salad, chips and dip etc...... Sounds like fun!
Reply:Yes, you can just have a hors de voures party. Nothing wrong with that at all. Just make sure that some of them are more substantial, like meatballs or smokies, something like that.





Just make sure you put it on your invitations so people will know not to expect a full dinner.