Village Hall Weddings: cocktail hour logistics / alternatives?

This is a question for anyone having a village hall wedding!

How are you making your fizz and canapé hour work when there’s only one room in the village hall? (No second location to move to for the main meal). Are there any fun alternatives to a fizz & canapé hour?

Our village hall has no real outside space to speak of and due to the number of guests we are inviting (a large group), the space inside will mostly be taken up by tables set up for the main meal.

We’re hoping to have one end of the hall left clear enough for mingling but I’m worried that it will feel quite squashed / too cosy.

For context, we have the hall the day before and after & are planning to set up all the tables the day before, so moving tables around would only really be done after the main meal as we clear away for dancing! (We plan to have some sort of scavenger hunt to clear everyone out for ten mins while the room gets re-set for dancing)

Current ideas are:
- decorate tables the day before but keep them all at one end of the room at first so there’s more room for mingling, then get everyone outside to do a big group photo while the caterers rearrange the room? (And pray the rain holds off 😂)
- look into getting tarps or big umbrella stands to utilise the small outdoor space for people to spill over into?
- go straight into the main meal and have short breaks between courses maybe where people could mingle? But when would we do couple photos?

Any other ideas and suggestions welcomed!! I just come up blank for any further ideas!

Thanks in advance! 🤍