3 hour break between ceremony and reception... Will this be a huge problem?

This sounds kinda iffy. Honestly, since the guests won't be involved in the picture taking, and ceremonies on last about 30-45 minutes, your guests are having a 5 hour wait time for the reception. I'm not trying to say it can't be done, but you are going to have to plan it out carefully. You pretty much have 2 choices: (1) You can move the reception time up to like 3:00 or 3:30 which may make the whole experience go smoother. Or (2), offer hors'dourves and punch after the ceremony and then write out a list of things to do in the area while they are waiting for the reception (is there a nearby museum or park that out of towners can relax at?) Keep in mind people that are traveling short distances. For those that live an hour or 2 away, they aren't going to want to rent a hotel to wait for a reception. Anyway, talk to the guests and your parents/inlaws to get suggestions. I'm sure you can make it work as long as you keep mindful of your guests waiting time.

Hmmm, this does sound weird to me if I put myself in the position of a guest. What could you possibly be doing from 3-6 that would take so much time??

I hate to say it but with a 5 hour gap, you may have a few people that just decide not to show to the reception because they are tired of waiting around. As a guest at a wedding, I would be very annoyed that Id have to wait around and find something to do for 5 hours

Is this common in your circle? It's certainly not unheard of for people who chose to do a Catholic ceremony to have a gap.

Provided everyone lives in town or has a hotel near by it will probably be fine. Anyone that decided to drive in for the day I would make sure they could spend the gap at someone's house if possible.

I saw an episode of Four Weddings where there was a 5 hour gap between the wedding and reception. The guests were not happy at all and a lot of them seemed to go home and not come back.

Having such a long gap will not work. You're guests will most likely wander off or just go home. Unless this is common like Carrie said, you should try to move the time of the reception or offer a cocktail hour (1-2 hours) at the reception place instead of another location. As a guest I would hate having to drive several places just for one wedding. Two is enough.

I'd be concerned. Your guests love you I'm sure but may not want to spend their whole day on you... or scheduled around you. It's a lot to ask.

Ok, the chapel does offer a cake reception right after the ceremony in a small pavilion. That would extend it to 3pm and I suppose instead of a dinner reception we can do an "elegant luncheon" type reception and nix the dj. Maybe just play background music instead. This may even cut cost and we could extend a cocktail / hor'deurve hour and have a seated lunch? Estimated time 4pm-730?

I D K if that would work just sayin... I would be mad as heck to have a 5 hr gap what would I do as a guest of your wedding for that long.

I think instead of nixing the dj IMHO you should give them somewhere to go with that background music and something to do like hordourves and stuff mingle like a cocktail hr...

Then your pics can be done then have a fantastic reception =]

I am in the same position as you my ceremony is at 10:45 ending at 12pm and then our reception will start at 4:30 and we are having appetizers starting the reception and the food will start at 5:30-7:30 i have about 250 guest i have talked to most of my oot guest about our gap situation and they are fine most of then are going to use that time to check in to the hotel as well as we are =) others are going to get to go over the fam houses and visit while they rest and have a bite to eat . so i dont think its that bad am glad they understood that it happens and they dont have to go to the ceremony if they cant just to show up to the reception.

Double post, sorry!

Is it absolutely necessary for you to have a 1:30 ceremony time and a 6pm reception time? If it were me I would rather have an afternoon reception and then maybe go out for an afterparty. I would be afraid I would lose my momentum in that 3 hour gap. One of our friends had a similar wedding timeframe. Pictures only took them an hour or so, and then she ended up sitting in a room with her bridesmaids the rest of the afternoon. She was texting people. Totally antsy!

For your guests- yes, definitely state the reception begins at 6pm. I think it's nice to host something or at least give them some ideas of what to do, especially if they're OOT or don't know your other guests. When we go to weddings with gaps it's usually old college friends so we end up in a bar all afternoon. But if we didn't know anyone, it might be more awkward.

Yes, i fell in love with this chapel and they have 9am/1pm/6pm slots and all of the 6pm slots are full until 2013! And I booked it Dec/11! I decided on the 1pm-3pm slot, thinking we could just have an evening reception and it would be fine. Now as I begin to plan I am faced with an early reception or risking that some guests wont be pleased.

I am actually contemplating an afternoon reception now, it would go smoother and we could technically still have music and dancing, it would just have to be at a fun outdoor reception venue and maybe hor'deurve/cocktail hour/buffet to lighten the mood and make it casual. I would just have to rethink the venues..And the afterparty would fit in a little better this way if we decided to go that route. My fiance is military and will be returning from deployment 3 wks before our wedding. These guys already had an after party planned (tastefully of course) but this seems a little more reasonable time wise on my guests and my bridal party.

I would say have the Ceremony like around 2..Cocktail hour @ 2:30(depending on the length of your ceremony.. let's say even 3 . Cocktail can last an 1.5 hours MAX..there you are @4: 30. I say as long as you have entertainment (DIY photo props; just Google ideas for DIY photo booth, music, snacks and drinks you can pull it off.(Ive been to cocktail hour with no food and everyone got smashed before the bride got there)If you are on a strict budget..cheese and crackers, chips and dip. Food is key!You don't want drunk and grumpy guest Allowing time for people to find place cards, seats, announcing you and your hubby for the 1st time, 1st dance. You can make it work. Just have everything flowing....work with your reception site to see if you can do lil earlier than 6. (5 would be perfect)

Hope you can work it out...Remember, it is your day and the people are there to celebrate your love so anything you decide on will be great ! : )

So it's not for religious reasons that you're getting married at 1:30pm? I just assumed you were Catholic or Orthodox.

If you love the chapel enough to build your entire day around it, I would plan an afternoon reception and call it a day. You seem pretty understanding that with the gap, some guests will attend only one part of the day and not the whole thing. But is that really what you want?

IDK. I would think about this some more if it were me. It's not just a super long day for your guests, it's super long for you as well.

I've been to a few afternoon receptions. They were really fun. One of them was sort of styled like a Kentucky Derby party and had a bloody mary bar. Plus- think how much cheaper it would be????

I've been having this issue too. The only time slot available at the church for our wedding is 2:00. Ours will probably take a good hour or so(catholic wedding). Even if we take an hour after that for pictures/cocktail hour that puts our reception start time at 4:00(a bit early for dinner).

Aside from that, many of the reception sites I've talked to won't even let you in until at least 5 or 6pm.

Catholics are kind of used to having a gap. Most parishes do not allow weddings after 3:00 at the latest. We just usually find a bar close to the reception venue and hang there. However, a five hour gap is even huge by Catholic wedding standards.

Since you like this venue, go with the late lunch solution.

I am having an early reception. Mine starts at 2 and ending at 7 so Im actually really fine with that and prefer it that way so people can rest earlier before going back to their home states that night And for those that are partying with us later the next day in Atlantic City. It gives more time for other things. since they our bridal party is going to be up at the arse crack of dawn

I had the same issue -- catholic getting marry in church thus time restriction from the church must be followed. I told most if not all friends n co workers ( those not close to the wedding party) about the gap ahead of time and we told them that they don't have to attend the ceremony...we did not get offended or anything like that. It's almost the norm in our area for guests to just show up for the reception.

It might be a problem, guess it depends on the guests and their amount of patience.

my ceremony started at 5:30. Reception was 8:00pm-1:00am

Everyone came to the reception. There were people who had already told us they would only be at the church, but those who wanted to party, waited and came.