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VIP June 2016

4 Hour Time Gap???

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FutureMrs.G, on July 30, 2015 at 8:38 AM

I was having dinner with a friend the other day and she's the MOH in another friend's wedding sometime in the next few weeks (I've never met the bride, so everything here comes from my friend). She asked me about how my own wedding plans are going and told me about her friend's wedding. They're having a church ceremony and then going to an historic location for the reception (it's stunning!). She said she asked the bride how long they would have to take pictures at the church and the reception venue (they're about 30 minutes apart, depending on traffic). The bride said (get this!), "Oh, about four hours. I think that should be enough time. People can mingle." WTF! I about choked when she told me that. My friend said she was just as shocked when she heard that. I understand allowing time for your guests to get from the ceremony to the reception with enough time to enjoy cocktail hour before dinner, but holy cow! She was actually considering making the time gap even bigger too!

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Master April 2016
allysia · on July 31, 2015 at 10:34 AM
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I'm also going to a wedding next month that has a four hour gap. It is a catholic wedding, I have no idea what we will do in that time. It's one of FH's GMs so I have to go.
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Expert August 2015
Jacklyn · on July 31, 2015 at 10:34 AM
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I had trouble with this too... and now I'm kinda wishing we had lengthened the gap between the ceremony and the reception. Currently we are at 2.5 hours.

Our Catholic church ceremony starts at 1:30 and will be over just before 2:15. We will have the receiving line at the church and take pictures. Probably leaving the church around 2:45. My mother is hosting a hospitality suite at the hotel (which is about 30 minutes away) so the hospitality suite will run from 3:30 to 4:45 when the first bus shows up to take guests to the cocktail hour/ reception. When we booked everything we didn't know she would be hosting the event- or we would have started the cocktail hour at 6 so our reception would end at 11pm.

Every other church wedding I have attended there has been a significant gap- but everyone just goes to a bar and mingles. I've been to bars on Saturdays around 3pm and seen wedding guests decent upon the bar. I've also spent part of the gap checking into my hotel- and sometimes getting changed (having not worn my dress to the ceremony) and on more than one occasion buying the card and writing out the check to give the couple. I cannot remember a single time that I've been bored during the gap. I've never thought it was a big deal or rude... just a cultural norm. Having said that- I've also let all our OOT guest know that I would not be offended at all if they are not at the ceremony.
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Master January 2016
WWKatie · on July 31, 2015 at 10:44 AM
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^ ^ agreed, Jacklyn. I've only been to 2 weddings where this wasn't the norm.
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