4:00 or 4:30 ceremony start time?

I don't think a half hour will make that much of a difference. That would put you having dinner sometime between 6 and 7, depending on if you do speeches and dances before or after dinner. That is a totally acceptable time to feed your guests dinner. I say go with 4:30 and give yourself the extra time if you think you will need it.

It is suppose to be good luck to start on the half hour!

We have the same situation with the same time frame (can't get into the venue til the day of, and cna only have it for 10 hours including set up and breakdown). We're having a 4:30 ceremony. We figure that gives us 3 hrs to set up and we plan on a very short ceremony that should be done between 4:45-5:00 pm. If you're planning on a shortish ceremony you should be fine.

I don't think it really matters honestly; give yourself the most time you can.

4:30 start time, cocktails 5-6pm, then dinner at 6. That definitely isn't pushing dinner too late. We had dinner at 7.

I originally planned a 4pm wedding. Then discovered that my venue (hotel) doesn't have check-in until 4. I pushed it back until 5 to allow guests time to get in their room and change if they want. That still puts dinner around 7 (which is when most of our family eats anyway). That might be something to consider when choosing a time.

You can tell your guests to arrive at 4, but the ceremony will actually start at 4:30.

Because I'm a planner and always plan for something to not go as planned, I suggest 4:30 just in case something doesn't go as planned.

I would do the 430 start time. The guests won't know and that half hour may not seem like a lot of time now but on the wedding day it could be a huge help.

It will take longer than you think to be ready to go. I would go with 4:30. I'm not sure how long you are planning on cocktail hour and all that taking but so long as dinner start by around 7 you're fine. Personally, I really dislike when weddings have dinner super early. I was at a wedding recently where they had dinner at like 4:30/5 and everyone was a little put off actually. No one in the group (including the couple) ever ate that early and no one was hungry. Then by like 7/8 we were all starving and trying to go back and raid the leftovers. We all got cranky.

4:30 definitely won't push dinner too late!! My ceremony will start at 5:30 (on a friday) and dinner likely won't be served until around 7:15/ 7:30 after introductions and first dance. That being said, do whatever time you think will work for you and your guests! Since it's a Saturday, there is flexibility. I would say 4:30, but I'm a fan of later weddings

I would say do 4:30 as well but don't dare lie to your guests and tell them that the wedding starts a half hour earlier than it actually does. Those who get there on time or early will be seriously upset at sitting there for an extended amount of time even if you have something for them to do.

4:30 gives you more time to set up. And to compare- my ceremony begins at 6pm, people sitting for dinner by 8. If you can push your ceremony back to 5 or 5:30 I would even do that. I don't know how long you have the venue for and if you want an after party. But I recently went to a wedding that began at 4:30- she told people 4, ended at 11:30, then had an after party- it was fun, but a really long time (like 10 hours at least).

Where I am ceremonies can start anywhere between 12 and 3 and the celebrations go on until 3/4 am.! I'm having a 2 pm wedding that has to start on time, so have put 1.30 in the invites as half the guests are notorious for being late,i am letting people who I know are always on time the actual start time when in talking to them.For you I don't think half hour would make too much of a difference, perhaps have the 4.30pm start, but if you aimed to be there and ready for four, therfore if you are running late with preparations you still have half hour to spare.

4:30 sounds great. Keep in mind most guests will start arriving at 4pm. So if you get married at 4, guests may arrive as early as 3:30 which doesn't give you much time to decorate.

I would agree -- go as late as you can. Especially considering that you don't get in until 1! Plus, if anyone helping with set up is a guest/parent/etc, the more time the better! I agree that even a 5-530 start would be ok, as even then you'll be sitting down to dinner no later than 7. Which is totally ok for a Saturday evening wedding.