Anyone doing that thing where you greet your guests as they enter reception?

Cut the list, get married on a Friday instead, add a cocktail hour.

Sorry, but that gap is avoidable. We had a Catholic wedding on a Friday to avoid it.

Thank you for all the suggestions on...the...time gap. So... is anyone greeting their guests at the reception?

As smartass as I just sounded, that question for Celia was completely a serious question and I'm curious.

I really don't want to change the ceremony location because, in all honesty, getting married at that particular church was the only thing my heart truly desired and would have the hardest time budging from.

Trust me, everyday I would be researching a new (decent) venue to have my reception at but it's not easy, especially not here in Hawaii. Okay, let me ask another serious question: If you found a venue that only charges $30/person, includes setup/breakdown of the ballroom, tables, chairs, tablecloths, centerpieces (including table numbers), microphones (and all the other media needs), staff, food (including dessert), parking, non-alcoholic beverages, AND lets you bring in your own liquor with no corkage fee... would you change to another venue that will end up making you sacrificing one or more of the above mentioned giving you extra costs if it meant closing that time gap? You have a significant number of guests (think of the most you'd ever limit yourself to having) and have been to that venue before for other parties and weddings and it's actually a great place with quality food. Also, it's not uncommon here to have gaps that huge for local weddings. I'm not trying to justify myself (yes I am) but I'm wondering if I'm the only one that sees having that time gap is the only inconvenience considering what else we are able to give our guests with that budget.

I don't think you sounded like a smartass at all, lol!

Hawaii.....Hey, I'll come there and marry you!!

Aside from the gap, if you stick to this timeline you are asking your guests to spend a minimum of 10 hours on your wedding day. That is not including travel to the ceremony and then home from the wedding.

I think that given your situation a gap is reasonable. I don't see them as that big of a deal. I've been to weddings with gaps and the worst they've been is a minor inconvenience. The best they are is an excuse to go to a bar in fancy clothes with people I like—yay!

I have sort of strange feelings about receiving lines because I associate the with LDS weddings where not much else happens (no dancing, little food, no booze, etc). But I think they are actually an efficient way to say hi to all the guests and no more awkward than going around to each individual table (the part of the wedding I'm dreading the most, as an introvert). If you stand near the welcome table, it would ensure people see the table while they're waiting in line, which could be a nice way to show off decor you're proud of. In my experience, parents also stand in the receiving line.

@Celia Thanks, as always, for your honesty. You know, if I wasn't set on getting married in a Catholic Church, I might've taken you up on that offer... but only if you helped me find a better venue I can afford! Haha! Seriously, all other places are about $50/person not including a lot of things like centerpieces or great food options. Definitely doesn't include alcohol!

@Powers2 That's true but being on island, most guests live nearby or will find somewhere to go or may even make it to only the reception, which I really don't mind since the Church won't be dolled up special and it's more for us and our immediate family. It's "island casual" so no one will be in gowns or suits and ties. I'd be surprised if anyone wore long sleeves, tbh.

@ellaenchanted I tried but most vendors and all venues here are the same price no matter what day of the week. There really isn't an "off peak" season here.

Hey I did price a Chinese luncheon (during one of my IDGAF anymore planning moments) and it's only $28/person. Maybe I'll just have it there with no entertainment, decorations, and all that extra stuff to avoid that damn gap.

I went to a wedding in NY where the ceremony was at 3pm and the cocktail hour started at 6pm. They also had it at a Catholic church and had the same problem. I noticed that a lot of people didn't dress up. I also noticed about more than half the people didn't come to the ceremony. I thought that was so strange!

My suggestion as to close the gap, is to plan an optional gathering ( do you have family nearby, while I know this is also a huge inconvenience as it is another thing to host ) for people to sort of hang out in the gap? Unfortunately, Catholic Weddings do that. I've been to one. The guests I was with didn't seem to mind as they got to see family they hadn't seen in years. I'd just try to push your ceremony back as far as you can. I also went to a wedding that was two days. The ceremony was on one day and the reception was the following evening. Best of luck. Hopefully that helps

Sometimes gaps are a bit unavoidable, but you should really try to close that a little bit. Have a receiving line at the back of the church and have ushers dismiss guests row by row so they aren't standing and waiting. You could also host a cocktail hour at a different venue close to either the church or reception venue. That would give your guests something to do instead of sit in their cars and wait for your reception. You really should host your guests for as long as possible.

If you stick with your plan and I was a guest, I'd want you to be at the entrance greeting people. Not your whole BP and parents old style receiving line, but just you two.

A two person receiving line doesn't take that long. We had one at the exit of the church sanctuary and it took around 25 min for 180ish guests.

Malei that is an amazing price for what they are offering, would love to know your venue! Changing your month, day, or week will not change your price which is super frustrating! I know (: While the gap is less then ideal if all your guests are local then it may not be that big of a deal. Nothing is really that long of a drive here and affordable decent venues are limited so I think guests would understand. I would not be upset about it at all. I'd probably attend the ceremony dressed a little more casual and then just go home relax and get dressed later on for the reception. Personally I'm not a fan of receiving lines. I just find them awkward. However, if your guest list is large it may be a better option then visiting tables because that takes forever. My best friend got married on big Island and had about 200 guests and they were greeting tables for almost 2 hours. Guests were waiting on them to dance and continue on with the evening. I've only been in one receiving line and it included the bridal party, parents, and grandparents but I am not sure if that is the norm. It seemed like a lot of people.

@FutureMrs.Smith I was going to ask if you're local but I saw you say "big island." LOCAL! You might understand a little better how close everything is here. We do have out of town guests but my family was thinking of taking that time to take them swap meet. Haha!

I plan to have it at the Okinawan Cultural Center in Waipio (not gonna lie, totally had to check your wedding date before disclosing, lol!). It's not the most extravagant place but it's a ballroom that does provide all of that. It's catering company is A Catered Experience so you can check out the menus and what it includes and they even have their contracts on there, too. OH! And you can see available dates, too. Where are you having yours, if you don't mind me asking? By the way, I work federal and even the Hale Koa Hotel was pricey... especially if I have alcohol. AND all the places that I called said that they'll be raising all prices about 10% every year so plan for that when I book. *sigh*

What are people going to do after they've greeted you and lots of other people are still in line to greet you? It seems like you need a cocktail hour so that after they say hi, they'll go to the bar for a drink and then mingle until the line is over and it's time for dinner to be served.

I feel like the welcome line is always awkward. I've been in a few weddings and had to partake in this. I feel like if you did do this it should just be the bride and groom. If you're doing the cocktail hour I'm sure you will have plenty of time to meet with your guests though.

I thought about it we decided not to do it.

Hmm nice, I never even thought of there. It's a nice place and a good centralized location. As long as you have people to entertain any OOT guests I think you should be good! We rented a home in Hauula and are getting our catering done by Kenekes. We booked the home ASAP so the owner gave us 2016 prices even though we are getting married in 2018 which was amazing! We rented it for a week as an option for our OOT guests to stay to help make it more affordable for them to come. Also any of our guests that party too hard can spend the night which we felt was a good option since the drive to Hauula is a bit of a trip.

So we have a gap for my wedding (2.5-3 hours, haven't 100% nailed down the details). My fiancé and I are both Catholic and its important to us to be married in a Catholic church. Its 30 minutes from the church to the reception venue but we decided that we would put on the back of our programs all our favorite date spots for people to check out while waiting. We are a super low maintenance couple and our relationship started 3.5 hours away from most of where our guests live and we wanted them to have things to do in the break if they wanted to (i.e. have ice cream at one of our 2 local spots we love, grab a drink at our favorite bars, or if they need a snack enjoy coneys at skyline) As for a receiving line, we are doing that at the rehearsal location and plan on just having us and our parents in the line. That way our bridal party can have a break and mingle during cocktail hour.

I feel like you've posted a ton of threads about your unavoidable gap because you don't feel like paying to properly hosts your guests a ton of times, and everyone just keeps telling you that you need to get rid of your gap.

We are doing a receiving line outside of the church after our ceremony. we are only including ourselves and our parents, as our bridal party won't know many of the guests.

ETA: we are doing this because we also have to have a 2 p.m. wedding (only option at our church); so "gap" will be filled by receiving line and extended cocktail hours (1.5 hours).

@A.L. Actually, this is the first post I've made about it and have been simultaneously commenting on others' posts to sympathize with them. Thanks for noticing, though, and not answering the discussion topic of receiving lines.

We're going to greet guests at tables- we have a large portion of OOT/ out of country guests so I really don't want to miss greeting anyone. He gap is kinda awkward but I went to an Eritrean wedding last yr with a gap due to cultural reasons. Honestly, just let people know and they can make up their minds if they wanna come. If you know there's going to be a gap, it's your choice to attend ceremony, reception or noting at all.