ceremony and reception gap

Yes, I think planning a two hour gap so you can have two hours for pictures, then starting cocktail hour, is rude.

Usually cocktail hour is used so that guests are entertained and comfortable while the bride and groom take pictures. I think that having two hours between your ceremony and cocktail hour is inconsiderate to your guests. You may be thinking they could use the time to nap or relax, but realistically, if someone were to take a nap, they'd probably have to redo hair and makeup and get dressed all over again. It might not seem like a long time to you, but two hours could really drag out for your guests.

I'm a photographer and 2 hours is about average on what I spend between the ceremony and reception start. I think you're fine with the time frame

It is too large of a gap IMO. Maybe I'm wrong but aren't pictures of bridal party often taken during cocktail hour? In weddings I have attended it was only guests at the cocktail hour. That would then give you 3 or so hours for pictures.

We're using our cocktail hour as a way to "entertain" the guests while we take pictures. Can you move your cocktail hour back and then start your reception at 6:30p?

I loathe gaps. We told our photographer who was our cousin, "You have one hour." It worked out well. We also told the DOC, "The wedding starts at 6 PM NOT 6:05." I agree with MIL.

Hi fellow Greek Orthodox bride! Yup MIL is right, especially for a Greek event. No one will want to stop in the middle everyone will want to move right to the party. Generally speaking the cocktail hour is for the guests to enjoy while you take pictures. I agree with moving cocktail hour up and starting the reception at 6:30.

I agree it's too much of a gap but you can fix it a few ways!

As many people have said, YOU don't need to be at cocktail hour. You can show up at the end of cocktail hour just in time for dinner.

You can also take less time for photos. For our wedding we ran into the same time restraints, and we also didn't want a "sneak peek" -- so our photographer did all the individual family shots before the wedding. For instance, I did all the pics with my parents and siblings prior to the wedding. Then I was already in the venue and hidden when my groom arrived with his family to do their shots. Then after the ceremony, we just had to do the "together" shots with family, which saved some time. We also did a dry run before the wedding day to pick out EXACTLY where we were getting the shots to speed things up. We were able to get all the photos we wanted in about an hour. Of course, we didn't go off site, and that helped with that time table.

Unfortunately, I've been to weddings with a gap, and it's kind of awful for guests. Two hours sounds like a long time, but by the time people figure out what they want to do and accounting for travel, it's not enough time to DO anything. Plus you are all dressed up, so your options are limited. So it's too long to just go straight to the venue, but too short to do anything fun or productive.

I would say anything under an hour would be acceptable, 2 hours is way too long. Many people on this site will tell you to not have any gap. Based off of your 4:30 PM ceremony end time, I would have the cocktail hour start at 5 PM to give people time to travel from the ceremony to the reception and have the reception then start at 6

Gaps are usually frowned upon by guests. We had our ceremony and cocktail hour/reception all at the same venue with no gaps. We did do a first look though so we wouldn't miss the cocktail hour but our trolley driver got lost and it started raining soon as she finally found the picture location so we ended up missing cocktail hour anyway.

I don't care for gaps for my guests. So we will definitely do many of our photos before the wedding and will definitely miss the first half of cocktail hour for the rest of the pictures. It is important to me that our guests have a seamless experience once they arrive for the ceremony.

It is called the Catholic Gap. If you are needing 2 hours for your pictures then start the cocktail hour about 30-45 minutes after your ceremony ends. This way your guests aren't stranded for 2 hours. Cocktail hour is meant to be the time buffer for you to take pictures. It's not there for you to pre-game your own wedding reception.

You're wrong. Any gap (even a religious one) is rude to your guests.

Your MIL is right. No one wants to get out of their wedding clothes, take a nap, and then get redressed.

Is there a place at your venue where guests can hang out during the gap? I am also looking at a similar situation. Ceremony is taking place at a church about 15 min from the venue. We're doing a full catholic mass starting at 1pm (it was the only option the church gave us). By the time everyone leaves the church and arrives at the venue it will be close to 2:45. At which point there is a restaurant/bar at the venue (golf club) where guests can grab a drink and sit out on the porch overlooking a lake for about an hour until the cocktail hour begins at 4. Only our immediate family is catholic so if people really don't want to come to the church that's up to them. Long winded answer is- I think you'll be okay if there's actually a place for guests to go. Having them just mull around might be thought as rude.

I recently went to a wedding with a 4 hour gap.. granted a 2 hour gap isn't as bad but still. FH and I went to some wineries in between and were honestly kind of sloshed by the time the reception came around.. a 2 hour gap is still too long

This is depressing. My ceremony HAS to start at 1pm because the Catholic Church it's being held at will only have them at that time. I haven't decided if I want the full blown hour mass yet (most coming are not Catholic) or just keep it to 30 minutes... I'd prefer the shorter version but where we plan on having our reception only has 11am or 6pm slots. And it's JUST the ballroom at this center... no bars or restaurants to hang out in, completely different location than the church. I was going to use the time in between for pictures (may as well) but feel terrible for all the guests to have such a huge gap between ceremony and reception (minus the 30 minutes travel time to where the reception is located).

If I have the reception anywhere else, I'd be paying twice as much than at the ballrooms.

@malei yeah I understand, I am stressing out over this, I have been to weddings before that had a gap especially the religious ones, I was an out of town guest on both occasions, and I just hung out at my hotel or at local friends house in between, I did not think it was such a big deal.

I think with your time frame the gap isn't rude. You're starting the reception at meal time... otherwise your reception would start at 4:30/5 which would be an early dinner (not super early tho). I wouldn't mind the gap as a guest, especially if there was a place to hang out with other friends and family... hotel lobby, at the church or something like that. IMO your good although I've seen other gaps like morning wedding and evening wedding and that seems rude/awkward.

If your cocktail hour starts at 6:30, then you're actually getting 3 hours for pictures.

At least push it up so cocktail hour starts at 5:30 (only one hour after the ceremony ends).

You'll still get your 2 hours of photos before the actual reception starts.