ceremony and reception gap

Susan- I was just speaking on behalf of the 7 Greek weddings I attended and 2 I stood up in. My comment clearly doesn't try to say all Greek weddings are done this way or should be done this way.

Jacks-the ideal isn't the same as the practical. Should every bride and groom have control over the timing of their wedding and reception? Theoretically, yes. However, everyone is dealing with their own set of restrictions and situations. Sometimes even when something is technically an option, it might not be a practical one, for whatever reason.

If everyone got married with the impression that everything will be completely in their control, they're setting themselves up for disappointment.

When I was making the decision to have a gap, I didn't dare post the question because I had already seen the severe backlash on here when someone states that they are having a gap. Again, I'm just sharing because I think it's worth reading different perspectives/experiences.

Yes it's rude and you do not need 2 hrs.

Just do your wedding party pictures before the wedding and then save that 1 hr for just you and your husband while guests start cocktail hour at 4:30pm.

You join everyone at 5:30pm and start dinner/reception.

Or start your ceremony 1 hr later.

"Should every bride and groom have control over the timing of their wedding and reception? Theoretically, yes. However, everyone is dealing with their own set of restrictions and situations. "

I'm just going to say it. What hogwash!

@Mary - outside of mother nature and car accidents, what can you not control?

People show up on time? MOVE ON.

MUA and HAIR late? Build your own timeline but let your guests wait for you.

Gap in between ceremonies? Why? Is your officiant not going to start/end on time?

Not enough time for your pictures? Tough, you schedule that in while taking your guests time into consideration. Need more than 1 hr for your pictures after ceremony? You do your other shots before the ceremony and just you and your fh during cocktail hour.

Ceremony cannot start on time due to late relatives? Too bad...

We just got an invite to a wedding with a 4 hour gap.. we're skipping the ceremony because that gap is rude and we don't want to find somewhere to hang out in our dress clothes, or come home and change, only to have to get dressed again later. No thanks.

Honestly I'm a bit confused because every wedding I've ever been to has had a gap in between the ceremony and cocktail hour and it's always been for pictures so I never imagined that being a big deal. Yes, it absolutely does discourage people from coming to your wedding ceremony but that's super common for the weddings I've been to and people assume the attendance for the wedding will be far less than the reception, as much as that does stink.

For my brothers wedding, there was a two hour break and while my brother and SIL went to the venue for pictures, my parents welcomed all the ceremony guests to come to our house to relax before the cocktail hour. It wasn't a big deal if you're able to do that and no one seemed bothered by it. We all had a nice time.

For my wedding, everything is at one place. My ceremony is 4-4:30 and my cocktail hour starts at 6 to accommodate time for pictures. With my venue, though, there is a bar they can get drinks from, couches they can relax at, and it's very close to the beach for people to spend the break if they choose.

I really don't think it's a big deal, especially if you have things for your guests to do in that time frame. But just be aware no matter what that you will have less people at the ceremony.

Alforev, you get photos during cocktail hour. That's the purpose of cocktail hour. If you want to attend cocktail hour, then you're supposed to do a first look and get photos before the ceremony. It's not cool to leave your guests handing for an hour and a half at the venue so you can duck out and get photos. Unless you're running a bar tab so they can drink on you, you should change your timeline.

If it is important to you to get married in your church, then by golly you should do it and you shouldn't compromise on that. I do feel it is a tad of an inconvenience but church weddings have this problem. I'm team no gap because I'm not having a church wedding. I also think however you should designate a place for your guests to go to hang out. In my experience, my family always went out to lunch in the gap and talked and caught up because very often weddings and funerals are the only reason some families get together. My mom would love the time spent with her out of town siblings. But sort of have a place desingnated on where to go following the ceremony, which you can accommodate. It will however be a little more expensive as it's another event to host. While I'm all about max comfort for guests, it's not necessarily rude in some circles. Rude unfortunately is a subjective term,

No, rude is not subjective and neither is good hosting. Im having a church wedding and no gap. And most of the weddings I've attended have been church weddings with no gap so it's not a problem with church weddings. It's about people putting their Pinterest dream wedding above their guests comfort which is rude and is poor hosting Good hosting will always be good hosting, regardless of area, religion, or any other flimsy excuse anyone might think up.

We have about a 40 minute drive to the reception and so we have a 2 hr gap and are giving guests some recommendations on wineries to hit up if they want to on the way!