Ceremony and reception timeline

I think you need to consider lighting even if you push the time back to 8. At dusk you will still need some light outside.

Backyard wedding under the stars sounds beautiful to me. As LD mentioned you should still think about and add light. Congratulations

I think 8 is too early to end. I would end it at 9 and work on lighting. That's sounds like a nice wedding under the stars. Do you have a backup plan just in case the weather is bad?

I'd say all these things depend on your wedding budget and if it's in your budget, get some lighting and still end at 8pm. My timeline start to finish is 4 hours, however it's indoor and outdoor so if it goes longer or bad weather were covered.

Our budget is itty bitty but I think lights would be a good investment. Were gonna have a tent on reserve in case of rain. If the rain is too much and soaks the ground then we can go inside but hoping and praying for clear skies. But indoors seating is for 60 people and I'm planning to have 40-60 people

I saw that you posted about a DOC; with a backyard wedding, you definitely need one. And you need lighting.

You have no time built in for things that won't start exactly on time, and I can tell you if you're not in a venue,they won't. Which is sorta fine; one of the reasons people choose to do this is that it's more relaxed.

For starters, you need more time for setup unless you're doing very, very minimal things. Just setting up a bar can take that long.

If you invite for 3:30, by the time the guests get there, get parked, get seated, it'll be 4:00. But you have a processional and a recessional, presumably, and that leaves you about 8 minutes for a ceremony, which is not enough. That part needs more time. Then the guest need to make their way to cocktail hour, which will take a few minutes too.

When they finish that, they need to be shepherded to their seat, which also takes time. My guess its that by the time they sit down, you get your intros and dance done and they start eating, it'll be another half hour.

The bottom line is that this is too compressed, time wise. It all looks great on paper but once you add the humans, all hell breaks loose, lol....