Ceremony Start Time

An hour and a half seems very excessive. Personally, if I showed up and that happened, I would walk out after 45 minutes or so, unless it was an immediate family member. Do you have a day-of coordinator? They shoo everyone in and close doors before the party enters.

I agree that 1.5 hours is too long, despite the entertainment. I think 30 min would be the longest acceptable false start time

I think this is a great idea but I think that’s a little long. I would do a half hour!

I would do 30 minutes at the most. I always get to weddings early so if an invite says 4:30, I’m getting there at 4. If I’m there for 45 minutes to an hour and the ceremony hasn’t started yet, I’m going to assume one or both of you has changed your mind and leave.

That’s too long. Thirty-minutes is acceptable.

I agree with everyone else definitely way to long to wait. Most of the time people either arrive early or be a few minutes late. Sometimes people don't show up to the ceremony but show up later at the reception.

Way, way, way too long. If you make me wait 90 minutes, I’m going to be hangry. And probably very thirsty as well. Trust adults to be adults. Unless you have friends or family members who are perpetually late, just put your ceremony start time as the start time. Adults know to be on time or early - if i see a 6pm start time I’ll be there at 5:30pm most likely.

That's outrageous. I would arrive at 4 for a 4:30 ceremony and can guarantee that I would leave long before 6 pm. Your guests are (at least mostly) adults. Tell them the time that the event begins.

I would be so mad. I’ve waited 30 min plus for weddings to start and was upset then. I couldn’t imagine 90 minutes. I’d start to think you called it off.
Also a slideshow will not keep people entertained for that long.

I agree with everyone. An hour and half is too long for any guests to sit for a wedding. I would give maybe an half hour for guests to wait.

An hour and a half is really excessive. If you're going to do a false start time, do 15 min to 30 min early.

I would put the actual start time.

Personally I would just put the start time. People are smart enough to show up on time for a wedding. Some people may not want to stand around and watch a slide show or might have other commitments that day prior to your wedding. You then run the risk of people saying they can’t come because they are afraid they will miss it. Just something to think about.

As others have said, that is entirely too long. If you have people that are often THAT late, pull them aside and ask them to arrive by Xtime. I typically arrive 20-30 minutes early and see many others do the same. Also, most weddings tend to start about 10-15 minutes late. If you want your ceremony to start at 6:00 you can put 5:30 at the earliest, but only if you believe you will be ready to go at 6 and no later.

I think a hour and a half is too long of a wait before the ceremony begins. I would do a half hour max. Anything longer than that and your guests can start getting upset/annoyed and some may leave.

Unless you state somewhere that this is a “cocktail hour” and will be providing food and drinks for your guests, then please don’t do this! If your wedding starts at 6:00 p.m. then you should put 6:00 p.m. on your invitation. If you would like to have some sort of pre-ceremony event, that needs to me made very clear on your invitation so guests can choose if they would like to partake in that.

Absolutely not. No guest will be ok with waiting that long. It's almost absurd.

I also agree that's really excessive.

If I was invited to a wedding wear I showed up 1.5 hours before the ceremony I would be upset. I think if you put a half hour before the ceremony on the invitation, or just play it by ear and walk once it’s settled. Because there are plenty of people who show up early.

Chiming in with everyone else that this is a very flawed plan. You are planning to punish the punctual to accommodate the chronically late and that is poor hosting. Not to mention that "music and a slideshow" is not actually entertaining for 1.5 to 2 hours (since MANY people will show up half an hour before they think your ceremony is starting). Please rethink.