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Jo
Just Said Yes February 2020

Ceremony Start Time

Jo, on November 15, 2019 at 1:10 AM

Posted in Etiquette and Advice 32

What is your opinion on putting an hour and a half ahead start time on the wedding invitations to ensure that guests arrive on time and are seated prior to the bridal party walking in? The ceremony starts at 6:00 pm and I plan to put 4:30 on the invites. Guests will be entertained in the sanctuary...
What is your opinion on putting an hour and a half ahead start time on the wedding invitations to ensure that guests arrive on time and are seated prior to the bridal party walking in? The ceremony starts at 6:00 pm and I plan to put 4:30 on the invites. Guests will be entertained in the sanctuary with music and a slideshow of our pictures.

32 Comments

  • MAMW
    VIP August 2013
    MAMW ·
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    I hate the idea of false start times at all, but these seems beyond excessive. I think you should put the true start time for your wedding on the invitation and trust that your guests will get there on time. If people are late then that is on them.

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  • Mcskipper
    Master July 2018
    Mcskipper ·
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    I know everyone else has said it, but that amount of time is seriously absurd. I would be SO MAD if I was a guest sitting there waiting for hours— your guests have better things to do with their time than wait for you. 2 important things to note: people arrive early to weddings presuming the time on the invite is the start time. If I could an invite that said 4:30, I’d show up no later than 4. Secondly, delays happen! My wedding was set to start at 3:30 (time on invites was 3:30, but I figured we’d possibly start walking down the aisle around 3:40 to ensure everyone had enough time to get settled)....but due to circumstances beyond my control, we didn’t start until 4. Wasnt a huge deal bc my invite time was 3:30 but i still felt a bit bad and stressed about it. But if there’s a delay in your case, say someone showed up at 4 and you don’t walk down the aisle until 6:30? You’d find yourself with some very cranky guests, and possibly with some missing, if they got tired of sitting around and wanted to wander or even just go home.


    If you want to put the start time earlier than you plan to start, 15 min would be great. A half hour is a stretch, but tolerable. Anything more than a half hour and people will start to get rightfully annoyed.
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  • Btbride
    Super August 2019
    Btbride ·
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    People will definitely think you're a runaway bride, lol. Put the proper start time. People know to get there early, and if you have any chronic latecomers, talk to them personally.

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  • K
    Dedicated 0000
    K ·
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    Yeah....it's a bit much. I would put the actual start time as well. I'm having a slightly out of town wedding that's accessible by commuter rail. I put on my website the actual start time and told guests they would have to take such and such train to get there in time. I also told them that if they didn't make that train, they would need to head straight to the reception and it would be on them to figure out transportation to the venue. Hopefully they'll listen.

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  • A
    Super August 2020
    Alex ·
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    I would be SOOOOO pissed at this wedding. The guest that are on time have to sit there for an hour and a half. How incredible rude! Do not start your wedding any more than 10 minutes after your printed time.


    I seriously would consider leaving a wedding that took over an hour to start.

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  • L
    Lady ·
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    This is suuuuuper rude. Why would you punish people who are prompt on the off chance a few people are late. 1) if there are few stragglers they'll sit in the back and you won't even notice. 2) I would be LIVID if I showed up like 2 hours early (I'm always 15-20 minutes early, so if you did this, i'd be almost 2 hours early). What are people supposed to do that long?


    Please don't do this, even with a shorter fake time.

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  • Cristy
    Master May 2021
    Cristy ·
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    This is EXACTLY what I was going to say!! Don't punish people who know how to act like adults. If you have guests that are chronically late to everything, oh well, then they'll probably miss the beginning of the ceremony. Not your problem. Put the actual start time on the invitations, so the adults can arrive at the correct time.

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  • Shay
    Expert April 2024
    Shay ·
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    Our ceremony starts at 2:00 o’clock Pm firmly!
    My Head Ushers,knows to shut the sanctuary doors at 1:55Pm
    I don’t care if our guest is late once my wedding has started that’s it!With that being said our invitations will say ceremony to start at 2PmEveryone is GROWN!!
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  • Renee
    Super October 2020
    Renee ·
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    I think you should put the actual start time of the ceremony. Most people show up early so they're able to sit down before the ceremony starts. I'd be mad if I showed up around 4ish for a 4:30 wedding and it didn't start till 5. Or worse, later. I wouldn't stick around and I'd be mad I wasted my time and money
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  • Alejandra
    Super November 2021
    Alejandra ·
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    I would not watch a slideshow for 90 minutes unless it was something extremely interesting. 30 minutes may be okay, but 90 is far too long.
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  • Vicky
    VIP January 2020
    Vicky ·
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    I think that is horrifically rude, and if someone deliberately did that to me I would consider that a potentially friendship-ending move.

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  • MrsD
    Legend July 2019
    MrsD ·
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    I would 100% leave a wedding if the invite said 4:30 and they didn't start until 6 (unless there was an act of God that was preventing them from starting). If an invite said 4:30, we would show up between 4-4:15. I'd probably wait until 5 before leaving. That's incredibly rude.

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