Ceremony Start Time

You may want to put 3:25

Our ceremony was at 5pm, and we put 5pm. Unless you know for a fact the majority of your guests are notoriously late for everything, I would put the actual start time. People typically know to arrive before the stated invite time.

View Quoted Comment Thank You! So, 30 minutes before? I’m thinking the same

View Quoted Comment The people that I know are notoriously late. So based on that would you say I put the time 30 minutes earlier or fifteen earlier than the “actual” time.

Please don’t put 30 minutes before your ceremony start time unless you’ll be offering something while people wait (snacks and beverages). I always get to a wedding 15-30 minutes earlier than the invite said. If I have to wait an hour for your ceremony to start, I’m going to be pretty annoyed. And what happens if you run late and guests are there for over an hour before you begin. Don’t punish punctual people for the few who might be late.

View Quoted Comment There will be a champagne greeting upon entering and also some light entertainment.

We're thinking 4:30 or 5:30 will be when our ceremony will be not 💯 sure yet. We've not made it there yet within our wedding planning.

View Quoted Comment I understand. Thank You!

I definitely wouldn't do 30 minutes before, but I think 15 is fine. We went to a wedding that they told us to be there 30 minutes early and it was awful. The wedding was in a barn with only two fans and it was the end of June and was very hot. We arrived early because we thought the wedding started at 4 when it really started at 4:30 so we were there about 3:45 and sat there in the heat for 45 minutes waiting until the wedding actually started. They had drinks beforehand, but it was still awful. Everyone was in their seats at 4 because that's when they said it was starting. People were bored and annoyed because we quickly realized they lied to us. They ended up having one guest that showed up at about 4:40 so even though they lied to all of their guests to make sure everyone was on time one person still showed up late so their plan backfired and annoyed the guests that were actually on time. We went to another wedding where they told us to be there 15 minutes early. Everyone was still in their seats 15 minutes early waiting on the ceremony to start. People still seemed bored, but no one was late for that wedding. For our wedding, we put the actual time the ceremony started. We made sure everyone knew it was starting at exactly 4:30 and if they were late it was their own fault. My husband's aunt is notoriously hours late to things, but she was even there on time. She was early in fact. My guess is because I told my mother-in-law we weren't going to push back the wedding if her sister was late. I wasn't going lie to my guests in order to prevent them from being late. We felt they were all adults and knew when and where to be. Most people know to arrive early to a wedding.

Unless their is a legit reason for them to be there before the actual ceremony then you put the time it will start. People know to come a little early so they are seated and ready for it to start.

My ceremony is at 4:00 as well and that is the time I put on our invitations. The guests we are inviting are known to be early so we are not worried that anyone is going to be late. If your guests are known to be late, I'd put 3:30 on the invitations. If you put anything earlier than that on the invites guests could complain about sitting and waiting too long before the ceremony starts.

My ceremony will be at 4:00 as well, and we are putting 4:00. I read that you never start right at the start time in case of stragglers - it will probably be closer to 4:10 or 4:15 when we actually start. You just have to build time in for that!

Our ceremony start time is 3:00 and that's what we're putting on the invitations. If our DOC recognizes that people are missing, I've planned to start at 3:10 on our timeline to accommodate late comers.

If your ceremony starts at 4:00, you put 4:00 on your invitation. Most guests will arrive 20-30 minutes before the time on your invitation. If you put a false time on your invitation, you will have a lot of annoyed guests who will be waiting 45 minutes to an hour for your wedding to start.

I'd put 4:00 PM, guests know to show up on time. You could always delay walking down by 5-10 minutes but guests will know to be seated at 4.

Please do NOT say 30 minutes before the start time! By doing that, you’re basically rewarding the people who arrive late, and punishing the people who actually arrived on time by making them wait! Personally I always arrive 20-30 minutes before a wedding begins, so if you said 3:30 on your invitation I’d probably arrive around 3-3:15 and would be extremely annoyed if you didn’t actually start until 4.


Don’t punish the people who are on time. List 4pm on your invitations and put something on your website or details card saying “the wedding will begin at precisely 4pm, so please arrive no later than 3:45.” Reiterate to the perpetually late people that they must arrive by 3:45. Have people at the venue standing around to not let people walk over during your ceremony. If they’re late, they miss it. Hopefully they’ll make sure to be on time then.
Odds are you’re going to have some sort of hold up and end up starting late anyway. I had all intentions to be super punctual for my 12pm wedding and still didn’t walk down the aisle until around 12:10 lol. Things happen. You likely won’t be ready until 4:05-4:10 anyway no matter how hard you try to be ready for 4.

I said 5p on invited but we started more like 510p

We are putting the actual start time on our invitations and if people are late...so be it. I'm not rearranging a year and a half of planning and preparing when everyone invited has known the start time for at least three months. If they cannot make it on time-we'll see them at the reception. I am tired of hand-holding adults to make them do the right thing. If they can't get their act together and get somewhere at the appropriate time, then they miss out. At some point people need to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof in this case. I'm not making the other guests who can show up on time sit around for 15-30 minutes waiting for those who can't follow simple instructions.

View Quoted Comment Excellent point. I love the idea of building in time for it.

I'm not a fan of lying to guests. I vote for putting your actual start time on the invitations.