Ceremony Start time

We are doing a 4:30 ceremony with cocktail hour 5-6pm and reception 6-10pm. I think you have great times. My ceremony is only taking approximately 30 minutes.

My ceremony is at 330...cocktails from 4 -6pm

Reception 6-12 with dinner at 7pm

I'm not a fan of this timeline you mentioned.

Cocktail hour with no cocktails until the second half?

45 minutes of couple introductions and first dances before dinner is served?

If you are confident the ceremony will go over the 30 minute allotment why not just give it more time on your timelline?

for what your mother said, I do like that timeline better (seems very similar to ours) but it's not up to her to dictate how long pictures take, that's a call your photographer makes.

How are you having a cocktail hour with no cocktails?

My ceremony started at 6PM.

What about meeting in the middle?

Ceremony 4-5.

Cocktail Hour 5-6

Reception 6-10 ( Dinner at 6:30)

ETA: The cocktail hour should include drinks

My first question, how will you have a cocktail hour without a bar and cocktails?

Second question, if you're already planning on your ceremony to go over schedule... why not just amend your schedule?

Third question, are you planning on doing your own clean up after the wedding? I would strongly recommend you hire someone for this instead! The last thing you're going to want to do on your wedding date is stay late and clean.

I am planning on having my ceremony at 430, i'm dedicating 1.5 hours for pictures (they're really important to me), followed by dinner and dancing, out by 10.

For us we had:

5pm - cerermony

5:30pm - cocktail + photos with guests

7pm - introduction, speech, slideshow

7:30pm - dinner is served w/ games/speeches in between plated courses

10pm - dancing until end time

I agree that a cocktail hour with no cocktails is strange, but don't wait too late to eat because guests will just get hangry or more drunk

Our cocktail hour will include cocktails, for an hour of it...the first half hour would be overflow of ceremony and shuffling around...there is no point in having the bar open, when no one would be in the room that the bar is in for the majority of that first 30 minutes. or very few people in the reception hall during that first half hour.

LOL if I showed up to a cocktail hour and the bar wasn't open, I'd peace out.

I also am having everything at one location and my issue become photography because I didn't want the cocktail hour to be too short so photos can't be taken how I want. So we have a 4:00 ceremony and then our cocktail hour goes from 6:00 to 7:00 but our guests can get drinks in between the ceremony and cocktail hour. I did this so we can go off site to get pictures done and come back to take more pictures at the venue while our guests enjoy the cocktail hour. Our reception is from 7-11.

If you know your ceremony will take longer then why not schedule that in? So Cocktail Hour really begins at 4:30pm for you, not 4pm.

That's quite the gap Jessica, I'd really reconsider.

I really think the bar should be open as guests enter your cocktail hour. It's pretty much expected.

I really don't think it'll take people 30 minutes to get from ceremony site to cocktail hour site since it's at the same place. Just plan on your ceremony being an hour long (eek) and have cocktail hour 4:30-5:30, intros and dances at 5:45 and start dinner at 6. Again, I'd be pissed if I had to wait 45 minutes to watch the first dance and introductions before getting fed.

Do you have a DOC? they can help make the timeline better for you.

ETA Do you have an officiant? They can help solidify a timeline for the ceremony so you will have a better idea of the duration.

I am not planning on the ceremony lasting an hour...but things don't start on time, or end on time...giving that half hour built in saves me the anxiety of trying to stick to a strict timeline.

And yes we have an officiant, we told him 30 minutes for the ceremony, and he laughed at us. So even if he agrees to 30 minutes, we already know it is going to go over.

@Jessica; what are your people going to do for the time between your ceremony and reception?

That is just flat out awkward. Personally, I"d leave.

There is no 'typical', you can do whatever you want. I have two venues here that start their ceremonies at 3:30 because of local noise laws....

You invite for 3:00, serve iced tea, maybe wine, until 3:20 when guests are led to the ceremony space and you start at 3:30. You end at 4:00. Your cocktail hour starts at 4:00 and goes until 5:00 or 5:15. Guests go to the reception space get settled, you do intros and the first course will probably be served at 6:00. (Everything takes longer than you think....)

Should work just fine. And things DO start on time. If you want them to.

Thinking 3 or 4.. n very small wedding .