Do I have to serve dinner? What is normal reception etiquette?

You need to serve dinner only if your reception will be during normal dinner hour. So if the ceremony is at 3 and the reception is 4-6, you would not need to serve dinner. However, if you are having dancing, etc. and the reception will continue until midnight, you'll need to serve dinner.

If you are going to run from 6-12 you need dinner.. als why is there such a big gap? what are your guests doing for 3 hours? hordovous work best if you are like from 1-4.. we might start ours at 1 but we are still feeding a full meal to our guest.

@ shannon the ceremony is catholic and the latest they do is 3pm and we only get 6hours at the reception venue and I would prefer it to go later since our friends like to dance and party...

Still i am sure they dont want to wait so long.. but catholic weddings are longer then mine would be

May I strongly recommend changing the reception time to 5-11. The ceremony will be a traditional Catholic ceremony, right? That lasts 1 hour. So, you'll be done around 4pm. Have a social of some sort at the church (even without alcohol) from 4-5 while you take pictures. Then start, the reception at 5pm. Remember- you still have things you will want to do at the end of the night *wink, wink*. You don't want to be partying until the wee hours of the morning and have no energy left for your new husband! Plus, many of your guests will need to get up early the next day for church.

Yes, you would definitely need to serve dinner! If you have a reception that includes anytime from 5-8pm, you really need to serve a meal.

If you can't afford a full meal for all 280 of your guests, you need to start cutting the guest list significantly.

@megan: she states in her OP that she only has access to the reception space from 6-12 pm so there is no way she can have it from 5-11...

280 guests is a lot of people, you could opt for a buffet style dinner so that you don't have to pay more for it to be plated and served at their tables...but you do need to serve more than just hor'dervs because I've been to weddings that only served finger food and I found myself starving half-way through the night and not able to enjoy myself because I was so hungry. If you can't really afford to feed everyone a full three course meal you can always opt for only a single course meal, if you serve hor' derves that could be the appetizer so you'd only have to give them the main course, and it's obvious that they're gonna have cake, it's wedding >.<

Yes, dinner would be approriate for that time frame. If you do not have things set in stone, maybe shorten your guest list? I know that its hard because I am having the same dilemma right now with the guest list, but you still want to be able to afford it, right? I would look into having a smaller guest list if invites haven't been sent yet.

Actually she said she wants to start it at 6, not that she has to.

I agree with Meghan, start your reception at 5 and go to 11. I think 4-6 is too long to go without something to do.

You ned to serve dinner because they will be at alot wedding during dinner hours

I could see heavy hors d'oeuvres, but that is a long time, right around dinner hour. Especially if you're doing a full mass. I would consider doing the wedding at 3 (or earlier) and then a hhd'o reception (and say so on your invite) from 7 or 8 on. That will give people time to go get food.

Personally, I would cut the guest list. Which is a nightmare, I know, but I think people understand.

Long ceremonies make me hungry - I vote dinner, too.

Also, I just read that you think folks will get a bite to eat between the ceremony and reception.

As someone who's been to a fair number of Catholic weddings, and is a veteran of the multi-hour gap, I don't think I've EVER gone to get a meal while waiting for the reception to start. Usually, we go grab a drink with friends and catch up...which makes the full dinner even more essential!

I agree with Shannon on this. I have gone to many a Catholic wedding and we have never eaten during that gap. Either we went home (if the church was local) or we met up with everyone else for a few drinks before the reception. People will expect food and if folks don't eat before hand, they will leave your reception early.

At that hour after your guests have sat through the ceremony and brought a gift you should feed them substaintially. Are you having alcohol? How far away is the church from the hall?

With that number of people a cocktail hour is essential somewhere somehow with a time gap like that.

I vote dinner as well!

Qeustion- do you only have access to the reception site from 6-12? If so, how will you get in to decorate? How will the caterer get in to set up, etc? If those 6 hours include time for set up and tear down- I think you need to find another venue.

Yes you should serve dinner.

Most sites that allow a select time for the venue, allow additional for setup and tear down... you just can have guests in there at that time.

I have been to weddings with a big gap between ceremony and reception and it was fine. We just hung out at a near by bar.

Thank you all for your input I really appreciate it. We have time to decide but I think we are going to move the reception to 5-11 and serve dinner. The ceremony is only 20mins since my fiance is not catholic. Yes its still about an hour in between. The reception location is about 10-15 mins away. So I figure they can just have cocktails and appetizers until 5 when we get there. Again thank you its nice to be able to get input from an outsider my parents and friends arent much help with advice

Good choice!