Evening wedding disappointment

4pm is nearly the hottest time of the day. Remember it won't be only your guests that will be hot - but grandparents or the elderly, little ones screaming, etc. - not to mention you in a full wedding dress and your groom all decked out. I think evening weddings can be romantic. If you're worried about everything being too brief- throw an after party! There are ways around this, but I'd avoid 4pm. I know that's not what you had in mind. So, maybe google evening wedding photography to see all the potential of candles, firelight, bonfires, smores, and more... I promise you can have magic even after 4pm. Hang in there!

6 pm is a nice time (and is it’s even nicer if it reduces the temperature . Also, 5 hours is pretty standard for a wedding. But, how long did you want it to go? Keep in mind that it’s a LONG day for guests. Outside of the 5 hour wedding, guests have to begin early toget dressed, drive to the venue and arrive at least 15-30 mins ahead. Then afterward, they still need to drive home….


So be mindful about the length because no matter what end time you list, many guests will leave after the cake if they’re tired.

Totally agree with previous posters. 6 pm is a great time.

Is another venue a possibility? I would never risk being in a wedding dress sweating during my vows lol. Those things are surprisingly hot, not to mention your FH in a suit! If not, yes 6pm is a great time for photo ops, and there's always the after party if you aren't pooped!

Honestly, I think 5 hours will be fine. I say this because my wedding this June was set for 4:00 to 10:00 so a total of 6 hours. It was also a day of a bad storm and me and just about every guest got stuck in crazy traffic. I didn’t get to the venue until five minutes after 4 (actually ran into many guests as they pulled up also lol) and I had to get dressed there and take getting ready photos, first look photos with my dad and first touch photos with my husband. My wedding ceremony did not start until close to 6 the start time was 4:00 so we were so behind. The entire drive over I was freaking out and putting money together to buy an extra hour because I was so afraid of not having time to do my entire reception and not wanting the night to feel rushed or cut short. An extra hour would cost us 1000 dollars and I had the money ready. This would pay for the photographer, dj and mc, staff etc. the rest of my wedding happened and let me tell you we were able to do everything and not be rushed for one single part of it. Cocktail hour ran for one hour, while we did portraits next door. The wedding party were even able to join the last 30 minutes of cocktail hour and my husband and I had time to eat our cocktail foods in the bridal suite alone and not be rushed. Our reception had plenty of dancing, the shoe game, first dance, dinner, toasts, photo montage, cake cutting, bouquet toss, parent dances (3 of them) and my husband and I had time to do our sunset photos with the photographer. I honestly think if you have a great team orchestrating your wedding you and your guests will have so much time. We are so happy we went with a all inclusive wedding venue who operated like something out of the wedding planner with their little mics and head sets. Our wedding still ended at 10:00 and the funny thing was guests were ready to go at that time as well because we were all so tired from all the dancing and my husband and I were so ready to go too. We are still told how great of a wedding it was and how much fun they had. I’m happy I had family in my ear all night asking if I was sure I wanted to spend an extra grand for an hour because everyone felt so satisfied with our wedding and got the full experience. I now wonder had everything happened on time would we all have felt bored with the extra time.

I actually prefer later evening weddings! It means your guests get to have their entire day to themselves before needing to get ready and go to your event. Starting later also means people are expecting to go later into the night, so an after party would probably go over really well if you guys are wanting to keep the party going after the end of the reception! As a guest I would also MUCH rather start a couple hours later if It means not melting out in the heat! (is your entire event- ceremony and reception- outdoors??) i’ve been to some weddings that forced people to sit out in the hot sun and it was beyond miserable! Nobody wants to be sweating through their nice clothes. And remember, that heat is going to ruin your hair and makeup too! You don’t want to be a sweaty mess in your wedding photos!

We had an early September evening wedding (in MD) - it's usually pretty hot and muggy here at that time of year but we lucked out with high 70's and low humidity! Our ceremony started at 5:30pm and the reception was over at 10:00pm. We got married on a Friday, though, so starting any earlier would've been more difficult for guests having to leave work early, rush hour traffic, etc., not to mention the sun being high enough in the sky to blind guests or cause us to squint at each other, which wouldn't have been cute in photos! Anyway, I'd recommend starting between 5-6pm and ending between 10-11pm

I think 6-11 isn't a problem, especially to beat the heat.

My wedding ceremony is at 5:30 with cocktail hour starting at 6 the whole reception ending at 11 so our reception time is only 5 hours, I honestly wouldn't want it going any later.

I think 5 hours is pretty standard. My ceremony starts at 4 and the reception ends at 9:30. We get the venue for a total of 5.5 hours (not including set up time).

View Quoted Comment Awesome! Thank you guys so much for easing my worries and all your advice!

Definitely move it back if it's going to be too hot at 4pm. My cousin got married on a 106-degree day and it was so hot that many of the guests ended up congregating in the shade under a big tree and not sitting in the ceremony chairs, so the ceremony audience felt empty. Guests were distracted by how uncomfortable they were. You definitely don't want that! And the later start will give you some extra time for getting ready. If you feel like 11pm is ending the night too early, perhaps your hotel (if you're doing a room block) has a bar where guests can have a nightcap with you?

I'm currently going through this myself. I want like 4 ceremony time and planner and venue suggest later. A quick question I'd like to piggy back off your main question what does everyone doe for dinner for your wedding party and guests with a later start?

View Quoted Comment I figure we will have a late brunch or lunch for the wedding parties (obv separately) then our reception will be dinner and dessert for everyone.

Split the difference. . .start at 5pm. We did dinner after cocktail hour and Grand Entrance.

Our ceremony started at 5:30pm, with dinner starting at 7:15ish

We are starting our ceremony at 5:30, and we’re getting married on a beach in Texas next September. It’s probably not going to be 100°, but the heat index will definitely be in the mid 90s. We’re aiming to keep things short, but starting at 5:30 is really helping with the temperature problem. I agree with everyone else, a later start might do wonders for your guests and you.

Yeah i think it makes sense to start at 6 for it to be less hot