Extra time between ceremony and cocktail hour

A lot of people generally consider a gap between the two to be rude to guests. One of the reasons behind the cocktail hour is to entertain your guests while you are having your pictures taken. You are hosting them for that gap between the ceremony and the reception.

If you are really concerned with attending cocktail hour, you can always take pictures before the ceremony.

I hate it when that happens. Sometimes it's unavoidable because the church time may not sync up with the reception time, I get that. But to purposely plan it that way? Seems rude. What do you expect your guests to do in the gap time? And when there is a large time gap, many people skip the ceremony and just do the reception.

Think about doing a first look, there are a few threads on here which show the pros of doing it. One of which is getting all pics out the way beforehand.

I hate a gap.

We are having a gap. Most of the weddings I have gone to have one. 95% of our guests are local so it is not a big deal. We don't want to do a first look, and want some amazing pictures that are classic for St. Louis, like having the Gateway Arch, courthouse and a fountain lined up behind you!. Stunning pictures! Can't upload right now but you can google search Gateway Arch Wedding photos.

Not a fan of a gap. I know in some areas it's more accepted, but if there's a gap I might just go home because I don't know if there's anything that will amuse me. I wouldn't do more than a 30 minute gap.

Gaps are not good! the whole point of the cocktail hour is so guests are not miserable while they wait for bride and groom to get done with pictures! so it defeats the purpose of cocktail hour!

F*ck the guests for 40 minutes out of my day. They can figure out how to entertain themselves for that period of time. I have shuttle buses taking them from the hotel to the ceremony and then back to the hotel, whereby, given the travel time in Virginia at rush hour, they should have about 20 - 30 minutes to primp or make themselves a cocktail in their hotel suite for those smart enough to bring alcohol. The shuttle buses will then take people back to the reception hall for the cocktail hour - or they can go to the reception site and wait it out for 1/2 hour. I'm sick of this argument that it's rude to the guests. I am catering to their every whim for 2 straight days except for this one extra hour. Get over it. I want pictures taken and I don't want to miss my entire cocktail hour. Timeline looks like this: 3pm - ceremony. 3:40 to 5pm pictures. 5pm cocktail hour. We will arrive at 5:30.

I hate gaps, and so does everyone else. They may not tell you, but they'll tell each other.

I haven't attended too many weddings (yet) in my life, but already 3 of them were in another city. If there had been a gap and I was left to find my way back to the hotel for an awkward amount of time, or just wait around at the venue for a while, then I would have been bored and upset. Consider taking pictures before the ceremony so you don't leave your guests waiting around for the party to start!

Take them first then Karen. And "f*ck the guests?" Nice. Just elope.

F the guests?? Wow. How classless.

We went to a wedding last summer where there was an hour gap between the ceremony and the cocktail hour. We went home.

I'm not a guest who minds a gap (it's usually a good time to hit a bar and catch up with people I don't see often), but I would never ever ever ever host a wedding with a gap. Why? Because what it says is "Eff the guest." At least KarenM is being honest about it.

Hope those pictures mean the world to you for the rest of ever!

I've been to exactly one wedding with a gap. It was three years ago, and it is honestly the detail I remember most from it. However nice everything else was, that interim time was so, so draining. We were from out of town, without a car, all dressed up...it was not fun.

I'm going to one in a few weeks that is out of town. Dreading iiiiit.

It's sort of like having people over your house and hanging in your bedroom for an hour while they sit on the couch in silence.

Meh. Nobody likes a gap, but who cares! I have only been to one wedding without a gap and it was an evening wedding on a Friday after work. I'm an adult, we just all go to a pub for an hour or so. I wouldn't consider that a big deal. I'm having a little gap before the drinks flow at our reception and I'm sure my guests will survive. They can check out the art gallery that we are at and marvel at the beautiful sights that the park has to offer. That being said I think that the grooms men will be hosting a tail gate party and everyone is invited. Lol. Plus it's another $25 a guest without drinks for our cocktail hour too. I'm just renting a community hall and I can't afford over $110/guest without drinks.

We have a large gap between ours. We are expecting that by the time the ceremony, receiving line and pictures are done, it will be about 3:45-4:00. Our cocktail hour doesn't start until 6:00. It does take approx 45 to drive from the ceremony to the reception.

We have a lot of out of town guests. I am hoping they use that time to check in to their hotel, and freshen up a bit. We will be offering small appetizers and drinks (cheese and crackers, water/soda) at my parents house which is close to the church for family members. Friends are on their own though.

I'm not too worried about the gap. I'm having a Catholic ceremony, and all of the weddings that I have attended that have been Catholic have had a gap. Some even larger then mine.

I guess I understand the good intentions behind some of these gaps, I just think they are highly unrealistic. Do you really expect your guests to first check into their hotels between the ceremony and reception? They more than likely will have already checked in, and that time to freshen up is really like 30 min- a few hours (depending on the gap) of awkwardly sitting on an edge of the bed trying not to wrinkle your dress/suit.

I guess if it is custom for people to go to a bar between the ceremony and reception that is a different story, but I have never heard of that. To be honest, I wouldn't expect to go to a bar in my formal wear and spend money while waiting for a wedding party to take pictures. But maybe this is just a product of mostly attending weddings in the northeast?

8815wedding, yes, I do "realistically" expect my out of town guests to check into the hotel during that gap. Most of my out of town guests live 3-4 hours away and will be leaving the morning of from their state.

I'm from NJ, and many people here change between the church and the reception. At the church, guests tend to be a bit more casually dressed then they are at the reception.

Just my experiences though.

Well I guess I'm in the minority because I have never been to a wedding WITHOUT a gap. Usually ceremonies are around noon-oneish and reception starts around dinner time. Cocktail hours are just not done in my circle. And for all of you saying you'd go home, or just wouldn't know what to do with yourselves for a couple hours...REALLY?! How old are you that you need to be constantly entertained otherwise you'll throw a fit?

I get there's regional and cultural differences on here, so OP do whatever you think will be proper in your circle.