Friday evening start time?

I think 530 is way too early. A lot of people don't get out of work until 5. Then go home, change, feed the kids/dog. They won't get there on time. I think 630 is good. I wouldn't worry about late dinner, it going to be a late night plus you'll have cocktail hour so they won't be starving. And also never in my life have I heard that superstition.

Hey Robyn, we're date twins!

I've never heard that superstition. However, based on how long we have our venue, we're probably doing the following:

5pm - ceremony

5:30-6:30pm - cocktail hour

6:30-10:30pm - reception

90% of our guests are OOT, so most will probably be in the area/at the hotel before rush hour traffic.

Good luck planning!

My wedding is a Friday, we are doing 6, sunset is supposed to be a little after 6:30, also our ceremony is outside

ETA: details

We are doing a Friday at 6:30pm. I haven't heard of that superstition. If you have a cocktail hour after the ceremony with some food that should hold people over until dinner.

And technically you don't actually get married on the hour, it's an obscure number of minutes past the hour, and most weddings don't start on time

Will your ceremony really be an hour long? Most I've attended that haven't been in a church have been shorter and I'm guessing yours isn't in a church due to the ceremony & reception being in the same location. You could also shorten the cocktail hour to 45 minutes - do as many pictures as possible prior to the ceremony. Doing these things would have you starting dinner by 8 pm if you have a 6:30 start. I agree that 5:30 is too early and most non family guests aren't going to take time off work to get there on time.

Ive never heard of that superstition. I was also concerned about traffic and not only late guests but late vendors as well. 6:30 sounds good . If it was the earlier time then when i talk to friends and family maybe i would remind them to leave a little earlier due to traffic. But i wouldnt write it on the invite or anything .

We are doing 5:30 start time for ceremony

6 to 7 cocktail hour

dinner around 730 didn't want a late dinner

Most of my guest would be taking the day off anyways

I think it depends on the crowd

It doesn't really matter. Most of your guests will have to take some time off in either case.

and I've never heard of that superstition. It's not the 1800's....

Most of my wedding venues have an invite time of 6:00, start time at 6:30, cocktails from 7:00-8:00 and then by the time dinner is served after the toasts, etc, it's 8:30.

It works out fine.

Thursday evening wedding at 6:00 pm for us. (Over 75% of the guest list are all educators/school district employees who are off in the summer)

ETA: We expect for people to be eating by 7:30 tops.

We're going on the earlier side with the ceremony at 4pm (venue is between DC and Baltimore); the wedding isn't in our hometown and almost everyone involved or attending is going to need to take the day off anyway.

I'm getting married at 4 due to the fact the vendor requires that all wedding be done by 6. All our guest will hopefully be taking the days off. We are traveling to another state

Never heard of that superstition before!

I'm getting married on a Friday and our start time is 5:30. Most people have known about it for a while and are either taking the day off or a half day.

I'm getting married on a Friday at 1:30pm..It's a wedding. People can make it a priority.

We are having our ceremony start between 6 and 6:30 at the advice of our reception venue's manager. I have never heard of that superstition before. I would prefer it start at 4 or 5 but that's what we get for picking a Friday.

Hi there! I'm getting married on a Friday night as well, ceremony will start at 6 and end at 630 and then cocktail hour will follow, also there will be traffic as well but on the invite I will say a half hour before hand! I don't mind dinner being a little later, plus they'll be full on all our apps! (Will have 12!) and also never heard of thy superstition, I don't believe in them, but good luck! time is just a number, you can run a few minutes behind anyway if you believe in that! Lol

We are getting married on a Friday as well in July. Since it is the summer, I am hoping people's schedules are a little more flexible with taking a half day from work. Our ceremony is at our church, and the reception is at another location, so there will be travel time between the end of the ceremony and the cocktail hour.

We are hoping to start the ceremony at either 4:00 or 4:30 (depending on how long it will be) so that our guests can be settled into cocktail hour and eating/drinking by 6:00pm with dinner at 7:00pm.

I'm the kind of person that is hungry 24/7, so I can't see making my guests wait that long to eat, especially if they are coming from work.

It doesn't matter to us. We'd end up having to take a half-day off, anyway. If the venue is a hotel, of close to one, we'd book a room and check-in when we could. Check-in time might influence the start time, though.