Help me decide: ceremony time

The other option is to stick to a more tradition timeline and just light up the room with twinkle lights and candles to give it a romantic vibe, which while wasn’t my original plan, is very pretty and I do like a lot.

I’ve included a couple of pics of the space, one in the day and one a night. Sorry they’re so small, they’re not my pics. Which do you guys like? And do you think 4:30 - 10:00 is an odd time for a wedding?

I had my ceremony at 4pm, cocktail hour 4:30 - 5:45, dinner at 6, reception over at 10 and it was perfect! We cut the cake around 9 I think and it was a good time for the older people to leave. Then it was just our core friends and after we all went back to the hotel and partied in the lobby bar. I never felt like the timeline was awkward but I know things are different on the east coast and I got married in LA!

I think your timeline is fine! Our reception is from 4-8, which allows any traveling (not super far) guests to get home before the next day and also allows our families to get their kids home and ready for bed. Our reception is also downtown so that the party could continue elsewhere for any of our extreme party party haha. I also think that either option sounds great. I'm sure the sunset would be beautiful but it may blind some of your guests before it actually begins setting? But that's the only thing I'd be worried about if I was in a similar situation

I'm planning 4:30-10, so I don't think it's weird. And I think your ceremony space looks gorgeous all lit up like the second pic!

I think your timeline is fine. If you want to keep partying longer, you can always host an after party somewhere for the guests who want to stay longer.

I think your timeline is ok to run 430-10.

Thanks for the responses

We were also considering doing a first look and thought perhaps we could do that at sunset and take some pictures outside, and then do the evening ceremony with the room all lit up with candles.

I like both options so it's hard to decide so that's why I was wondering what guests might consider more convenient.

Having the exact same thoughts. Thank you for posting! Same wedding date I was told by my wedding coordinator to start the ceremony at 4 pm. I didn't realize at the time of booking that the sun would set so early. However, that makes my wedding 4pm-10pm. Do we pay for an extra hour of open bar or call it a night? Our ceremony space is also surrounded by windows. We are having string lights above the ceremony space to make it a little more "romantic". I'm still undecided what we will do.

We are doing ceremony at 4 and reception ends at 11. If you know your crowd likes to party it should be fine.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a 4:30 - 10 p.m. wedding/reception. I think that's pretty good actually so people who are driving a bit can get home and those who still want to party can go to a local bar or something.

That said, I also like the romantic feel of the evening wedding, so I don't think you can go wrong in this situation. Lovely venue.

I like the 4:30-10pm timeline

I think 4:30-10 would work pretty well.

We are having our cocktail hour and reception from 5-10, with the ceremony at 3, and pictures in between. I think your timeline of 4:30 ceremony would be fine.

If you end up wanting to keep the party going after, pick a nearby bar (or the hotel bar) for an after party to keep mingling with guests. Your older guests will appreciate being there for the whole thing, and your friends will likely keep partying on! Plus then you're not paying to keep the party going. Just spread the word via mouth and your friends will catch on. FH and I have been to several weddings where this was the case.

Also, after a long day of prep, you might be exhausted by 10! This gives you an option to keep going or head to bed.

Hope this helps!

We have plenty of weddings at 4 and 4:30, but keep in mind that you officiant needs to be able to see in the room. I had an outside wedding in november this year and by the end of it, we were in basically total darkness.

Hey! We share a date

We are doing a 3:30 ceremony

Cocktails, pictures and games from 4-5:30

Reception until 10

Maybe add an after party for the younger and interested guests?!?!?

It does seem kind of early to end at 10 but if you are asking your guests to arrive for an early ceremony it makes for a long day. Ours is a destination wedding in the mountains so we don't mind ending early. I anticipate our guests getting ready and traveling to the venue as early as 1pm..... that's a long day.

My wedding date is the day after yours, and I'm also in NY (Queens) and I've been having this same inner dialogue with myself about timeline! I am very happy someone else asked this question!

We have our venue from 9am-12am and we're providing our own alcohol (caterer is providing the bartender, don't worry everyone!) so there's no real concern from that standpoint, but we will need to pay extra for the DJ to stay longer if the party goes on until 11 or 11:30... So I'm guessing we'll end around 10-10:30, too.

We also don't have that stunning window scenario you do, and I wanted to get pics with FH post-ceremony with the sun setting behind the city skyline, so timing really is everything and this is a very stressful question!

Hey date twin! I think your timeline is fine! You can always invite people out to an after party at a local bar following the reception if you want the party to continue! A friend of mine did that and it worked out perfectly, she just had the DJ announce at the end of the night that she and her husband were going to be at the bar following the ceremony and anyone who wanted to join could. It was a good way to carry on the celebration while allowing some of the older folks to head home without feeling like they were ducking out early.

I think ending at 10 is ok and then you could add an extra hour if everyone is still having fun! My venue said you can add it on last minute

I would definitely talk to the photographer as well. While the pictures of the room all lit up look nice, it may not look as nice with photos of people and the ceremony. Also, my photographer mentioned that timing your ceremony around sunset means that you cant be running late at all because the sun sets quick so you could be in darkness pretty quickly.

On that note, I am getting married the same day and am planning my ceremony for 4 and then planning to have the photographer grab us from cocktail hour so we can still get some sunset pictures. Also probably ending the night between 10-1030 and if we aren't too exhausted we can always go to the bar afterwards with friends.

10pm is definitely a good time to end. However, you shouldn't base your entire wedding around the time the sun sets. Chances of you not seeing the sun actually setting, due to clouds or whatever, are more likely than not.