How can we entertain our guests for 2-3 hour gap between the ceremony and reception?

Set up games?! Photo booths, like a long cocktail hour/s

Honestly, even with activities I would imagine people will leave early. If they're doing stuff from 1-11 that's a long long day. IMO, you have 2 options. Have the early reception (this would be top choice IMO) or just let guests figure out the gap on their own. By hosting them the whole time, I think you're going to get a lot of people leaving as soon as they eat.

I agree with LB. I don't mind having long gaps. If I know other people attending the wedding, we just go and grab some drinks and hang out somewhere. We're grownups, we can occupy our own time. But if you trying to keep people around and host an event from 1-11, a lot of people might leave after dinner.

If I were a guest, I would not attend a 1 PM - 11 PM day unless I was a bridesmaid and that included getting ready. That's way too long. I've been to plenty of Catholic weddings that had a mass at 1 PM or 3 PM, then a reception 2-4 hours later. It was a pain, but we knew about it in advance so we just either went home (or to the hotel) to take a nap or get lunch or site see or relax or go shopping or whatever, then headed back. We also attend reception & ceremony, but I've noticed at these split events timeline wise, lots of people skip the ceremony and just attend the reception.

View Quoted Comment I agree with this. 1 to 11 is a long time. Especially after mass. I would honestly be happy for a little break. That said if you want to hold the reception right after mass, it sounds like you have the venue all day, so I would plan to keep time between reception of ceremony short and plan activities for after dinner to keep the party going.

Gaps are rude. Rather than trying to figure out something to occupy your guests before the reception, plan an after party for those who want to continue celebrating. It can be as simple as heading to the nearest bar or getting a meeting room at a hotel. The vibe and flow of the party will be far better, and easier to maintain.

View Quoted Comment I agree. I’d rather attend an earlier reception.

Personally, my hubby & I wouldn’t attend a wedding with a gap unless my BFF or sibling. It’s too long of a day.

I don't think you have to entertain people if you do a gap. They can go home and take a nap (or grab a drink) and then show up for the reception ready to eat and dance!

View Quoted Comment Completely agree with this. Your wedding activities shouldn’t take up to 10 hours of my day. Have a cocktail hour from 2:30 to 3:30 and begin your reception. If you want a “party all night” vibe, have an after party.

View Quoted Comment I totally agree!
If I attended a wedding that had a 2-3 hour gap, I don't think I'd return for the reception. That's just too long to find something to do to occupy myself.
My suggestion would be to have the early reception and look into hosting an after party.

View Quoted Comment My husband and I almost didn't return for a reception once. We left the church and went home to an empty house, the kids were with Grandma and Grandpa. Let's just say that staying in bed and ordering a pizza sounded much better than getting dressed again and heading back to the other side of town. My husband recognized that is would be politically expedient for his career to go back. A lot of people didn't go back, and once the cake was cut many up and left.

Host a cocktail hour 2:30-3:30, and then have a reception. Those who want to leave after dinner can leave, you can do a fun sendoff around 7:30, and then come back for an after party until 10/11 for those who want to stay. I honestly can't imagine I'd stay at any wedding that long unless it was my best friend or my brother. I'd be tired an hungry

I think you are making a big mistake by having a gap and you will lose lots of your guest. People will go eat change clothes and relax. They will not come back out. If you MUST and that's a big MUST have a gap, I would say host a cocktail hour for your guest and say something like have a snack go unwind because tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999!!! (not that cheesy but you get it) See you 8 for dinner, dancing and drinks.

even better would be to have some buses or trolley's pick up your guest and take them to the reception. Good luck

Almost everyone in my family has had a wedding like this with a "catholic gap" in the day. If most people are local they will either go home for a bit and then come back. A few times though we have skipped the ceremony and only attended the reception or vice versa because we weren't able to block off an entire day. This isn't ideal and I don't like doing it, but sometimes it can't be avoided because of work/kids etc. I'd say just be prepared for that possibility. I wouldn't plan anything in between and just let people sort out their own plans.

View Quoted Comment

Hi Chelsea, thanks for your response. The entirety of our guest list is out of town. The groom's side, though, will all be getting hotels, etc. so they would have that to go back to if necessary. However only some of the guests from my side of the family will only be getting hotels. Just curious, would this affect your answer or suggestions? Also, since you have experience at these types of weddings, would you recommend just making the ceremony more intimate and inviting more guests to the reception to avoid all of the guests having that gap? Again, thanks so much for your thoughtful and respectful response!

Hi Grace! I live in the suburbs and most of my cousins got married at their local catholic church in the early afternoon with a gap and then reception starting at 5 or 6 in the city (about a 30-45 minute drive for most of us). We usually would just go home and hang out in between since there isn't really enough time to do other things and you're already dressed up. When I was younger (late teen/early 20) attending older cousins weddings I thought this was just how all wedding were haha.

I think since most of your guests are getting hotel rooms anyway they'll probably just go back to their room in between and wait for the reception. My one cousins wife was from about 2 hours away and they got married in her church there and had a reception about 30/40 minutes from the church (with a 2 hour gap). We went to the ceremony and then stayed around a bit after chatting with family and then just headed to the reception site (it was at a mountain lodge). We just kind of hung out for a bit in the car and then wandered inside after a bit. It was not the most convenient arrangement, but honestly it was fine and I didn't hear anyone complaining about it. It was a well hosted reception with great food, drinks and a live band and that is what I remember the most about it!

If I was you, I would still invite all of your guests to both and let them sort out their schedule on their own.Make sure the times are very clear so no one is surprised by the gap the day of. Start cocktail hour at 5 or 6 like you wanted. In all honesty, while it isn't the most ideal situation, I don't think a two hour gap is that big of a deal, especially if it is followed with an amazing, well hosted reception!

(also, I've been to probably about 20+ of these kind of weddings and have only had to miss the ceremony twice and the reception once!) Hope that helps! Glad to share any advice/input about my experience with it

Could you share your venue? Getting married at the same place with a similar situation