Is 1 hour long enough for hiring ceremony musicians?

I think that is plenty of time. My pastor told me our cermony will be 45 minutes and only lasted almost 30 minutues.

I am doing the same thing. A friend from high school is playing the violin and her sister the cello. In all the books I have read, you should do about 30 minutes prologue- everyone getting there and getting sat. Then figure for the ceremony part where everyone walks in.

I think you have it down perfect!

Skyla, are you doing an hour and a half or an hour? If I do 30mins before people arrive and half hr ceremony, that doesn't leave any time for guests to leave. Unless I skew it towards 20mins before ceremony, half hour ceremony & 10mins after ceremony.

I am doing an acoustic guitarist for my outdoor ceremony. He said to do 1.5 hours so there is enough time for everything since most wedding run a few minutes behind schedule. That delay is usually not from the bride but due to guest since you cannot start until everyone is there and seated. Don't forget about the time it takes people to get up/ out of ceremony site and offer congrats (even if reception is at the same site). That takes up about 20 min too.

I had planned on doing an hour total, but now that you mention cocktail hour, I need to include that. My ceremony and reception are at the same site, so all people have to do is walk out of the chapel and they are going to be directed to the bar.

I would give a whole 30 minutes before the ceremony. My wedding is about 20 minutes outside of town, so I know people will want to be early. Plus it gives people (groom and groomsmens lol ) a heads up that there is 30 minutes till.

As far as doing cocktail hour, I am doing it so we have time to take the rest of our pics, we are doing " First look" where my FH and I are seeing each other before the ceremony for "us" time and to get some really good photos. This saves us from our guests waiting an hour to see us due to all the photos.

Your musicians may have a "minimum" and you'd want them there at least a half-hour before the ceremony so that they are not setting up and tuning up as the guests are arriving and being seated. You want the musicians already "in place" and playing when the guests arrive.

Thanks for the tips... I will proably just go for the extra half hour to play it safe. We're also doing pictures before the ceremony so that we can spend as much time as possible with our guests and enjoy cocktail hour (our reception is an hour shorter than your typical one).