Late Morning Ceremony/Afternoon Reception

No advice but I say 1130... my fiance went to a wedding like that and said it was fun!

We were considering this but because we're having a Friday wedding it just wouldn't work out. I think 11:30 is a good time to start the ceremony. You don't want to have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get everybody ready and rush to have the pictures done.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with an afternoon reception :-). You'll save on food and booze as people won't be (or shouldn't be rather) getting sloshed that early in the day. I posted a thread like this a couple weeks ago and the girls said to just do a luncheon buffet and pocket the money saved for a nice honeymoon :-)

Our wedding/reception is going to go on a Friday, noon to 6. We're saving a couple thousand dollars, and it's much easier for our guests with kids or long car rides.

My wedding started at 10am we had the ceremony at the venue, we booked the venue from 10-4pm and it worked out good. It would have been nice to have a little more time but we didn't have any choice our flight was leaving at 6:30 that night

We are doing a Saturday afternoon wedding. Ceremony at the venue starting at 10:30am, cocktail hr from 11-12, lunch/dinner dancing and partying from 12-4. Then we are having an after party from 5/6 until the bar closes. We will see how it goes even at 10:30 we are not getting up any earlier than I would on a regular work day. Hair doesn't start for myself and the girls untl 7:30.

From a photographer's point of view, that's a hard time of day. The light isn't nearly as good as it will be in the evening, right before sunset. HOWEVER, if the venue has a lot of nice, open shade then it will be perfect for great photos. Remember, pictures is really all you get. You eat the food, smash the cake in each other's faces and drink the champagne...you put the dress in a box and hope some day your daughter will wear it (which she won't). PICTURES are the most important (I'm biased, I know) because they tell the story of your entire wedding day...quite possibly the most important day of your life to this point. I'd have the ceremony start at 11am so you have enough time for photos before. How long do ceremonies last? 15-30 minutes. You'll have plenty of time.

Thanks all for the advise and tips! I feel better about the idea of an afternoon reception now and will be sure to consult my photographer regarding photos for that time of day and talk to FH about perhaps having an after party.

The ceremony shouldn't last more than 30 minutes, and you don't want too much time before the reception. Also, I assume you are planning to serve lunch. You may not save that much money on the catering...

I'd start around noon. Also, understand that afternoon receptions don't have quite the party atmosphere that evening receptions have. They are still fun, but if that's what you want- spend the money for later in the evening.

My bigger concern would be the brides coming in having events later in the day. Would they be interferring with your event at all? Can you ask the venue to not let them in until 4? They may think they can access the venue at 9am too...

The difference in lunch vs dinner for food is about $8-9/person. That times about 120 people would save us about 1k. We aren't the big partying types, so I am thinking I'd rather save money by doing an afternoon reception and use the extra bucks for our personal party (the honeymoon!).

I will definitely talk to the venue about ensuring when other people have access to the building.

I was going to bring up the lighting thing but the photog beat me to it! The photogs here explained noon lighting like this to me, it is like bad dressing room light. Right above you, creating nasty shadows on faces. If you are doing the ceremony outside, check it out at the times you want to have the ceremony.

I’d say try to get in as many photos as you can (ceremony included!) before the sun starts shining directly down at 11/12. Otherwise you risk ending up with a lot of shadows! Also, your wedding day will go by faster than you can ever imagine. If you only have the space from 10-12, I suggest doing the ceremony as early as you can… maybe 10 or 10:30 so that you have enough time afterwards to enjoy the reception and have time to greet all the guests who came to wish you well. Then people will not feel so rushed and have a chance to say hello and have a snack.

We're doing a noon ceremony, reception from 1-5p. Taking our pics at 10am before the sun is too bright, and so we can enjoy cocktail hour with our guests.

I have to say, it always amuses me when photographers say, "All you have left is your pictures." Umm, no, you also have the fact you are married, which is kind of the point of the exercise. From my first wedding, the only photos I have are a few amateur ones. However, I also have 20 years' worth of memories, and two children.

From my second wedding, I do have photos. However, they are a lot less important in my mind than the rings we wear every day, or the ketubah (Jewish wedding contract) that hangs on our wall And all of these things are less important than the fact that after nine years together, we were finally able to be married.

(cont.)

Ok, back from my thread hijack: An afternoon reception sounds lovely! If you are getting the pictures done before the ceremony, you could go directly from the ceremony to lunch without needing to have a cocktail hour. The typical ceremony is about half an hour. Thus, if you had the ceremony at 11:30, you'd be finished by noon. That would allow an hour for your guests to get from the ceremony venue to the reception venue, and then lunch could start at 1:00.