Shuttle Bus Or No Shuttle Bus?

So you aren't doing a cocktail hour during the 1 hour 10 minute gap?

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I wanted to start the cocktail hour a bit later only because I think things might end a bit early otherwise.

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I guess it depends on your crowd, but if I was a guest I'd prefer the cocktail hour start 20 or so minutes after the ceremony so I didn't have to figure out something to do for 1 hour 10 minutes in between. We've only been to one wedding with a gap and more than half the guests skipped the ceremony.

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Ugh yeah I was afraid of that as well. It's really the timing of the church that makes things difficult but not much we can do about that. Everyone on my end of the family wants to end at 11 but the only way that's possible is if there's a gap so not sure what to do. Meanwhile my FH family thinks there's nothing wrong with a gap at all. Though I definitely see how it would be uncomfortable if I myself didn't drive in.

The church gap is fairly normal and not an excessive amount of time where you would have time to do a tour. I would let people figure their own way back and forth as it is only 10 minutes. That will give plenty of time for the people that dawdle to get out of the church and to the hotel. And if they are staying at the hotel they can relax for a little bit and things like that. I do agree that maybe moving cocktail hour up about 15 minutes would not be a bad thing.

Does the DC hop on hop off bus go by either place? That could be fun for guests...

Sounds like you're in a bit of a hard spot regardless. I think as a guest, I'd rather have the option of a cocktail hour starting immediately after the ceremony. I think with an hour to kill, unless there was something organized to do, I'd probably end up trying to find someplace to grab a drink just to kill time. Maybe saying something like "cocktail hour at 5:00, reception at 6:00"?

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You're right it might be a bit tight to do a full tour or something like that. It's tough because I feel like I don't like gaps but then it's not that big of a gap so that there's much to do. Basically, I'm trying to figure out a way to have the event not end too early but then not make it too uncomfortable for guests in between. I could see if I could add more time at the end of the event but I'm not sure if it'll be worth it. We have 1 hr cocktail hour and 4 hours of dinner and dancing. I'm not sure if, I add another hour if people will just leave or be tired anyway.

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Not sure but I'm definitely gonna take a look into it!

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Yeah, I think that might be more pleasant for the guests too. I guess I'm leaning towards starting the cocktail hour sooner then.