Time between Ceremony and Reception

Why do the invitations say 4 if it's really 430?

Will your cocktail hour start at 530?

I would like it to start at 4 however my family is notorious for being late. Cocktail hour can start right after the ceremony, in the same location.

Please don't start the ceremony 30 minutes after the time stated on your invitations. This is so rude to your guests that know how to show up on time. Let your family know the ceremony will start without them if they're not on time.

First, put the actual ceremony start time on your invites, it's rude to your guests otherwise.

4:30-5:00 ceremony, 5:00-5:30 travel time, 5:30-6:30 cocktail hour means you still have a 1 hour 15 mins gap that isn't hosted.

This is considered rude to your guests. Either a) move the ceremony back or the reception up, or b) extend cocktail hour and serve more substantial apps.

Wait. Your ceremony and cocktail hour are in 1 location but the reception is elsewhere? That's not going to work unless you're providing transportation. The point of cocktail hour is to have a couple drinks and mingle. People will not want to get behind the wheel after drinking a bit, drive to another spot, park, and then wait an hour plus until dinner. Not a good plan.

It's about a 10 minute walk or 2 minute drive. I had planned for a cocktail hour with wine, water, hot water available for tea, and a hard lemonade. In addition there will also be d'oeurves kind of as an appetizer. There will be some music too. I just don't want everyone to be bored during the in between time. If the ceremony does actually start on time that would be fantastic, I just never get my hopes up with things ever starting on time

Well with that plan, people are definitely going to be bored. The travel time is only ten minutes? What are people going to do between 430-745?? They are going to a) leave because they're starving or b) get drunk.

Move the ceremony back or the reception up.

My advice is tell your family they have to be there at 3:30 (an hour before the ceremony). No exceptions. That gives a buffer for if they are always late.

TIme of the ceremony is the time on the invitations. Guests start to get ancey even if things are 10 minutes behind.

Also, cocktail hour needs to be at the reception site (if ceremony and reception are not within walking distance). People start to drink more heavily there.

To fill in our gap, FH and I are going to hang around the church and take pictures with family and friends. I think we would stand at the altar and have ppl called up in groups.. then the whole bridal party will go to an outdoor location for pictures, then head to the reception.

**Planning** for : ceremony : 2-3

Pics at church, 3-3:30,

Pictures outdoors: 3:45-4:45

Cocktail hour: 4-5 ( while we are out taking pics)

And reception will start at 5pm.

Reception hall is 5 mins from church and I am pretty sure things will start late or run later based on our crowd

So many problems.

1. Why weren't the logistics dealt with way earlier than now? You've already sent invites and you don't know the plan for the day???

2. Cocktail hour = One HOUR of COCKTAILS. It's the hour before the reception. At the reception venue. You can't do a three hour cocktail hour, and you can't do it at the ceremony site if it's different than the reception site.

3. You have a gap. And it's a big problem. What do you want people to do from 4:30 or 5 (depending on when you start) until 7:45? Again, that's three hours.

The ceremony starting on time has to do with you. If you are late, the ceremony will start late. If your family member is late, the ceremony will start on time, and unfortunately they will miss some of it.

You need to rework your timeline big time.

What the f*ck are your guests supposed to do for 3 hours???

If the invitation says 4, you need to start your wedding at 4. Period. Most of your guests will get there 30 minutes before the ceremony starts. If you start at 4:30, they will have been waiting for you for an HOUR. I would wonder why you were running 30 minutes late (is something wrong? did someone get cold feet?). If your family members are late, that's their problem! Sucks to suck, you should have been on time, sorry you have to stand in the back like a fool while you wait for the bridal processional to finish - that's my view on late guests

You need to move your cocktail hour up to 4:30 or 4:40 so that once you are finished with the ceremony, guests (who will most likely drive to the reception area) do not have a large gap. It sounds like your plans to provide food and drinks at the cocktail hour is fine, but the reason its called a cocktail HOUR is because its supposed to be an HOUR. Your guests will start to get bored, they'll wonder where you are/what happened to you, and they'll get DRUNK because they need to eat dinner.

Your wedding is very close and this is an emergency issue, you need to contact your venue immediately and get this reception moved up to start around 5:40 or 6pm at the latest.

This is where a first look would have come in handy.

To accommodate your family likely being late and not be rude to your guests, why don't you have a welcome refreshments and snacks set up? It'll allow guests to mingle and you can have either your DOC or a member of the BP announce when they should start taking their seats.

That gap between the reception and ceremony is still a problem though. The reception definitely needs to be moved up, especially since it's the travel time between locations is practically negligent.

Tell your family to come at 3:30, that way you can start the ceremony ON TIME at 4:00.

That is also a long gap, which will suck.

The cocktail hour should be at the reception location, not the ceremony location.

When you host a wedding, you're responsible for the guests from the start of the ceremony until the end of the reception. The gap is too long by far, and you'll need food/drinks for cocktail hour, which should be where the reception is. Cocktail hour should really be no longer than around an hour or you will have some very drunk guests.

It's really rude to make all of your guests wait 1/2 an hour because your family is chronically late.

The 4:00/4:30 thing doesn't bother me at all; all our venues recommend this. It's very common, and I can tell you that in most cases, telling your family to be there early won't change their lateness. I would have some little snacks and drinks set up; this is what our venues do.

But if you're done at 5:00 and you have cocktails right after, your reception should start at 6:15 PM. There should be no gap.

Why can your reception not start earlier? I'm so confused. Your plan is really rude.

I think it would make a lot more sense for the cocktail hour to start at the reception location - people will drink at cocktail hour then hop right in the car without eating? Doesn't seem like a great idea. Is it possible to switch the location of cocktail hour?