Time between Ceremony and Reception

Last wedding I went to the bride and groom and party did about 1/2 to 45 min of photos after ceremony then through out the night out disappear 2 or 3 time to do just bride & groom pics so people weren't left waiting, we were dancing and drinking by this time so it was all good.

For me, this kind of wait time is par for the course, because I am Catholic, and I think I have only ever been to one non-Catholic ceremony. I don't have an issue with it because I would just find a bar close to the reception venue. There is nothing like getting a head start. ; ) Usually, if there is a bar close to the reception venue, you will find other guests there drinking the time away. It's no big deal. Now, if you were marrying in the morning, that would be a different story altogether.

My first wedding was a full Mass. It started at 2:30 p.m. My reception was not scheduled until 5:00. THere was a 20 minute drive. Guests arrived at 4:30, so my father just paid to have the bar opened. Perhaps you can go that route.

Can I just say as a recent guest of a wedding with the same exact schedule....

OMG I was so irritated that we had to wait so freakin' long between the ceremony and reception.

The ceremony was from 2-3...people wandered around the church til about 3:30 until we were kicked out because mass was starting. The reception wasnt supposed to start until 5 and the place was 10 minutes away. So we had 1.5 hours to KILL until we could even walk into the venue. So we ended up at the bar. We knew we were going to eat, so we didnt eat...just drank....a lot. We showed up a little buzzed ready to get our grub on only to find out that the dinner didnt start until 7!!!!!!! OMG thats when I got really irritated.

While we were sitting there twiddling our thumbs, the WP was out galavanting around taking photos while we were starving and drunk. Not a good combo IMO.

Sorry....had to speak my peace.

:-)

While as a photographer, I love having as much time with my B&G as possible, I really don't want to take them from their celebration any longer than necessary, and it will definitely irritate the guests if there's more than an hour to wait (or they have to drive forever to get there). Solution A: First look photos. Either you're on board with that or you're not, but there are a hundred reasons to do them, and keeping your schedule and your guests happy is high on that list. Solution B: Do as many formal/group shots as possible (bride with family, bride with bridesmaids, bride solo, etc.) prior to the ceremony so you only have to do a few other family and group shots afterwards, giving your photographer enough time to take care of the two of you. Keep your list of family/group shots to a minimum, and it won't be too much of a problem. Get your photographer involved with the scheduling so he or she can determine what is manageable in your time span.

It is just wrong to make guests wait for so long from Wedding Mass to Reception. It is an inconvenience and added expense for them to go find a place to go and either snack or buy cocktails. It is worse if they came from far and weddings aren't all about "me" (You) when you invite guests you must be a good host and consider their comforts.

Think of someone inviting you to a bbq and letting you listen to music for an hour than telling you to go somewhere for 3 hours while they get the burgers dogs and beverages prepared for the party. You can't stay there, but you need to come back for the main event.

I think it is just rude. That is just me. I felt bad making my guests wait 45 minutes until my cocktail hour started with reception to follow and I had an acoustic duo for them to sit and listen to in the interim.