Time between Ceremony and Reception

How many people are gettin hair done? I would allow more time for hair and makeup. I have the same time frame as you and 4 bridesmaids and we are starting at 9am

Do not have a gap before your cocktail hour. Particularly since the venue is close to the church, guests don't want to drive back to the hotel and then back to the venue. And what about guests who aren't at the hotel but could be driving from further away? You need to entertain your guests the entire time from when your ceremony starts to your reception ends. A gap is rude to guests. If I were a guest and knew about the gap, I either wouldn't attend your ceremony, or wouldn't attend your reception. Move your cocktail hour up to start 10 min after your ceremony.

ETA: you are asking your guests to spend from 1:00 (if they arrive early, as they should) to 10pm at your wedding. That is way too long.

Cocktail hour should start at 3 p.m. at the latest. You need more than an hour for hair and makeup.

Cut the gap. People hate gaps. No one will say it to your face, but they will spend an hour grumbling about it at the hotel.

No one needs to freshen up from watching someone get married. It's not really a sweat inducing activity.

An hour gap is fine. If you're having a Catholic ceremony, your guests probably expect it.

I've never understood why people say their guests would want to "freshen up" between the ceremony and reception.

Your reception is also pretty long IMO. Your photos should be taken during the cocktail hour so you can ask the venue to bump your cocktail hour time up to 3:00 and shorten the reception by an hour.

We had a Catholic ceremony and offsite reception with an hour and a half gap and honestly it wasn't a problem. I think as long as people are aware of the gap it's not that big of deal. We provided a list of things to do/places to go in between on the back of our programs as well as on our wedding website we'll before our wedding date. I will add to what others have said though about hair/makeup you will need more time. Our ceremony began at 1pm and we started at 7am with hair/makeup. That was for 11 of us with about 30 minutes of photos in between salon and ceremony site.

What bags are they leaving at the hotel? I think a one hour gap is bearable. I think it's pretty common except your ceremony and reception location are so close together. Even still, it will take at least 20 minutes for everyone to exit, and get to the reception.

Perhaps let your guests know about the gap on your wedding Website. I was once Blisted for a wedding and accepted the invitation, only to find out after I accepted about the insane 5 hour gap between the ceremony and reception. It was also a catholic ceremony but everything was an hour away from where I lived.

I think if guests know they have an hour to waste then people may linger and talk outside the ceremony, so be aware of that if you want to take pictures.

ETA words

I only attended one wedding where there was a gap between ceremony and cocktail hour and it was a disaster!! People were hungry, kids were antsy, it was absolutely awkward misery. Some people were ordering food from next door and eating it in the lobby full of bored guests. Absolutely horrible.

I highly advise against any gaps! Move up your cocktail hour then

2:30-3:30 cocktail hour and that's when you take your photos. You could even stretch it to 2:30-4:00 cocktail "hour". Then reception immediately following cocktail hour.

"We had a Catholic ceremony and offsite reception with an hour and a half gap and honestly it wasn't a problem."

Well of course it wasn't a problem for you. You were the bride! lol

As a warning, you will get a lot of negative comments about your gap. People here feel very strongly about that.

No one, not even you will want to stay for a 6 hour reception. The older people will start leaving after you cut the cake. That seems to be the international signal for "It's ok to leave now". Three to four hours is plenty.

If you are determined that you will want to stay out later than that, have your bridesmaids spread the word that the after-party will be at the hotel bar, etc. That way, people that want to keep partying can do so, but no longer on your dime. But people with kids, tired feet or who've had too much can go home.

You need more than an hour to get ready unless all you're doing is brushing your hair and putting on your dress.

I need to be ready by 4 pm on my wedding day. We are starting hair and makeup at 11. That gives us 5 hours for 8 people PLUS driving time, getting the gowns, flowers, anything else we need.

One hour for hair and makeup is about three hours to short, if that means your entire bridal party. If it is just you, with simple hair, one hour works.

The hour gap between the ceremony and the reception is not good. You simply need to start cocktail hour earlier, or push your entire timeline one hour later, eliminating the gap.

Your guests will not need "downtime" between your ceremony and cocktail hour, unless you are having the ceremony in a sweat lodge or making them do spin class during the ceremony. ;-)

I think I deleted my comment, so I'll try again.

I just think it's important to explain that most Catholic Churches (including mine) have Mass on Saturdays at 4 or 5, and usually have a set time slot that they allow for weddings. The couples don't typically get much say in the matter. Therefore, if a couple wants to have a traditional evening-time reception, the only way to do this is to have a gap between their nuptial Mass and their reception.

ETA - It just seemed to me that maybe people would be less critical if they better understood the circumstances

We had a gap between our catholic ceremony and it was fine. We hosted people all weekend with a welcome dinner and Sunday brunch. It gave people time to drive around and explore the area and we gave people a list to do. It depends on hour cultural circumstances and where you have your ceremony and reception but I honestly think people make too big a deal of It on this forum.

I've only ever been to weddings with a gap (as until now they've all been church weddings) and yeah it sucks but I didn't even know until I joined this forum that there were weddings without a gap. Usually the ceremony was about 1pm and the reception didn't start until 6ish.

But that gap has always been full of grumbling from everyone. Even though I lived close to the church and could have gone home, it's just so awkward because then you're just sitting at home in your nice clothes? Not like you can really just go and get on with some sort of task then. So usually a bunch of us would go and grab some food (because the ceremony is at lunch time or you need to travel/get ready during lunch time) and hang out at someone's house or a cafe. Not ideal!

If there's a way to not have a gap, that would definitely be better. I would never be so rude as to only attend the ceremony OR the reception though.

I grew up Catholic and my entire extended family is Catholic, and this has never been an issue (and is known and expected) at the dozen or so Catholic weddings I've attended. Just make sure it's clear the wedding is at 1:30 and reception starts at X so if people can't do both, they know when/where to show up for the reception. If your crowd is mostly Catholic, they will all know and expect this.

Please don't have an unhosted gap. Honestly, I had never even heard of this before WE, but what you're essentially doing is putting the burden on your guests to entertain themselves so you can have an evening reception. If you want a church wedding, and they only do them at certain times, then you have a daytime or early evening reception. Sure some of your guests might like the opportunity to check into the hotel, but what about guests who aren't staying at the hotel- whay are they doing for that hour? Cocktail hour is for you to get your pictures done, not a gap.

Finally, FH and I went to baptism for the child of a dear friend (one of my BMs) where they had a gap between the baptism and meal/reception. It was super annoying and inconvenient. And we definitely complained about it to each other and to others. Neither of us said a thing to the hosts. Just like no one who cares about you will say it to your face. That's what WW is great for- well tell you what your guests are saying but won't say to your face.