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Just Said Yes August 2018

Time between Ceremony and Reception

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Helene, on October 31, 2017 at 6:10 PM

I have a Catholic church ceremony (latest it can be is 1:30PM). What do you think of the following timeframe? Or is the time between ceremony and reception too long (~1 hour to 1.5 hours)? The hotel is about 15min away from both the church and the venue. The venue and church are 5 minutes away from each other. I expect people to drive directly to the church and then head back to the hotel to freshen up before the venue reception. If they do this then, I honestly see them only having 30min downtime, since another 30min is total travel time (unless the church ceremony finishes earlier).

11:00AM - 12:00PM hair and make-up

12:00PM - 1:00PM photos outside of the venue

1:30PM - 2:30PM ceremony at the church

2:30PM - 3:30PM people have downtime and can leave their bags at the hotel

2:30PM - 3:30PM photos outside of the church and any additional photos outside of the venue, if needed

3:30PM - 4:30PM cocktail hour

4:00PM - 10:00PM Reception

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24 Comments

Just Said Yes December 2018
Courtney · on November 1, 2017 at 11:38 AM
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As others have said, it is super normal to have a gap between the ceremony and reception if you're having a Catholic wedding. A gap also gives your guests time to check into the hotel (if they're staying). You can always make suggestions on your wedding website or on a card at hotel check in, where you can say places you'd suggest for lunch or other fun things to do in the area. As long as the gap is short, it's really no big deal. Asking guests to entertain themselves for 5 hours is one thing, but an hour or hour and a half is totally fine in my opinion. Just make sure you have times for ceremony and cocktail hour start on your invitations.
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July 1993
WED18 · on November 1, 2017 at 11:52 AM
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As a fellow catholic, I think your timeline is perfectly fine with the exception of getting ready time. Since your ceremony is before the usual check-in time at hotels, I actually think you need the gap to allow people to get settled into their rooms and perhaps change if they are wearing something church appropriate for the ceremony and something more cocktail(ish) for the reception. If your hotel has a shuttle, guests will want to drop off their cars as well.
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Devoted September 2020
Bulbasaur · on November 1, 2017 at 12:07 PM
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We're having a gap, which started as just a gap but turned into a necessity. Your timeline looks fine to me.
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Master July 1867
OGJessieJV · on November 1, 2017 at 12:08 PM
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A gap is not a necessity, it is poor planning, and poor hosting.
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