Wedding Gap Timeline

Maybe location has to do with it? I'm in CA and I've never been to a wedding with more than about a 30 minute gap, even VERY Catholic weddings.

I have never done a wedding with a gap, and though I am usually in the same location, some of my couples rent gardens, museums, etc and then go to another location for the reception.

Although I understand that in certain church situations there is no way to avoid it, I'd pass on the ceremony or the reception. I simply don't want to dedicate 14 hours to a celebration, no matter how much I love you. Four hours? What do you do? Go home? Regroup? Come back?

Nope. And I'm in NJ, right outside NY.

It's usually a religious thing. I'm originally from NY and all but 1 wedding I've been to so far had a gap. My wedding will have about a 3 hour gap because the church we're getting married at only does ceremonies at 1pm and 6pm. 6pm was too late as guests wouldn't be able to get to the reception location until around 730 and we wanted a longer reception with a cocktail hour. Almost all of my guests are going to be from out of town so in between the ceremony and reception they'll go back to their hotels and change/freshen up. The few local guests we have all live within 10 minutes from the ceremony & reception locations so they'll just go home if they want. We don't expect everyone to be completely dressed up for the ceremony. I usually wear a nice daytime dress to ceremonies then change and fix up my hair and makeup for receptions.

Hi Angelica! Having a gap between the ceremony and reception is not the norm, and from my best understanding mostly occurs with Catholic weddings. I've heard from many Catholic couples who have said their church only does wedding masses at specific times, and if the couple chooses to have an evening reception they can end up with a gap in between.

I've only been to 1 wedding that had a gap (Catholic service), but the couple tried to minimize it as much as possible! There was only a 30 minute gap for guests between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of cocktail hour, and they had an extra long cocktail hour (1.5 hours). I was in the bridal party so we were taking pictures the whole time, but DH and some of the other guests grabbed a drink at a bar between the venues.

Personally I'd just think you'd lose energy and momentum as a wedding guest if there is a gap!

Basically every wedding I have been to has had a gap. Last summer was the first time I went to a wedding with no gap. My wedding will have a gap because me reception location is 40 minutes from the wedding ceremony. However I live in a small town so it's very common for there to be a gap and for the reception and ceremony to be in a different place.

As you've noticed, most people on here think it's rude to leave your guests with nothing to do.

I'm in the midwest and I've only been to one wedding without a gap (all were Catholic or Orthodox besides this one). In all honesty, as a guest, I prefer to have a gap. I like to have some time to be 'off' and not social and smiling for such a long time. I was much more exhausted after the wedding without a gap and wanted to leave the reception much earlier than usual. I've always considered weddings to be a full day commitment anyway.

I live in the Midwest, but I'm Catholic and gaps are pretty normal for the weddings I have been to. While I understand it, as a guest I definitely prefer no gap.

Most Catholic churches are strict about the timing of weddings in their church because most have a Saturday evening Mass. So that forces an earlier wedding time (usually around 1 or 2 in this area) but people don't want to give up their evening, dinner reception so they choose to have a gap.

Gaps can absolutely be avoided, and even if guests are used to them that doesn't mean they enjoy them.

I'm in the Midwest and have never been to a wedding with a gap. I would be so annoyed- what am I supposed to do for 4 hours? Walk around a city (or worse a suburb) all dressed up? Eat (then go to the reception and not eat)? If I go back to my hotel for hours between ceremony and reception, I'm probably not coming back. No one should have to dedicate an entire day to your wedding. I think its rude.

I've heard from people that it's a Midwest thing, like in certain states/areas. My sister's friend from Missouri came to visit her before I was married, she was asking me about wedding stuff and I told her I was worried that the gap between our ceremony and reception would be too long (25 min drive and 1 hour cocktail). She told me where she is from, they always have a gap of 2-4 hours. Before I spoke to her, I didn't realize gaps like that were even a thing--I had never heard of that before. She said she had never been to a wedding without a gap. She was very pro-gap! So it may be a regional thing?

All the Catholic (and non-Catholic) weddings I've been to only had the cocktail hour between ceremony and reception. I'm from California but I've also been to weddings in Hawaii, and it was the same there. I also had a Catholic wedding and we did not have a gap between wedding festivities; it went ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner/reception. So it's definitely not a Catholic thing, at least not that I've ever experienced. Sounds like a regional thing to me.

@Orchids, the worst gap I've ever been to was a VERY Catholic wedding in CA lol. Four hours. Mall nearby, but that's only entertaining for so long. It sucked.

Also, I'm in the Midwest. No weddings with gaps here. Mine ends up having a bit of a gap, but just because the reception venue is 20 minutes away. It will begin when people arrive though, so no waiting around.

I am in ga and never been to one longer than an hr and a half. I think anything over an hr is to long

I have never been to one that has a true "gap", only a small amount of time for traveling from.ceremony to reception. Now considering I used to live in small town South Dakota (I'm newly Montanan, I'm marrying into the state lol) there was almost always like a 20-30 min travel time if they did an outdoor ceremony since there is just so much prarie land to cover. Honestly a gap would be exhausting to me because I get a pumped up for the wedding ceremony and am ready to eat and party after! Aaaaand then go the fuck home at a decent hour lmao

I don't mind gaps. I've been to weddings with and without gaps.

I'm from NY and have never been to a wedding with a gap that large. I've also been to catholic weddings, and never had that large of a gap, at most 1.5hours which included travel to reception site, then an hour cocktail hour.

Our (Catholic) church was VERY strict with timing, offering services at 11:30 or 1pm. My priest is also my cousin, so I was able to push it to 2pm. Ceremony ends at 3, and cocktail hour starts at 4:45. I tried so hard to change all of that so there was no gap, but there's absolutely no way. There's not even another place to host that many people in the area :/ I'm very disappointed, and I know as a guest that sucks. The only consolation is guests will be able to check in or hit the hotel for a freshen up, or head back to their homes. Everyone does have a place to go, it's just not being hosted by me, which is what I'm disappointed with.

I grew up in southern Illinois and the reception was always right after the ceremony. When I moved to the Chicagoland area every wedding I went to had a gap of at least a few hours. Guests tend to change from their church clothes to evening attire for the reception.

One wedding I went to had a few hours gap, we didn't mind, we hung out with family in the hotel. In booking my own wedding, I had to choose between and hour drive between church and reception or a 3 hour gap. We went for the hour drive. It's not ideal, but with a lot of out-of town people, the early ceremony with the gap after would have been really difficult, when hotels don't let you check in til 3 or 4.

If people skip my ceremony because of the drive... oh well. Can't control that!

My wedding will also have a gap, the reception hall requires to have setup paid for in the rental. We can't set up the day before or even a couple hours before without paying for it. So as soon as the ceremony is over we paid for 4 hours before the reception start time to set up everything...including tables and chairs. I've been to weddings with time gaps like this as well normally for pictures in between and we didn't mind. The gap is on the invitation so everyone is aware of it. If we didn't like the time gap, then we don't go.

I'm in NY, and I've been to over 12 weddings, and only 1 had a gap - it was 2 hours and I hated it. Gaps suck ass.

Yea gaps are no fun. I've been to a couple weddings with gaps. One was only like an hour so we kind of just loitered for a half hour outside the reception space. But the other was 3-4 and we ended up at a bar..And I mean, there are worse things but I don't want to be hanging around drinking and end up drunk before the reception even starts.