Will guests come on time or do we say something?

Most people know to arrive early. So I wouldn't worry unless you have someone who is chronically late to everything..remind that individual by word of mouth.

I wouldn’t start exactly at 530p anyway just to give time for people to settle down and flow in. So at least 5-10 min after

Most people understand to come to a wedding on time. I wouldn't worry about it.

I put my exact start time on there. I just figured if they show up late thats not my problem 😂 but I think in general most people are respectful and show up on time so it shouldnt be too much of a problem

Most guests arrive about 15 mins early. We’re getting married at a hotel in Vegas and they’re pretty serious about starting on time. Otherwise the contact says that they “Reserve the right” to charge a $200 late fee if the ceremony starts more than 10 mins late (that’s nuts!). Our ceremony is at 5:30pm. So on the FAQ page of our website, one of the questions is: “What time does the ceremony begin?” For the answer, I explained that the ceremony will begin promptly at 5:30 SHARP!

If you have a wedding website that lists out the events in more detail, that would be a great place to say something like “The ceremony will begin at 5:30. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early”

Since you put 530 now you can give ppl a grace period of 10 to 15 mins

We started promptly at 6 (which was the time on our invitations) everyone was seated and ready to go. People know that the time on the invitation is the actual start time of the ceremony - and no one wants to be coming in while the bride is walking!

That's a great question! If you have a Wedding Planner she would be the one to address people where to sit and sometimes your venue would have some signage that would take place then I would put a RSVP inside ur invatations if you haven't sealed them. Make your guest aware of what time the Actual time is if they arive within 15 min I would say it should be ok.

Almost everyone will get there on time. There are bound to be stragglers no matter what you write on the invite. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Sometimes a guest or two will stroll in late, but typically from my experience things always run a little behind schedule...always, usually due to the bride and groom being ready.

Traditionally you put the exact start time of the ceremony on the invitation, so you did it just right! Of course the day of you may start five or 10 minutes late in case some key people aren’t there yet. But I wouldn’t stress it

Most people arrive 15-30 minutes prior to the time listed on the invitation. So you did the right thing by putting the wedding start time on your invitation.

In my opinion, people understand that the ceremony will start at the time on the invite. I think it's fine to start 5-10 minutes late but any later is rude for guests. We went to a wedding 2 years ago that said 3:30 PM ceremony time on the invites. So we showed around 3:15 PM. The ceremony didn't start until 4:00 PM and we were both super annoyed with the ridiculous wait time.

I would mention the start time is the START TIME to guest who normally are late or are always super early. If you have any guests like my dad he would show up at 4:45 for a 5:30 wedding and my sister will show up at 6 lol. You know your crowd better than anyone else.

My FMIL wanted me to put the start time as 30min earlier which I thought was just over the top and like you I just figure that people would arrive even earlier if I didn’t list the proper time and then they’d be waiting for 30+ minutes.
I do have a wedding website and I did say that the ceremony starts right at 3:30pm
I just don’t want to say it starts earlier and then people are confused when it doesn’t start at the time it was listed on the invite.

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I am part of those early people, my FH is the barely cutting it on time guy and everyone else is late lol

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That's ridiculous!! So, then the people who are always on time to things get punished by having to wait even longer?? Is she one of those people who is late everywhere? That's more about respecting others' time than anything else. Put the actual start time. It's unfortunate that some may be late, but you can't worry about that. I like all of the suggestions for FAQ and wording on your wedding website. You can spell it out there, like, hey if you're late, we're starting without you! lol, of course nobody wants to do that, and you can see how it goes. But I'm on time for everything, if not early. My wedding will start on time, regardless of who has/has not arrived to witness it.

View Quoted Comment Wow! That’s just a punishment for people.


I personally am punctual to absolutely everything so I would be annoyed by such an early time listed. It’s why I didn’t put an earlier time to begin with because I figured people would come early (despite my panic that I should’ve done just that) but 30+ early is ridiculous!

View Quoted Comment She is very often late to everything and I’m very often early to everything hahaha. She is extremely sweet though I absolutely love her so I just explained to her that I’m putting the actual time and people will know to get there early, and she didn’t push back at all. I’m honestly not there to babysit grown adults to make sure they get to an event on time.