Weddingbee boards

Hi y'all!

My name is Kimmy, and I live in Orange County, CA. My fiance and I are getting married September 21, 2012 and have booked a yacht sailing Newport Harbor at sunset.

This is her: The Eternity of Electra Cruises

The boat is special & elegant and gives me the giddy awesome feeling of grandeur I wanted when looking for a venue... SO we booked it!

Now, I was working on my ceremony/reception timeline today and what I came up with was a 3 hour reception.

The Company outlines the sunset wedding schedule as follows:

4:30PM - Bridal Party & Immediate Family arrives5:30PM - Guests Arrive @ Dock5:45PM - Guests board yacht6:00PM - Yacht Departs Dock 6:15PM - Ceremony Begins 6:30PM - Guests head downstairs for cocktail hour / Bridal party & family take formal photos7:15PM - Grand Entrance of Bride & Groom 7:30PM - Opening of Buffet 8:45PM - Toast followed by First Dance, Father/Daughter Dance & family dances 9:15PM - Garter & Bouquet Toss 9:45PM - Return to Dock 10:00PM - Time for Honeymoon to begin

((We would probably run ours from 6:30-10:30 so we could have the September sunset!))

Now keeping in mind that everyone will essentially be stuck on the boat for a minimum of four hours (ceremony and reception included) does it make sense to out source the reception to my alma mater's quaint little chapel on campus 2 miles away from the harbor ($500 + $100-200 in decorations)...?

In the chapel scenario, we would have our ceremony at the chapel at about 4/4:30 and they would will give us 2 hours before and 2 hours after to take photos and decorate and there are sound techs and lots of help from the university which would be awesome.  Also having the reception elsewhere will give us 45 extra minutes on the yacht for dancing/drinking at the end instead of that time that would be spent in the ceremony.

OR should we add an extra half hour ($1050) or an hour ($2100) to make the reception a bit longer?

For a wedding ceremony, a cocktail hour & an hour for dinner, the 45 minutes left for dancing seems kinda short (that's only like 10 songs?!) but since we're doing it a little bit different by getting married on a Friday night & because we want to be married at sunset, it seems like it should be an alright amount of time AND we don't want our guests to get tired or bored. I don't want to keep people trapped on the boat for too long, but I also don't want it to feel too short and regret not adding an extra hour or just having the ceremony at the chapel and using the boat for a party.

What do you all think is an appropriate length of time given the type of wedding we're having?

We have a photo booth already booked (to combat boredom for those non-dancers!) and will have children there as well so I don't want people to be looking at their watches wanting it to end but I don't want it to go too quick and not be able to relax & enjoy it!

At the same time, I don't want people to get lost in between the ceremony & reception and miss the yacht departure.  Also, if we're at the chapel at 4:30, I don't know how we'll get the DIY centerpieces and etc we've planned for the yacht.

Here is the ceremony space for the yacht:

Which ceremony space do you think is prettier? I LOVE the view of the yacht but I really dislike the way the ceiling looks in photos! Like an office building! :X

I think the church is really sweet but I am not sure it fits my glamorous but elegant wedding vision like the yacht does and it might be incongruent with it all?  Also I dont know how we would be able to decorate both on time.  BUT the perk is, we could have a more substantial ceremony that isnt rushed and restricted to the 15 minutes allotted on the yacht... I'd love a song and a reading and make it personal and beautiful, not just "repeat after me" cuz I think the ceremony is important!

SOOO here's the POLL:

#1: Should we just have our photos as a first look at the hotel before, and when we get on the yacht at 4:30 so we can have a 20-30 min ceremony & enjoy our cocktail HALF hour with our guests (instead of taking formal photos), move onto dinner & have speeches while people are seated/eating so they overlap, then get up to the dancefloor & etc for the first dance and cake cut and the rest of the night dance mingle drink for maybe about an hour and then go back to our swanky hotel bar (6 miles away) for the afterparty hang out til about midnight/1AM.

#2: Spend $600-$700 ($500 rental fee + $100-200 in decor) on having our ceremony at the Chapel at 4/4:30PM, ceremony takes about a half an hour until around 5. Gives everyone a half an hour/45 minutes to get to the yacht docks that are about 2 miles away. Depart docks @6PM guests go RIGHT into cocktail HOUR, then dinner, then 45 extra minutes of dancing & drinking on top for a total of about an hour and a half of dancing, photobooth & other fun! Then the hotel bar after party gathering is still an option but I think people would be more likely to just go home because its been such a long process of wedding from 4:30-10:30PM so that bums me out a bit but heck I might be tired anyway! The details of decorating the yacht after the ceremony but before get there (my family friend is doing the flowers) and what I would do with that top level of the yacht if it wasnt set up for ceremony (games? maybe a putting green? IDK but it would cost more money!) The day would probably be more relaxed for me but would that be a long long friday for my guests? We're having 125 of our closest family & friends and I'm sure many of them will take half days or maybe the whole day off but I don't want to force them to.

#3 - Splurge & find $2100 (2nd job? lol) to make the yacht time from 5:30 - 10:30PM so that there can be more ceremony & dancing time and less time crunching stress and don't have an after party gathering. My fear in this is that people won't be able to make it to the yacht in time and we'll leave without them... also the sun wont be setting at this time but there is a noise ordinance on the harbor so music can't play past 10:30PM so that's our only option but at least we'd be able to get on the yacht @ 3PM to decorate and photos!

Ayeyayeyaye I'm sorry I got so wordy bees but I could really use your help in this hard decision making process.  Your advice really helps and I treasure the brides that have been there and done that so any and all testimony as a guest or having been involved in a wedding would be incredibly helpful!

Let's vote!

xoxox

I never thought I would say this..... but I want to have another wedding, and have it on that yacht - amazing!!!

As for my vote - I voted for option #1, just because I thought it was a good timeline and you didn't have to spend extra money (it's all about the budget!!!).  As well, if I were a guest, I would really enjoy that timeline.  There aren't really any big breaks where you have to find something to do, and maybe for some people 4 hours on a yacht is long enough. Honestly, it is whatever you feel most comfortable with, it is your wedding, so go with your gut feeling.

Please promise that you will come back and post pictures!!!!

@Miss Smurf:  lol you're so cute! Have a vowel renewal there! Its SOOO beautiful and yes I PROMISE I'll post pictures!  My search for a photographer is next~ want them to be amazing!

I think you make a good point about no big gaps... I am most worried about a lull in the excitement in between the chapel and the yacht and people getting bored or lost in the time in between and trying to find a little way to kill some time that takes TOO LONG and they end up missing the departure! lol
I guess the party can always continue for those who want it to, and those who have had enough wedding can leave.  I never really thought about those people who don't really like dancing and even the people who come for the meal and the centemental stuff but would normally leave early and let the "youngins" dance to the early mornings... Those people would be stuck with us whether they like it or not Thats not very nice.

But then again, the 2 lots of 15 minutes of buffer when departing and returning kind of bug me! I feel like 15 mins to leave the dock is a crazy amount to lose ESP when they only alot 15 minutes for the ceremony.  I guess I could just have a longer ceremony & not have formal photos after cuz we'll already have had that time. 

Thanks for looking out for our budget! hehe I just really don't want it to go too quick! How long was your ceremony & reception if you don't mind me asking?

For some reason the schedule came out all smashed together in paragraph form & I cannot edit it in my first post so I'll repost it a little more neatly.

The Company outlines the sunset wedding schedule as follows:

• 4:30PM - Bridal Party & Immediate Family arrives
• 5:30PM - Guests Arrive @ Dock
• 5:45PM - Guests board yacht
• 6:00PM - Yacht Departs Dock
• 6:15PM - Ceremony Begins
• 6:30PM - Guests head downstairs for cocktail hour / bridal party take formal photos
• 7:15PM - Grand Entrance of Bride & Groom
• 7:30PM - Opening of Buffet
• 8:45PM - Toast followed by First Dance, Father/Daughter Dance & family dances
• 9:15PM - Garter & Bouquet Toss
• 9:45PM - Return to Dock
• 10:00PM - Sparkler send off!

((We would probably run ours from 6:30-10:30 so we could have the September sunset!))

It just bugs me we lose 15 mins departing & arriving.  I wonder what its like! Also, I would want to have wireless mics for the ceremony so my guests are able to hear our vows over the yacht noise. We would have mics at the church- all sound is included in the package & my aunt sings and plays the piano & organ so she could do the music at the church but not on the yacht.

YIKES so many pros & cons!

It's a pretty split vote so far :S 

Any comments to go with your votes ladies? 

@Soladylike:  ooo you make a good point about seasickness but the yacht is supposed to be super stable and only staying in the harbor channel so seas shouldn't be rough at all... but guests might think it would be and might steer clear, you're right :\

I'm a little weary that people will think 6 hours is TOO much and get cabin fever on the yacht and jump overboard... lol That's one perk of having it on the yacht, same venue and no thumb-twiddling inbetween time...

@brenda.m.fields:  Yes I agree with what you're saying about having the ONE yacht venue, that was my first instinct cuz I was in love with getting married in such a special way and having people not switching locations is awesome... I just want a more substantial ceremony so I'm worried it wont be enough.

I should outline what I want for the ceremony and how much time it will all take so I don't have to worry... I imagine using 30 mins for songs and readings and the unity candle and the march of the bridal party but I guess a timeline would help me... that's DOUBLE the time alotted for on the yacht schedule... unless we skip the 15 mins of formal photos and use that for the ceremony, which makes sense.
Also, I sort of hate that there is 15 mins depart/arrive time taken from my 4 hours just for the yacht to leave the dock and enter back into it. Thats 15 mins that could be added to my ceremony first hand and then 15 minutes at the end that could be used for dancing! :[

It's your day! I say take all the time you need and stretch it out as long as possible with friends and family! Looks fabulous!

@Mrs McCain 2012:  lol thank you for that reminder :D  You're right but I'm just kinda worried about the 125 guests that may or may not feel captive on my yacht lol

The poll is seriously soo close its crazy!

For all you brides who are already booked~ how long will your ceremony/receptions be? two venues or one? and if two, how much of a gap inbetween?

I'm curious if this is a common predicament

I really love the chapel. And for me at least, that's the really important moment. The ceremony at the chapel sounds longer and just nicer in general, and closer to your heart :). I'd say go for #2, it's not that much extra but it buys you a lot of time and gives you time to party with your guests on the yacht!

@KimmySumShuga: My timeline was actually short compared to traditional weddings in our area, mostly because we had our wedding on a friday night. And we had our ceremony and dinner/reception at the same location.

5:30 - 6:00pm  Ceremony

6:01pm - Bar opens!

6:15pm - Introductions/Welcome

6:30 - 7:30pm - Dinner

7:30 - 8:00pm - Speeches, First Dance, Father & Daughter Dance

11:00pm - "Midnight Buffet"

8:00pm - 1:00 am - Reception

If you are having a lot of "older people", they probably will leave early. We had about 50 people over the age of 65.  I would say 75% of them left before 10:00pm, and the other 25% left after the midnight buffet.

We also did pictures before, which was my preference (LOVE the first look!!!).  A lot of people really liked our timeline, but most weddings in our area have a 2-4 hour gap.... and we live in the hicks so there is literally nothing for people to do!

@Miss Smurf:  Oh my gosh I WISH a 5:30-1AM wedding was considered short here! I'm worried about guests getting annoyed at an earlier start as well if we went with the chapel @ 4:30/5PM cuz we're booked for Friday as well... Esp cuz my pet peeve about weddings is people NOT going to the ceremony but STILL going to the reception. The ceremony is VERY important to me and bends why I want more time for it! 

I'm now thinking people might be more inclined to skip the ceremony if I have it @ 4:30/5PM on a Friday and the reception boarding start @ 6/6:15PM departing @ 6:30-10:30PM people might just skip what I consider to be the most important part instead of taking off work early & that would really irritate me! YIKES 

...but my aunt plays the piano & organ sings a stunning version of Ave Maria that would be amazing for our unity candle portion...

:,( I'm so confused!

@KimmySumShuga: I can understand being worried about people skipping out on the ceremony, especially on a Friday night.  We were lucky, because ours was at 5:30 and at the same location as our ceremony.  It would have been really obvious if people were trying to sneak in after skipping out on our ceremony.  We still did have a few people come late/miss the ceremony because of work, but the were very apologetic, and it was hard to be mad at people on our wedding day.

Is there any way you can "intice" people to come to the ceremony if they were thinking about skipping.  Perhaps making a note on the invitation that a bus/transportation will be provided from the ceremony to the boat. That way you don't have to worry about people getting lost along the way either!

Regardless what you decide, I am sure it will be an amazing day!

@Miss Smurf:  My Fiance has booked a flight (he's English and lives in London) for the end of the month to help me decide for SURE so that will help a lot!

Thank you all for your input! xoxox