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Hi Bees,
I have noticed that a lot of wedding ceremonies seem to be taking place later in the day. Anywhere from around 4pm onward. I was just wondering how many other brides are also doing later ceremonies. I was originally planning mine for around 1 or 2pm, with the concern about the guests between the end of the ceremony and the reception. Is this why most couples are being married later, to avoid the long break between ceremony and reception?
I'd love to hear what other couples are doing and what their reason is!
Thanks in advance..
Our ceremony is scheduled for 3pm. We're having drinks and finger food served straight after the ceremony for guests, and we're having our photos taken during this time. The reception is planned for between 5:30 -6ish. We'll probably play it by ear depending on how long our photos take. We're a bit lucky in that our ceremony and reception are all happening in the same venue - we're having a garden wedding too, so our guests can have drinks and something to eat and then have a wander around the garden. Hopefully a 3pm ceremony means that we have plenty of time to get ready without rushing, although the closer it gets I'm not so sure about that!
We're thinking about having our wedding around 2pm. That way our guests will have time to check-in at the hotel and such, while we're taking outdoor pictures. I want to have a full day to celebrate so I'm all about an earlier ceremony.
We are calling the wedding for 5pm (short 20 min ceremony) then group shots at the ceremony site, followed by B&G photog session on the rocky shoreline/tidepools. Reception will likely happen around 7pm with guests at cocktails between 530 and 7pm.
Reason: #1 we wanted sunset photos on the shoreline and #2, the heat backs off later in the afternoon and the tradewinds pick up (ceremony is outdoors)
Ours was at 2 pm. We had a full Catholic Mass so it was long. Cocktail hour started right after Mass (with about 20 minute travel time to the reception venue) and dinner started around 5:30/6 pm (I think - it's all a blur!) Our reception went til about midnight (when they brought up the lights and kicked us out - most people were long gone by then!)
@Miss Sparklespaniel: We are really fortunate to have our Ceremony and Reception in the same place also! The Church has a gorgeous Hall right downstairs. This made me consider having our cermeony around 3pm also. That way, as we do photos, the guests can go downstairs and have cocktails and appetizers. I just always imagined having my wedding at 1pm. But that really seems to press for time. You just know, that a million things come up that delay the process.. I also wanted it earlier as all the photographers said at that time the sunlight will be perfect. But who am I kidding, our wedding is in raining Vancouver in February! There won't be any sunlight! 
@Jac: I completely forgot to consider the hotel check in for guests. I think most will fly in on the Friday night, but who knows! They may need time to do that... hmm, thanks!
@Okole Maluna: I like the idea of the reception starting later on. As I said in another thread, I am really concerned about how to keep our guests entertained for 6 or more hours. 
I just know, from hearing from other brides, that things NEVER go, just as planned. I also know you can't please/look after, everyone, unfortunately. But I also know my FI hates rain/dark dismal days. Which is what worries me most about the time of day. I definitely don't want him feeling miserable/rained in on his Wedding Day! It is a bummer we have to have it in February, but for the sake of having everyone we love make it, that is the sacrafice we have to make. Also, with my work, it looks like the wedding will be on my birthday now.. Ahh!!!
@AnamCara: Did it seem like your guests were having a good time? With the reception going on a bit longer, what did you have to keep them entertained? Just DJ, toasts, those usual things? I just worry about what to do for hours and hours...
Our church ceremony is at 1pm and reception starts at 5pm. The church we wanted to get married at has confession and mass in the early afternoon so we had to get married at 1pm. We didn't want to start the reception right after, we wanted it at night so we extended cocktail hour by another hour to start at 5 instead of 6pm and my parents are hosting a light fare at my place. All three locations are within 3 miles of each other. I also provided a list of activities in the area for those who rather do something more active. During the time between the church and the reception, we will be taking pictures.
In the end, for us it was about having options and whatever they do is up to them.
Good luck.
WE're having both the ceremony and reception at the same site (a restaurant). It's also on a Sunday. Because of the SundayThe ceremony is about 20 minutes, then I figure we can do pictures while gusts mingle, find seating, eat appetizers. Then dinner and a full reception ending around 7 or 8. That way local guests can get home at a decent hour and get to work the next day.
Ours is at 1, BUT thats because we are having it in the Bahamas (ceremony only) and the resort only allows them until 2 or 3. I also wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get to the town hall and do stuff for the rest of the day
Ours is at 1PM. We have older family members and 1PM does not make them get up super early and they will not be driving back home in the dark.
Ours will be at 6 PM. We decided this time because in Georgia, in August, it is VERY hot and we hoped that by pushing it back to 6 it will be a little cooler!
We're starting our at 6 so that it'll be cooler also (it's an outdoor ceremony). Also, since our reception and ceremony are at the same location, then it can flow right into cocktail hour and dinner without a space of time in between where the guests have to figure out something to do until the reception.
We did ours at 3:00 pm. Here are our reasons:
Ours is a brunch wedding, so ceremony will probably be at 11:30am. It will be short, 20 minutes at most.
Our ceremony is at 7pm, we timed it around sunset (Beach wedding). 7 -730 ceremony, 730 - 830 cocktail hour (sunset is around 840) 830 - 12 reception
Ours is at 4. Our venue requires we end the music by 9 and be out by 10. We figured 2.5 hours of dancing and an hour for dinner, which makes dinner at 5:30, with an hour of photos before that. So, half hour ceremony starts at 4. Also, from the morning, we figured set up everything starting at 9, have lunch, do hair, get dressed. By that time it will be 3:00. So, ceremony at 4.
Too early and there would be a lot of milling around before dinner. Also, we couldn't fit in set up and hair appointments. Too late and all the families wouldn't stay for long and would take their kids home.
Ours is at 12:30 mainly because of budget. It was cheaper to have a lunch reception than a dinner reception. In order to get the lunch price, food has to be served before 2.
Also, we are driving to our honeymoon destination (FI's idea) which is an hour away so we wanted to leave plenty of time to drive and not be tired.
Ours is at 5:30. We're doing ceremony and reception at one venue so there is no travel time between, and I didn't want more than an hour between dinner and the ceremony. Also, we only have the venue for 5.5 hours total and to me 11pm seems like a better time to end a party than 10pm.
We're having ours at 2pm because that is the absolute latest early time in the day in which we can get married at our church. The next "earliest" time was 7pm! :O Our church runs the largest soup kitchen in Milwaukee, and during the soup kitchen prep hours until the kitchen closes (3pm-7pm) they don't allow events, weddings, etc. to happen on the grounds. But my FI and I both passionately support the soup kitchen and the misson of the church (to offer food, clothing, medical care, and shelter to the homeless and poor) so having to start earlier then we'd hope is fine by us! Part of our donation to the church was to ask our friends and family to bring much needed food, clothing, and other household items to the church to donate the day of our wedding. We plan to pledge money to the church and the soup kitchen along with bring in some blankets for those in need.
Ours is at 3pm. Mainly that's when my mom wanted it and I didn't really care so it was easier than listening to her complain. But it also allows for plenty of time to get ready, a short ceremony, pictures, and then dinner, drinks, and dancing to follow. Plus out ceremony and reception are at the same site.
Our ceremony will start at 3 p.m.
I was originally thinking 3:30 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., but after talking to our minister realized taht 3:00 p.m. would be better for the following reasons:
(1) The ceremony will take about 40 minutes and we will need time afterwards to get the wedding party into the limo and off for photos - so probably won't be out of there until 4.
(2) We want to reception to start at 5:00 p.m. (for our cocktail hour) and having the ceremony at 3 will give us enough time to get photos and still show up toward the end of the cocktail hour.
(3) It's October and will be getting dark considerably earlier than it is now, so we wanted to get photos and then be seated in the dining room before sunset, as the views at our venue are beautiful and we don't want people to see nothing but darkness!
We had our ceremony at 5pm and then went right into cocktail hour. This was possible since we had our ceremony and reception at the same site. We had seperate rooms for everything so the transition worked well. As for photos, we did them before our ceremony and did some extended family shots during cocktail hour.
Our ceremony is at 5 because our venue (where we're having the ceremony and reception) is only available from 5-10.
Ours is at 11:00 AM. We're having the ceremony and the reception in the same venue. They told us we could either do an evening wedding (with the ceremony starting at 5:00 PM and no limit on how late we wanted to stay) or a day wedding (where we'd end the reception at 4:00 PM). The day wedding package fit our budget better, so we decided on that and worked backwards from the 4:00 PM end time.
Ours is at 4pm on October 29th. We chose this time because we want to get married outside and since daylight savings is the next weekend, we wanted to make sure we had enough light.
Our Ceremony is at 5:30 PM> I want the mood to be set , for the Reception, with candlelight. I also am not a morning person, so I don't want to have to get up super early and still have time to get things done that morning. We also want time to take all guy/all girl pictures before the wedding. We are also a one venue wedding/reception.
Our venue is outside, so we opted for a sunset ceremony on the beach, followed by a cocktail hour. Our reception site (next door, walking on the beach) is available starting at 7, so a 5:30 ceremony time was perfect.
Our ceremony will be at 3:30 pm. The reception will begin at 5:30. They are only about a 20 minute drive apart. Cocktails will start at 5:30 and dinner will start at 6:30. The ceremony will probably last 45 minutes. FI is not a morning person! LOL and this allows us to take our time to get ready.
Ours is at 1pm. Like others we want it to be a full day thing. Also we want time in between our ceremony and reception to get lots of pictures in. Our guests will probably just go out for lunch or check in hotels, etc during this time. It's pretty standard around here. I think the good thing about having your ceremony later though would be that majority of the pictures will be in the evening which in my opinion produce the best pictures.
We are doing a 5:30 ceremony, in part because sunset should be around 7:20 that day, and we are hoping to maybe get some after ceremony sunset pictures. The ceremony will be short. The reception venue is about 2 miles away, and cocktail hour will start around 6:15. Hopefully we'll get to the reception venue by 6:45, and then dinner around 7 ish.
Although, as I'm writing this I'm wondering if a 5pm ceremony would be better....
We're having our ceremony at 5pm in order to avoid the heat. I wanted to have it later but the church has something else scheduled from 6 onwards.
Our ceremony starts at 3:30. The cocktail hour starts at 5.
We wanted enough time to get ready and take some seperate photos before the ceremony, but not so much that there was a huge gap between. The sites are roughly 5 minutes apart and we only have an hour for photos, but since we're doing a day-after shoot, it doesn't matter.
Ours is at 5:30pm. It worked best to have the ceremony in the late afternoon because our ceremony and reception are all in the same location. We will have a 30 minute ceremony and then guests can walk over to the cocktail hour and 4 hour reception.
We're getting married on New Year's Eve, which is on a Friday this year. Our ceremony will start at 7PM and the reception will go until about 12:30. We didn't want it to be earlier because we want people to make it 'til midnight and we wanted to give people enough time to get through traffic which might be bad that evening.
If I was getting married on a different day, we might do something like 5PM. I think that works out well for a dinner reception. I *hate* gaps between ceremony and reception and think that if you are trying to do a dinner reception, you should try to avoid having your ceremony much earlier.
Our wedding ceremony is at 2:00p.m. Cocktail hour at 3:00p.m. and dinner reception at 4:00p.m. I wanted to make sure we would not have an issue of losing daylight for the outdoor photos after the ceremony, since our date is in the Fall and a week before daylights savings. Plus the light will be shining through the church windows during the ceremony.
I also did not want to do an early morning wedding, because I wanted the reception to go into the evening and our venue has beautiful lighting then.
We're getting married at 5:30, because we're having the ceremony at a museum that closes at 5pm. I had never been at an evening wedding in my life until this year so I had imagined a daytime wedding, but it seems like evening is the thing to do now.
Ceremony starts at 3:30, I wanted an evening ceremony, but our reception venue is only open until 9:30pm during November...
Our ceremony will be at 4 pm. It will be a full mass so it won't be over until 5pm and dinner starts at 6. We are doing a first look and all the photos before. I really wanted a small time gap between the ceremony and reception because my entire family will be traveling to TX for the wedding and I didn't want them to have to worry about finding something to do for hours in between.
Ours is at about 5:00 PM. We didn't want or need a gap between ceremony and reception. And honestly, I just worked backward from the start time of my reception, which is 7:00 PM.
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