Post # 1
Member
111 posts
Blushing bee
we are creating our own ceremony (interfaith Catholic/Jewish with a Deacon and a Rabbi), so we have a bit of flexibility in the length of the overall ceremony. I don’t want it to be TOO short so that my Catholic relatives find it weird, and I want to “get my money’s worth” in the pretty chapel, but I also don’t want to have to deal with figuring out transitions for the bridal party to go sit in the pews and then Maid/Matron of Honor and Bridesmaid or Best Man stand up to give rings, etc, and I don’t want to have us (bride and groom) have to sit during parts of the ceremony either.
We will be having 2 readings (they aren’t very long) and the Deacon and Rabbi will both give brief homilies (think like toast length speeches, not a long elaborabe homily!), so for both of those things I don’t think it is necessary that we be seated, we can just stand and turn toward the podium for the readings.
I have only ever been to weddings that were like 10-15 minutes long and they stood the whole time, or Catholic ceremonies that were over an hour with a full Mass, and then obviously we did all the stand/sit/kneeling. So I’m just not sure how long is reasonable for us to be standing and ask our bridal party to stand too!
What do you think?
Post # 3
Member
3977 posts
Honey bee
I think more than half an hour is pushin it. It’s pretty expected to stand for at least 20 minutes or so, though you should take into consideration your BM’s shoes.
Post # 4
Member
633 posts
Busy bee
We had our whole bridal party stand for about 30 minutes during the ceremony. All in all they were really on their feet a lot longer because our ceremony started at 4:00pm and went until 4:30pm, but my girls had to walk from my room with me at about 3:30 and didn’t get off their feet until after photos when the reception started at 6:00pm. These are things to remember!
Post # 5
Member
111 posts
Blushing bee
now that some people have voted, I’ll let the cat out of the bag of how long we are thinking that the ceremony will be– we are aiming for 30-35 minutes.
I will check with my bridesmaids about their shoes. good point!
I think it will be reasonable, but I don’t want people to be uncomfortable. it’s air conditioned, so it’s not like it’s gonna be unbearable, but still standing in one place can get annoying after awhile.
Post # 6
Member
13096 posts
Honey Beekeeper
Every wedding I’ve seen that was anything except for a full Catholic mass, the bridal party stood the whole time. I think you’d be absolutely find for 30-35 minutes!
Post # 7
Member
312 posts
Helper bee
I have been to catholic weddings where the wedding party did stand for most of the wedding which tend to run long. So it is do-able but I would make sure the wedding party is in comfortable shoes in that case.
I say that I would be comfortable standing for about 30 minutes or so, otherwise you’re party will start to tune out and just wonder when the wedding will be over.
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