(Closed) Help! Relay for Life is going to be within earshot of my ceremony!

posted 7 years ago in Ceremony
  • poll: What should I do?
    Leave it as is. You might have distractions, but at least people will be there. : (3 votes)
    15 %
    Move the ceremony up a little. If people can't make it, it's their loss. : (15 votes)
    75 %
    Leave the time as-is, but keep the ceremony really short. : (2 votes)
    10 %

    20 votes

    • Post # 1
    Member
    1559 posts
    Bumble bee
    • Wedding: June 2011

    I really need advice on this one. 

    Backstory:

    Fiance and I have been planning our outdoor wedding for months. It’s in a historic garden, and the venue is wonderful and thus far has been a pleasure to work with. 

    We chose a Friday night for our ceremony due partly to when the venues were available (Saturday was booked) and partly due to the cost- we saved quite a lot of money by doing a Friday. 

    EDIT: Our reception is indoors, at a location about 5 minutes from our ceremony venue. After the ceremony, guests who are not staying for pictures will be able to head over to the reception to hang out until dinner, or are welcome to explore the gardens before heading to the reception. 

    We planned to start the ceremony at 6:30 pm to give people time to get to the venue after work. 

    The issue:

    Then I get an email this morning. Relay for Life is being held the same day as our wedding at the fairgrounds right next to where our venue is located. The opening ceremony starts at 7pm. 

    Our venue has no control over the fairgrounds or their scheduling, but they are RIGHT next to each other. In fact, the fairgrounds parking lot is right across the street from the area we are using, and was where my guests were supposed to park. 

    I don’t care about having my guests park farther away, but I am REALLY worried about hearing the announcements/music/etc. from Relay for Life during my ceremony! 

    Possible solutions: 

    I spoke with our venue coordinator and she said that we probably wouldn’t have any issues until about 6:45, and that if I make the ceremony earlier it should be ok, but I have a feeling that people won’t come to the wedding b/c they won’t want to take off work. 

    We were planning to keep our ceremony to around 20 minutes anyway, and we are doing pictures immediately after in the gardens. I don’t care if we can hear them during pictures, but I do for the ceremony. 

    If you were in my situation, what would you do? Leave the ceremony as is, or move up the time slightly? 

    Post # 3
    Member
    1559 posts
    Bumble bee
    • Wedding: June 2011

    Anybody? 

    Post # 4
    Member
    6893 posts
    Busy Beekeeper
    • Wedding: March 2012

    I would move it up. A Friday wedding at any time is already going to be something people have to plan for, leave work early, go change, etc. I would actually move it up at least an hour. I used to work Relay for Life in our area and people will be milling around, setting it up, yelling directions, testing the mic… And you don’t want that during your ceremony at all.

    So I’d move it up to at least 5:30. MAYBE 5:45. I would definitely not go later than 6. I’m sorry that this is going to conflict for you!

    Post # 5
    Member
    870 posts
    Busy bee
    • Wedding: February 2011

    I would move the ceremony up a little bit. There is still plenty of time before the wedding for them to ask off of work or to leave a little early. If they really want to be there for you they will have no problems missing a day of work. I had people ask me MONTHS ago when my wedding was just to get their request in early so they can be sure to have it off. If your guests don’t want to miss work one day to be at your wedding then they don’t really care much. There will be some that might not be able to get out of it which you should be able to understand but if you have the destracion of Relay for Life so they can’t hear you read your vowes then you NEED to move it up. A half hour shouldn’t hurt it much.

    Post # 6
    Member
    1559 posts
    Bumble bee
    • Wedding: June 2011

    @AmeliaBedelia: Thanks so much. That helps a lot. 

    I know that the area that RfL will actually be going on (where the tents are, etc) will be a little further from the ceremony than the parking lot for their event, but if they have a loud speaker at all it will be heard. 

    Post # 7
    Member
    1559 posts
    Bumble bee
    • Wedding: June 2011

    UPDATE: I just wanted to add an update, and say that I have an amazing fiance. 

    After talking to him, he assured me that 5:30 would be just fine, and that if people decide not to come then that’s ok b/c we won’t have to pay as much for catering. 

    He’s sweet and keeps me calm and I love him 🙂 

     

    Post # 8
    Member
    5993 posts
    Bee Keeper
    • Wedding: May 2010

    I don’t care about having my guests park farther away,

    ouch  – as someone that often has to ferry around older members of our family you might want to warn some of the older guests so they can be dropped off while someone else goes park

     

    Post # 9
    Member
    1124 posts
    Bumble bee

    Great update! Having participated in Relay For Life a lot, I know how disruptive that would be (but hey, it’s for a good cause!).

    5:30 seems perfectly reasonable and I imagine people were probably planning on leaving work early to get ready and whatnot anyway.

    Post # 10
    Member
    1559 posts
    Bumble bee
    • Wedding: June 2011

    @eloping: Oh, oops! I didn’t realize how that sounded! 

    The parking lot for the fairgrounds was directly across the street from our venue (ie. super close) but the main parking lot where they will have to park instead isn’t very far. It’s less than a 2 minute walk. That’s why I said it didn’t bother me, because it’s really not very far away. 

    Good point about warning people, though. I’ll be sure to incorporate that into our directions. 

    The topic ‘Help! Relay for Life is going to be within earshot of my ceremony!’ is closed to new replies.

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