Well...here goes. The latest our church can perform the ceremony is 2 p.m. So it will probably be a little after 3 p.m. by the time guests exit the church, take a picture or two, and walk or drive back to the hotel/reception site. (FYI, the reception is at the hotel, which is a few tenths of a mile from the church.)
I'm not a big fan of gaps between the ceremony and reception, but I'm kind of at a loss here. I was thinking it would make sense to do the cocktail hour from 4:30-5:30, so that by the time guests part ways with the bar and file into the reception hall, it'll be close to 6--which, in my mind, is an appropriate time for dinner.
BUT, that schedule means there would be a 1.5 hour gap between the ceremony and reception. I'm guessing that some guests will use that time to check into their rooms, freshen up, explore the property, sit by the water, etc., but it's still an awkward amount of time to fill.
Any ideas? How would you ladies modify the schedule if it were up to you? Who knew that the timeline would be the most stressful part of wedding planning??