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Friday wedding timeline HELP

Knottie1433964877Knottie1433964877 member
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in Wedding Reception Forum
Hi everyone,
I am currently trying to nail down my timeline of my wedding, I nor my fiancé have ever been to a friday night wedding to see how the timeline works best. So my wedding is a friday night my reception cocktail hour begins at 6pm. We still want to have a church wedding, we expect just our wedding party and close family/friends to go anyways, the priest is pretty flexible as to what time but I am just wondering as to what time others would suggest from their own experience. I am thinking 3 pm ? just curious if anyone has any input that might be helpful, any input would be helpful !! 

Thanks in advance ! :smiley: 
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Re: Friday wedding timeline HELP

  • missfrodomissfrodo member
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    I had a Friday wedding up against Memorial day weekend.  99% of my guests took off work to come (only a few friends were local), and I think all my guests that flew in did so the night before.  I held in the back of my mind to not be too disappointed if more people declined my weekday wedding, as it would be more inconvenient for them, but honestly we had a pretty good acceptance rate.  That said, if people are taking time off work and traveling to see your wedding, they are going to want to see your wedding!  Depending on the length of your ceremony and how far away your church is from your reception site, I'd recommend starting the ceremony anywhere between 5 and 5:30.  You basically want to time it so that guests can go straight from the ceremony to reception, and as soon as they get there they'll be properly hosted with food and drink.  I've been to a wedding that had only a 1-hour or so gap for pictures; the guests went straight to the reception site, but there was nothing to eat or drink, and I didn't know any of the other guests, so it was kind of a huge bummer.  
    Have your ceremony as late as possible, with the reception to immediately follow.  Even if you think only close family will come, you're still leaving those people with a gap.
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  • charlotte989875charlotte989875 member
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    I also got married Friday of Memorial Day weekend @missfrodo. Church ceremony at 6, cocktail hour at 7 (thru were very close to each other) dinner at 8. If you do Friday I would start as late as possible to give in town guests times to get off of work.

    I also expected a lot of declines, but I'd say over 80% (or more, I don't really remember) attended so I wouldn't plan that most people will skip the ceremony. Finally, don't have a gap between your ceremony and your reception. Your guests should be able to go right from the end of the ceremony to the reception.
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  • MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
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    charlotte989875 said:
    I also got married Friday of Memorial Day weekend @missfrodo. Church ceremony at 6, cocktail hour at 7 (thru were very close to each other) dinner at 8. If you do Friday I would start as late as possible to give in town guests times to get off of work. I also expected a lot of declines, but I'd say over 80% (or more, I don't really remember) attended so I wouldn't plan that most people will skip the ceremony. Finally, don't have a gap between your ceremony and your reception. Your guests should be able to go right from the end of the ceremony to the reception.
    All of this. 

    Please don't assume that people will skip your ceremony. Many people find it inappropriate to attend the reception without the ceremony, and would skip your whole wedding if they couldn't make it to the ceremony. Don't leave a gap. Gaps are very rude.

    PP's timeline is great: ceremony at 6, cocktail/reception immediately following. If you're in a big city or somewhere that has bad traffic, ceremony at 7 would be even better. 
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  • Knottie1433964877Knottie1433964877 member
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    The church is maybe 30 minutes away from the reception site, So maybe 4pm church.. the ceremony I'm told will be about 45 minutes to an hour and then ample time to travel to the reception site. Would you guys take pictures before the ceremony then ? I heard a lot of people do the sneak peak prior to the ceremony, which I actually like the idea. 
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  • Knottie1433964877Knottie1433964877 member
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    Thanks for everyones advice ! Its much appreciated 
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  • ShesSoColdShesSoCold mod
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    Knottie1433964877 said:
    The church is maybe 30 minutes away from the reception site, So maybe 4pm church.. the ceremony I'm told will be about 45 minutes to an hour and then ample time to travel to the reception site. Would you guys take pictures before the ceremony then ? I heard a lot of people do the sneak peak prior to the ceremony, which I actually like the idea. 


    Then I would start at 4:30 - hour for ceremony, half hour to get to reception and then 6 cocktail hour.

    You can definitely take pictures before the ceremony and you should if you plan a lot of posed shots. 

    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
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  • levioosalevioosa member
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    With a 4:30 start time, expect a lot of people to skip the ceremony for the reception only, or a lot of declines. 


    image
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  • Ghostie625Ghostie625 member
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    Is your reception time flexible at all? If not then 4:30 is probably the latest you could do your ceremony, but if you're willing and able to push back your reception then it might not be a bad idea so you can start the ceremony later.

    If you can push your reception back to 7:00 then you could push your ceremony to 5:30 to make it a little easier for your guests.


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  • AW3380AW3380 member
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    Our wedding is the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.  We plan to start ceremony at 5-5:30 (depending on how long the officiant says the ceremony will be), cocktails immediately after the ceremony and dinner starting around 7-7:15.  We plan to have a first look and have most of the photographs done prior to the ceremony and only have a small amount to finish once the ceremony is over.  I am not holding any expectations regarding declines on our invites.  Sure some may decline due to work, but I also think there is a good likelihood that people will take off early since it is a holiday weekend. 
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  • kvrunskvruns member
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    I got married on a Friday last year and we had a start time of 6:30 to give people more time after work. Our venue recommended 5:30 or after.

    If you're having a 3pm wedding a 6pm cocktail hour doesn't make sense. If you have flexibility, I'd push the wedding back to 5 or after and then just have the reception following (including travel time of course), especially if you're getting pictures done beforehand you don't need that time necessarily. 

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  • ernursejernursej member
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    edited January 2016
    The more pictures you can do prior to the ceremony, the better. Your guests should be hosted without a gap. During the cocktail time, you would have time for a few pictures, but not a lot. I also had to think about my timing. I'm having a weekday wedding. The time line is as follows: 600pm (15 minute ceremony), 615-7pm (cocktails and appetizers), 7pm-9pm (dinner reception ... our venue allows us to stay until 11pm but knowing my crowd, people will head out shortly after dinner). We are having everything at one venue and no dancing. 6pm was what worked best for my VIPs and most of our guests. I've been to two other Friday weddings where the ceremony didn't begin until 7pm and 745pm. Good luck!
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  • LondonLisaLondonLisa member
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    I wouldn't start this ceremony anytime before 6. Frankly, anything between M-F 9-5 is really inconvenient. So Friday at 4 might as well be Tuesday at 11am (in that it requires to take a day's leave). A midweek afternoon wedding screams to me: "my wedding vision is more important than your attendance. I don't really want you there but send a gift". The least you can do is push it back so your guests won't have to take holiday and come after work. I wouldn't attend a wedding that I can't go to the ceremony. It's asking an awfully lot of your guests. Would you normally throw a party for your family and friends at 3 on a Friday?
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  • IamnowmrsjmsIamnowmrsjms member
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    OP-I replied to this post on the Rhode Island board and you for some reason never reply to the thread. Please put "XP" in the title of the thread so other knotties know this is cross posted.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    Knottie1433964877 said:
    The church is maybe 30 minutes away from the reception site, So maybe 4pm church.. the ceremony I'm told will be about 45 minutes to an hour and then ample time to travel to the reception site. Would you guys take pictures before the ceremony then ? I heard a lot of people do the sneak peak prior to the ceremony, which I actually like the idea. 

    In this type of situation, I would do photos before hand. You can do a first look and then do all the bridal party photos & family too before hand. Then after the ceremony, all you have to do is some photos at the church & then off to your reception to enjoy it with your guests. That would also allow you to push back the start of your ceremony as late as possible.
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