Time of ceremony?

SarahDRS

What time should I set  the wedding ceremony to begin? Things to consider: We will have a good amount of people traveling from about four hours away. I'm thinking about serving lunch or hors d'oeuvres at the reception. The reception will be held at the same place as the ceremony. We are also planning on staying in the area that night so we will not have to travel far once everything is over. I am having a hard time deciding the time of the ceremony for some reason.
Thank your for your help and please be respectful!

airforcewife11

If you are doing hors d'ourves you should think of an evening wedding, after 6pm. If lunch is being served I would assume 10am to be done and prepared for lunch. JMO.

artbyallie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_time-of-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:3af1a2de-5b7e-40d8-a1f0-fe87e3e53997Post:141f55ef-6403-4dad-9caf-043248c59de9">Re: Time of ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE]If you are doing hors d'ourves you should think of an evening wedding, after 6pm. If lunch is being served I would assume 10am to be done and prepared for lunch. JMO.
Posted by airforcewife11[/QUOTE]

<div>At 6pm, I'd expect dinner. For appetizer-type stuff, either an afternoon ceremony (2-3pm) or late evening (after 8pm) would work so people won't expect a meal. For my lunch reception, our ceremony is at 11am.</div>

airforcewife11

If the ceremony is after 6pm I think you would be ok. You also want to note that on the invites so people know to eat something before they come

artbyallie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_time-of-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:3af1a2de-5b7e-40d8-a1f0-fe87e3e53997Post:c4d4394d-9273-4238-8bc9-9f67ab36bf50">Re: Time of ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE]If the ceremony is after 6pm I think you would be ok. You also want to note that on the invites so people know to eat something before they come :)
Posted by airforcewife11[/QUOTE]

<div>Again, I disagree. Think about it. If you're going to be at a wedding at 6pm, you'll plan to get there around 5:30-45. So you'll be getting ready before 5pm, and there's no way most people would eat dinner that early.</div>

cmk46202

I agree, after 8 p.m. for h'ors d'oeuvres. I'm going to a 2 p.m. wedding next weekend and they are serving h'ors d'ouevres. FI and I were like, great, so we have to squeeze in lunch beforehand and then grab dinner on our way home from the reception ...

I'm actually glad, in a way, that they scheduled the wedding the way they did because it confirmed for me that I wanted to serve a full meal. It seems more convenient for guests. 

SarahDRS

I've pretty much decided I'm going to serve lunch. It seems like the best thing to do for my guests, especially those traveling from out of town. If they're making the trip in the morning, I'm sure they would really appreciate being able to have lunch at the reception and not have to spend even more money on lunch. And it would allow people to travel back home when it ends in the evening. Now the question is whether it should start at 1 or 2 pm...hmm...

SarahDRS

Thank you so much everyone for your input!