Off-Beat Brunch Wedding?

aerinelisabeth

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum. I've been engaged for a little over a year now and we're hoping to have the wedding in fall 2015 (plenty of time to plan, phew). 

So here's the scoop: neither of us are drinkers. All of his family lives about an hour away, and most of mine will either be driving anywhere between 2 & 5 hours to come to the ceremony or flying in. He's not a dancer in any regard (though he's promised the first dance is okay by him). 

Knowing that about us, can anyone speak to having a brunch wedding, perhaps with a coffee bar instead of regular bar? We could have breakfast cocktails or 'spikes' for the coffee since I'm pretty sure it's a faux pas to not have booze at your wedding, but I guess I'm curious how long the event is supposed to go if you have that kind of schedule? Do you need post-event-events? Is it better for partying/traveling/dancing to have weddings later in the day? 

Thank you!

Aerin

SammiNJonni

You do not have to have alcohol at a wedding. A coffee bar sounds great, I would add some teas or hot cocoa for non coffee drinkers.

You do not need an after party.

Receptions are typically 3-5 hours long depending on time of day and if you want a dance party or just socializing. .

If you want dancing typically people are wanting to dance at weddings that happen later in the day but if you have a DJ etc they may dance at a brunch reception.

Personally I would have it later in the day maybe lunch time instead of brunch just because of travel for your guests.

Astrabacus

We are having a late-morning wedding and a lunch reception, and we are not providing alcohol. The wedding starts at 11am, cocktail hour starts at 12pm and the reception is 12.45pm - 4.30pm, and our flight for our honeymoon is at 9pm. We are having no post-wedding parties or meet-ups (though I think my mum and her husband are going to lunch with my FI's parents the next day) but are having a large dinner party two days beforehand with all our guests so that they can meet each other.

At the reception, we are having a coffee bar, a tea bar and a juice bar, and knowing our guests there will be dancing.

All thing considered, I think your plans sound absolutely fine.

larrygaga

I think you are good. 

JennyColada

First of all, I stinking LOVE brunch. Second of all, I'm a huge fan of any sort of beverage bar (a coffee bar would be so cool! You could have cinnamon sticks and nutmeg and chocolate powder and vanilla powder and flavored syrups, yum yum!).

If you're not doing drinking/dancing then generally I'd say around 2 hours for a reception is good (I mean, it's really just the meal). You don't have to have post-event-events (like an after party). The food reception (assuming it's hosted properly) is all that you need. You aren't required to plan out a full day of events for your guests.

Weddings later in the day can go either way with ease of travel (I mean, you have more time in the AM to get ready and get there, but sometimes they go late and then you get home really late). Who has the farthest to travel for your guests? Just keep that in mind when planning (if they are a VIP).

Personally, we are planning for a 3:30pm (or 4pm, we haven't' narrowed it down yet) ceremony with a 5 (or 5:30pm) reception (not including the "cocktail hour" and travel time to reception). We are having a very small ceremony/reception, so no dancing, so we estimate that the reception will be done around 9pm at the latest. But we'll probably just want to go back to the hotel and sleep (we are leaving for our hm bright and early the next day!).

DeirdreM257

I think a brunch reception is an awesome idea. I'm not at all biased due to the fact that we're having one! Brunch food rocks. We are having our ceremony & reception at the same venue. It's 15 minutes from our house & no more than a 2 hour drive for most of our guests. Ceremony at 11. Reception 11:30-3:30. We cut out the full bar & will have just a mimosa station as far as alcohol. A close friend of mine is a DJ so we are going to work with him so that we can have a first dance & if anyone wants to dance then they can. No lights or overly loud stuff. It is brunch after all. I don't think the music is a must, though. People just love to talk & eat. As far as anything beyond the ceremony & reception it's not your responsibility to entertain your guests. We got a block of rooms for the out of town guests that has a bar with live music. So, if people want to party they can. We'll probably go home, take a nap & maybe pop by the hotel bar for a nightcap. We're leaving for our honeymoon at 5AM so we want a good night's rest. Honestly, we got a bit of flack from my future in laws about the whole brunch idea, but it's so much more us than a formal dinner & overpriced music that we won't dance to. Yes, you want the people that you're inviting to have a good time, but it's your day. You're asking people to celebrate your love & big day with you. Why not celebrate your way? I'm super excited about our brunch reception and I bet you two will be too