Ceremony at 5:15 is not "correct"? And evening vs. afternoon

YourDogDontKnowSit

I had planned to have my ceremony at 5:15 and have it last about 30 minutes so that my guests could arrive at cocktail hour right as it starts (6 pm in a different venue), but everything I'm reading about constructing invitation wording says that it's not "proper" according to etiquette to have a start time that's not on the hour or the half hour. Everyone is telling me to put 5:00 and just start at 5:15, but I'm not going to be so rude to my guests. What is the appropriate wording for a 5:15 ceremony, or should I just suck it up and move my ceremony time to 5 or 5:30? Also, would 5:15/5:30 be "in the evening" or "in the afternoon"? I thought everything after 4 was evening, but some sources say that I'm wrong. Thanks!

AddieCake

The "proper" wording is probably "a quarter after five." As for whether or not it's not "proper" to start at that time, I've never heard of that. I just know that once upon a time superstition held that it was good luck to start on the hour and bad luck to start on the half hour. As far as evening/afternoon, you can probably just skip that if you're worried about it, as everyone will know it's not 5:15 in the morning.  

CMGragain

Saturday, the date of June
at a quarter after five o'clock

It is not necessary to state that this is in the afternoon.

huskypuppy14

AddieCake said:

The "proper" wording is probably "a quarter after five." As for whether or not it's not "proper" to start at that time, I've never heard of that. I just know that once upon a time superstition held that it was good luck to start on the hour and bad luck to start on the half hour. As far as evening/afternoon, you can probably just skip that if you're worried about it, as everyone will know it's not 5:15 in the morning.  

I thought it was the other way around, because the minute hand is moving up if you start at the half hour. I could be misremembering though.

mlg78

I've heard what huskypuppy said.  If the minute hand is going up (more positive)...but that didn't stop me from getting married at 4pm.

Jen4948

I've read about a superstition that if a wedding ceremony should conclude between the half-hour and the hour, as the minute hand on a clock is rising, then the couple will have rising fortune, and if it should conclude between the hour and the half-hour, as the minute hand is falling, then the couple will have declining fortune.

But I've never heard of any etiquette rule that the ceremony has to start on the hour or the half-hour. If anything, I would think that it depends on the availability of the venue, which is usually in half-hour increments. It might seem odd to me to start a wedding at any other time, but it doesn't seem to breach etiquette.

The only actual etiquette rule I've ever heard about the start time listed on an invitation is that the ceremony actually begins at the listed start time. If guests haven't arrived or haven't "settled in" when the ceremony starts, they are expected to seat themselves unobtrusively or wait outside the ceremony room until it's over. But the ceremony is not delayed for them.

If you want to give your guests time to arrive and "get settled" before the ceremony starts, the best way to do that is to let them know by word of mouth what time the ceremony venue will open (presumably about a half-hour ahead of the ceremony) and that the ceremony will start on time. At the ceremony, have a coordinator or ushers indicate to late arrivals to seat themselves unobtrusively or wait outside the ceremony room.

AddieCake

Yes, I meant it the other way around. Sorry!

YourDogDontKnowSit

Thanks everyone, I used quarter after five o'clock and omitted the afternoon/evening thing! I should be getting my proofs back today or tomorrow, I can't wait to see them :-)

I had also heard the starting on the half hour thing, unfortunately I just think that won't leave us enough time to get people to cocktail hour at 6. Ah well, we'll have to make our own luck...

ShesSoCold

Luck is overrated.