the catholic gap suggestions

martin2424

We are having a Catholic wedding ceremony and due to our parish, the only time they have available is 1:30pm for our wedding ceremony. The ceremony will last 1 hour and the venue is about 20 minutes from the church. We are not doing a first look so will require pictures after our ceremony which leaves us plenty of time to get this done. We were planning on having a sit down dinner so this would leave 2 hours before we would ideally want guests to arrive at our reception to start cocktail hour.  We don't want to be rude but unfortunately this is the only time the church has to offer. Any advice on how to combat this extra time?

climbingsingle

knottie70e29de8a2220949 said:

We are having a Catholic wedding ceremony and due to our parish, the only time they have available is 1:30pm for our wedding ceremony. The ceremony will last 1 hour and the venue is about 20 minutes from the church. We are not doing a first look so will require pictures after our ceremony which leaves us plenty of time to get this done. We were planning on having a sit down dinner so this would leave 2 hours before we would ideally want guests to arrive at our reception to start cocktail hour.  We don't want to be rude but unfortunately this is the only time the church has to offer. Any advice on how to combat this extra time?

You either need to move up the start time of your reception, or host something for your guests for the 2 hours they'd need to wait. 

MyNameIsNot

knottie70e29de8a2220949 said:

We are having a Catholic wedding ceremony and due to our parish, the only time they have available is 1:30pm for our wedding ceremony. The ceremony will last 1 hour and the venue is about 20 minutes from the church. We are not doing a first look so will require pictures after our ceremony which leaves us plenty of time to get this done. We were planning on having a sit down dinner so this would leave 2 hours before we would ideally want guests to arrive at our reception to start cocktail hour.  We don't want to be rude but unfortunately this is the only time the church has to offer. Any advice on how to combat this extra time?

You need to start your reception right after the ceremony (excluding travel). There is no such thing as a "catholic gap". Gaps are caused by inconsiderate hosts, not the church. 

We had our ceremony at 2. The mass was just under an hour and travel time was 30 minutes, so cocktail hour started at 3:30. We had plenty of time to finish our photos and make it to the reception venue by 4:30. We extended the cocktail hour a bit and did a few things before serving dinner, so the meal actually started around 5:30. (There were a lot of hearty apps during cocktail hour, I wasn't worried about people drinking on empty stomachs.) The reception lasted until 9:30, and then there was an after party. 

banana468

I'll echo the rest.  

Start cocktail hour at 3 and use some of that to do photos.   You can still have a reception that ends in the evening around 8 if it starts at 3. 

MesmrEwe

FWIW - I've seen double receptions done after the Catholic ceremony! (The only time the priest would allow them to get married was 10AM because 11:30 was reserved for Saturday funerals and there was a wedding at the sister parish a half-hour away already scheduled for 2PM so they did a self-catered lunch at the town hall with a local dive bar band then the reception went on as planned with a full polka band at the regular times)  Yes, get the reception going with "Snacks begin at 3", "Bar/Cocktail hour at 4:30", Dinner at 5:30...  Also, even if you aren't doing a "First look" doesn't mean that all of the pictures have to wait until after the ceremony...  You can do individual and ones with your VIP's (Parents/siblings/grandparents) so you all can get to the reception in a timely manner.  

maine7mob

Can you have an earlier ceremony and then a brunch/lunch reception? You can still have dancing, booze, etc. 

Or if you keep your 1:30 time, have an afternoon tea reception. Again, booze and dancing can still happen. 

There is no etiquette rule saying that receptions have to be in the evening.

Jen4948

You can't keep your guests waiting for several hours after the ceremony with nothing to do and no hospitality while you take photos.

So, I would move up your reception time to immediately follow the ceremony. You can hold a "cocktail hour" at the beginning of the reception so that your guests receive some form of hospitality while you take your photos. Then you continue with the reception - which could be a lunch, tea, or appetizers/desserts reception, any of which could also incorporate drinks and dancing.

ei34

Why is it the church's fault and not the venue's?  The church can't go later...can the venue go earlier?  Don't blame the church...lots of us here (myself included) were married in full Catholic mass ceremonies without a gap for our guests.  Host something for your guests in between the two if they can't be one immediately following the next.