We're having a morning ceremony and a lunch reception. Our ceremony and reception are in different buildings, but on the same grounds. It's a museum (a historic site) with 9 buildings. we're getting married in a court house built in 1904 and then moving to the community hall built in the late 1870's for the reception. we're planning on leaving a bit of time in between the ceremony and reception to do photos.The guests have free range to wander the grounds and view the other buildings in the museum, as well as the exhibits. i am thinking i should offer beverages and maybe a little snack to help keep them occupied, but im not sure what will fit in. we've also decided to go for a plated and served lunch, but we're thinking of opting out of a first course (like a salad) because we don't think we need to serve a cocktail hour, followed immediately by an appetizer, and then a full plated meal especially since it's a lunch reception. the meals are heavy, plus they come with dessert and we're thinking of having a wedding cake on top of that. i don't know where to fit all of this food in and i think i need advice on when I should serve the different courses. According to what I was originally thinking it would go something like this:
11 am - ceremony begins
1120 am - ceremony ends
1130 - refreshments and hors d'oeuvres in the hall (or outside if it's nice out? thoughts?). Guests either choose to stay outside in the sun, go inside the hall to sit down, or to visit the other historic buildings and exhibits. im not sure if this is going to cause a problem, but we'll be within sight of our guests getting our pictures taken. do you think guests will want to take that time to socialize with us or will we be able to get our pictures done?
1230 - begin to bring guests to be seated inside the hall
1245 - main course is served
130 - champagne toast (we will have the servers pass these out towards the end of the meal)
135 - meal dessert is served
145 - mingle with the guests with background music playing, moving from group to group.
230 - cake cutting
the rest of the time for socializing and celebrating. guests will be welcome to view the rest of the museum they may have missed, and bride & groom hope to leave by/before 4 p.m.
does it make sense that there is no 1st course? what would your critiques be in order to improve this food/reception timeline?
