Time between Ceremony and Cocktail Hour?

raangoli

I was thinking about our wedding day timeline and the amount of time we have between the ceremony ending and the cocktail hour starting.

Did you guys leave any buffer time in case your ceremony runs long or late? We have an hour buffer built in, but I am not sure if we should keep that or get rid of it.

ETA: (Both the ceremony and cocktail hour are in the same location.)

mbuhpathi

Our schedule was

Bridal preparations begin at 5:30am
Photographer arrives at 7am for for First Look
7:30am family photos until 8:30am
Baraat 9-10 including var aagman.
10:00am Ganesh Pooja
10:30am Antarpat & mangalastakam
the rest of the ceremonies ran until about 12:30.
1:00pm Vidaai

6pm-7:30pm cocktail hour
7:30pm reception until 1am

jnsaini

Unfortunately since my ceremony location is about an hr and a half from the reception location, we are running around all day one thing after the other..my ceremony starts at 10:30 and ends at about 12:30. We have lunch till 1:00 and then dholi leaves at 1:30. After that we drive to the city for pictures, get there by 3:30-4..take pictures till 4:45. Then arrive at hotel at 5:20, change and head to reception hall by 7:30. Reception cocktail hr starts at 7 but will be there a little later. Reception goes on till 12am. Wow..hopefully I will last till 12am we got a early morning flight to Antigua next day! Crazy i know

kpwedkk

Hi Raangoli,
Our wedding and reception was at the same location - two different buildings across from each other on the street. The wedding ceremony started 10 am sharp, and ended at 12:45pm.  We had the temple for the wedding ceremony until 2pm.  So yeah, we built in an extra hour.  If your pandits/priests have done weddings before, and they know how to gauge the time, you should be fine. 

The wedding lunch was held across the street (this is where the reception in the evening was being held as well) and we had it all day long.  If guests with kids wanted to go there, the buffet line was to be set up between 12 and 12:30pm, which worked out perfect

We had a very similar schedule to mbuhpathi -

 - Bridal preparations - hair makeup, dressing started at 6:30am to 8:30am
 - Photographer arrived at 8am for first look of bride, and preparations in the bride's home.
 - bride's family to temple at 9:00
 - baraat at 9:30am, and groom ceremony
 - bride walks down aisle at 9:55
 - Vedic wedding begins at 10:00
 - Wedding ends, meal time prayer, guests eat at hall til 2:30pm
 - bride and groom go off and take pictures on a mountain for portrait, maybe after pictures
 - bride and groom get ready for reception - 5:30pm
 - cocktails begin 6pm-6:45pm
 - doors open for reception to guests
 - parents of the bride enter 7:04pm
 - parents of the groom enter 7:08pm
 - new mr and mrs enter 7:10pm
 - reception begins, 7:10pm til 1:30am...

raangoli

Thanks, ladies. We have the same priest that did my brother and sister in law's wedding about 10 years ago, and their wedding ran late (not the priest fault, I dont think.)

Considering that my family is always late I felt like it was a good idea to build in the hour buffer. I figure it seems like a lot, but in the scheme of things it might be good to have that in there. I just don't want my guests to be annoyed that there is this buffer time.

Thanks for the detailed timelines of your respective days though - that helps a lot! I am going to start putting together our timeline this weekend so we have something down to work with.

@Nicky - you have a seriously hectic schedule! And only a week away! Congratulations and ENJOY your honeymoon!