Time between ceremony and recption?

BMSawa

How much time is too much time between the ceremony and reception?  We are thinking of having our wedding at 12 pm and our cocktail hour stars at 4:30.  The majority of our guests are local, but we do have some out-of-towners, of course.  We live in an area where there is plenty to do and plenty of places to see and shop, but nonetheless I need to get invitations ordered and am not sure what amount of time is too much time and may seem rude if we have it too far apart. 

theholograms

That is a pretty big gap - usually we've been to weddings with about a 2 hour (sometimes 3) hour gap if it was a church ceremony and they had an evening reception.  It is your day so just remember that, but in my experience the smaller the gap, the more fun for the guests!

Peavy

That's too much time.  Either move the ceremony later, or move the reception earlier.  The reception should immediately follow the ceremony.

RealHappyGal

I dont like gaps to the degree that for this and other reasons Im having everything in 1 place.  However, what do YOU have in mind for them to do for 31/3 hours (assuming the ceremony is 30mins)

adktd2boots

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_time-between-ceremony-and-recption?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:27cbfcc1-2994-4841-bff0-eb1d57e02aa0Post:27d99d5f-bd75-4a9f-8476-5f93d87cb8a1">Re: Time between ceremony and recption?</a>:
[QUOTE]That is a pretty big gap - usually we've been to weddings with about a 2 hour (sometimes 3) hour gap if it was a church ceremony and they had an evening reception. <strong><u> It is your day so just remember that</u></strong>, but in my experience the smaller the gap, the more fun for the guests!
Posted by 27Sunrise[/QUOTE]

Um, no.  It's not YOUR day.  How rude!  It's a day for X number of people to come together to celebrate the union of a couple.  If it were YOUR day, you would just elope and it would just be about the 2 of you with no consideration of others.  When you're inviting guests, you need to think about their conveniences as well.  This includes making them find something to do in their dress clothes for a few hours.  Who wants to go to shopping, to a museum, to a park, etc. while dressed up for a wedding?

Maggie0829

Way too much time in between ceremony and reception.  Even though you live in an area where there are things to do, as a guest, I would not be happy trying to kill a few hours before I go to your reception. 

If you stick with the time listed, be prepared for guests to either choose to attend the ceremony or just the reception.  This is rude, in my opinion of a guest to do, but it is a reality.  But it is also rude to have a huge gap in between the ceremony and reception and not provide something for your guests to do.

TiffannieF

OP, if you post the same thread on different boards please put an "XP" in front of the subject. ;o)

banana468

Why is the idea of making life as convenient as possible for guests something that people don't consider?

MyNameIsNot

There shouldn't be any time between the ceremony and reception.  Any gap is rude.

AbbynBrian13

That is way too long, what in the world are they supposed to do?! Nobody wants to hang around ALL DAY for it. Sure there may be tons to do in your town but maybe they dont want to run around doing things..

BMSawa

I have waited during the gap - as a bridesmaid and as merely a guest and have always found things to do inbetween each event.  Our only reason for the gap would be that we wanted to get formal pictures in the church and beach pictures afterwards.  The ceremony will last about an hour.