Is anyone having an evening wedding?

leahrachel521

Hello,
    Right now I am trying to decide between having my ceremony (not a full mass) at either 3 p.m. or 7 p.m. next August.   If we choose the latter and assuming the ceremony would last 30 to 45 min., our reception would not likely start until 8:30 p.m. 
    I find the ida of an evening wedding very appealing, but I've never been to a wedding that started that late and don't want the whole night to feel rushed.  With my guest list, I don't think think staying up later would be a problem, but I want to make sure there will be plenty of time for dancing, etc.  If it was 6 p.m., I wouldn't hesitate about booking an evening wedding, but of course that is not usually an option at a Catholic church.  Does anyone out there have any experience with a nightime wedding?  If so, what was your timeline?

leahrachel521

Hello,
    Right now I am trying to decide between having my ceremony (not a full mass) at either 3 p.m. or 7 p.m. next August.   If we choose the latter and assuming the ceremony would last 30 to 45 min., our reception would not likely start until 8:30 p.m. 
    I find the ida of an evening wedding very appealing, but I've never been to a wedding that started that late and don't want the whole night to feel rushed.  With my guest list, I don't think think staying up later would be a problem, but I want to make sure there will be plenty of time for dancing, etc.  If it was 6 p.m., I wouldn't hesitate about booking an evening wedding, but of course that is not usually an option at a Catholic church.  Does anyone out there have any experience with a nightime wedding?  If so, what was your timeline?

FKS

Our wedding next June is going to be a Friday evening wedding that starts at 7pm.  I've been to a couple Friday evening weddings and as a guest, I didn't feel like they were too late.  Especially on a weekend night - if most people don't have to get up and go to work the next day it shouldn't be a problem (I hope not anyway!).

eshaufle

I just attended an Friday evening wedding that started at 6pm.  I didn't think it was too late at all but I would make sure to have a pretty appetizer-heavy cocktail hour if you're going to do pictures in between ceremony and dinner.  If they hadn't, I think we would have been starving by the time dinner rolled around (like 8:30-ish) and all of us would have been really miserable and fairly drunk (or both lol).

My only complaint was that we actually thought the party ended too early but it doesn't seem like that's going to be a problem for you if you want to keep it going.  It's just that by the time that dinner got over and the DJ started livening things up it was already past 9:30 and maybe even almost 10pm and everything ended at midnight. so there was very little time to dance, mingle and drink.  There were a good amount of us that could have kept going for at least another hour. 

Calypso1977

i think this would be fine, but i would absolutely do all of your photos  before so that your reception/cocktail hour can start right away with you there.  some folks will leave early due to the hour (older folks, people with kids at home, or folks that may be driving and not staying over).  if you attend your own cocktail hour (or just go straight to dinner) you'll get more time with your guests.

i actually think evenign weddings should always have the photos done before - you have all day long to do them, why make your guests wait?

GulfCoaster

I just recently attended a 7 p.m. wedding.  It was a lot of fun.  The couple did photos before the ceremony, the ceremony began at 7 and was over at 7:30, then there were cocktails and hors d'oeuvres until 8:15, dinner at 8:15, followed by dancing until the wee hours of the morning.  We left the reception at 12:30 a.m. and there were still a ton of people there.  (The DJ was booked until 1:30 a.m., if I recall correctly.)  Some people left earlier, of course, but I was sort of surprised how many stayed late.  We had a great time.

akg0053

I'm doing a 7pm Mass on a Friday. I figured the late start time of the reception will have a lot of my older guests leaving early, so we are cutting the cake at the beginning of dinner instead of the end, etc. 

leahrachel521

Thanks everyone for the input.  I'm trying to figure the whole picture taking thing out.  I know it is completely irrational and silly, but I really don't want my fiance to see me before I walk down the isle.  I certainly don't mind taking care of some of our pictures, such as the ones just with my bridesmaids, beforehand, but I suppose I'll still have to alot some time for picture taking after the wedding.

lseago

I also have a 7pm wedding. We are going to see each other beforehand, but if you are opposed to that and still want pictures together, consider talking with your photographer about it. My photographers just did a wedding where they didn't see each other, but still got pictures together. Look at their most recent blog post to see what they did: www.perezblog.net

Good Luck!