Arrival time at Church?

Caitlynmk

Hey Ladies- I was just informed by our Priest that our church does not have a "bridal room" or anywhere that myself and my bridesmaids can wait before the ceremony. He said that most brides just show up right before the wedding and wait in the limo until its time to line up and go down the aisle. That makes me a bit nervous and seems really odd, so I wanted to see if any of you are in the same situation and what you plan to do? I wanted to get to the 2 PM ceremony by 1:30 and have somewhere to wait/relax/freshen up...

professorscience

You might check with him, but 1:30 might be what he's talking about.

There was a thread about timelines for a 2:00 wedding where a lot of girls mentioned getting ready somewhere else and leaving for the church about half an hour before the ceremony was to start.  It may have disappeared, though, when the TK monster reared its ugly head.

Edit: Yup, the timeline thread got deleted.  Hopefully some of those girls will chime in again.

kgrawedding

Our church does not have a bridal room either, and the entire back wall is glass, so yeah, I'm showing up at 1:50 for the 2pm ceremony.

Caitlynmk

Thanks ladies!  We're definitely getting ready at the hotel, and the photographer is coming to take some pictures there, but I would have liked to have a room to wait in the church right before. Kind of nerve racking to cut it so close before the ceremony but I guess that is just what we'll have to do.

I was wondering why some threads get deleted because i posted this same message yesterday and then all of a sudden it was gone!?

professorscience

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_arrival-time-at-church-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:84c67f1b-cca5-4eac-911d-96ead863a9ecPost:85817ab3-34a3-4449-8c29-892b9d9ea55f">Re: Arrival time at Church?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks ladies!  We're definitely getting ready at the hotel, and the photographer is coming to take some pictures there, but I would have liked to have a room to wait in the church right before. Kind of nerve racking to cut it so close before the ceremony but I guess that is just what we'll have to do. I was wondering why some threads get deleted because i posted this same message yesterday and then all of a sudden it was gone!?
Posted by Caitlynmk[/QUOTE]

<div>TK has had some IT issues for a while now.  I am fairly certain they are TRYING to fix it, and when they do work, that's when the forums start losing posts.</div>

mcda04

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_day-of-timeline-for-2pm-wedding

I think i was able to pull up the thread. Most of us who posted on this one didn't have a bride room available at the Church. I'm just waiting in the car with AC or the Church must have an office you could wait in.

lindsaynewbride10

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_arrival-time-at-church-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:84c67f1b-cca5-4eac-911d-96ead863a9ecPost:85817ab3-34a3-4449-8c29-892b9d9ea55f">Re: Arrival time at Church?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks ladies!  We're definitely getting ready at the hotel, and the photographer is coming to take some pictures there, but I would have liked to have a room to wait in the church right before. <strong>Kind of nerve racking to cut it so close before the ceremony but I guess that is just what we'll have to do.</strong> I was wondering why some threads get deleted because i posted this same message yesterday and then all of a sudden it was gone!?
Posted by Caitlynmk[/QUOTE]

I totally understand this feeling. Fortunately there was a small, and when I say "small" I mean SMALL, room for us to sit and relax for about a half hour before our ceremony began. But in your case, I'd make sure I arrived at 1:50 for a 2:00 ceremony. Have the limo or bus, whatever you have, pull up as close to the doors as possible and just go from there. I'm sure you'll also be able to plan for this set-up at your rehearsal when the time comes. It will be okay, don't worry. =)

Eliz77

I live barely 5 minutes from our Church and we were supposed to board the limo at 10:30am for our 11am Ceremony. The plan was to get some pictures at the Church of us receiving bouquets, greeting other members of the line up (parents, groomsmen) and be on line at 10:55. Well, there was a funeral ahead of us who did not fully leave the parking lot until 10:30 (GM had limo). The llimo dropped the guys off at 10:30, was at my house and ready for us 10 minutes later and we arrived at the Church at 10:50, got a couple of shots without feeling rushed and still managed to be entering at 11am, right on time! Only thiing was the programs and bubbles were left in the limo in the rush to unload limo, so the guys had to come running out when we arrived for them, but it all worked out.

christyhal

There was no bride's room at my church either.  The guys got there a little after 1:00 to set up (put pew flowers on - we used silk ones on clips, and put a few other things out, get their bouts from the florist, etc.) and then to act as ushers if needed.  The photog (who had been at my place until 1:10 ish for 'getting ready' shots)  met them there to take some group shots of just the guys before guests started arriving at about 1:30. 

I lived only a few blocks away from the church, so my parents, the bridesmaids, and I left my place about 1:50, and got to the church about 1:55.  The WP lined up in the back of the church (Very Small Space!!) and my parents and I waited on the steps, to a lot of honking by people driving past, LOL.  

As soon as DH and his parents started down the aisle, my parents and I went into the vestibule behind the rest of the WP.  (Our procession was altar server & priest, DH & parents, BM & GM in pairs, then my parents and me.)

This worked for us - I waited at home with the girls until the very last minute, and it was a quick in and out of the car for the trip to the church - minimized dress wrinkling, and we didn't even have a limo, it was so close.  

As a side note and mostly unrelated, we started about 5 minutes late, but it was not because of our having to arrive right at the start time.  We were there on time...the priest was not!  Turns out our altar sever, my kid brother, had some trouble with his robes.  My parents/siblings live out of state, and while my brother serves almost every week at their church, the robes the priest gave him to wear at my church were a totally different style than what he was used to and he couldn't figure out how to get them on.  Our priest had to dress him.  :-P

ElisabethJoanne

My tiny parish has the church all of upstairs and downstairs a classroom, a parish hall, a kitchen, 2 offices, and the restrooms. The women's room has a couch.

We will have a ketubah signing at the church in one of the downstairs rooms before the ceremony. I do not plan to attend, but my father has to. So, I'll either
1) come in my own car, arriving immediately before the ceremony
2) come with my father, but wait in the ladies' room (where any woman guest could pop in on me)
3) come with my father, but wait in the car

pittpoint1119

Same here no room, but my parents live about 10 mins from the church which is where we are getting ready at. We will be getting there at 1:20ish probably then it is show time.

Caitlynmk

Thanks so much ladies, I really appreciate your comments!! So helpful!

@Pittpoint- I'm getting married in Pittsburgh! 

banana468

Same for us!  We stayed at my parents' home until about 15 min before the ceremony and then we got in the limo.  They live under a mile from the church and my BMs exited leaving me in the air conditioned car.  When they were ready for the procession to start, my dad came down to get me and then we went inside.