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July 2012 Weddings
Question..
My ceremony starts at 2 but I don't know when I should end the reception. I have the space until 12 but 10hrs is too long for a wedding. When does your ceremony start and reception end?
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Re: Question..
In your case: Ceremony 2pm, dinner 5-10? That way you have plenty of room for pictures and the guests have enough time to get to the reception site and do anything during the 2.5 hour time bracket...
[QUOTE]I live in Belgium and weddings are insanely long here. We'll have our ceremony around three, a few hours of cocktail time after that. Dinner starts around eight, and I think the dacing will continue until at least 4am, but 6am would not surprise me. If the majority goes home before 1am here, it's a sign that you've thrown a very bad wedding, and brides in that situation are usually pretty embarrassed :s. On a local board (different site), once in while a topic pops up asking 'what can I do to make sure people don't leave early'. Crazy times. So, I guess I don't have any good advice for you :)
Posted by Elinetrouwt[/QUOTE]
<div>WHOA!!! Weddings must be HUGE in Beligum! Do people usually stay out that late? Children too?? That's amazing! Haha</div>
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Question.. : WHOA!!! Weddings must be HUGE in Beligum! Do people usually stay out that late? Children too?? That's amazing! Haha
Posted by mekiakoo[/QUOTE]
<div>I'm actually not sure about the children, I haven't been to too many weddings and never paid attention. But yes, people do tend to stay out that late, for weddings, but sometimes for other occassions to. Some people dance like that every weekend, but that's not for me :)</div><div>
</div><div>It's very local. In The Netherlands, where I am from and which is just a few hours aways, weddings end at midnight, or 1am latest. Sometimes I wish it was like that here too, because people keep on drinking and it's gonna cost :)</div>
Church is in downtown Philly and the reception is outside the city and 98% of people are OOT, so we're providing transportation. It's actually kind of a blessing in disguise because it eats up some of the time between ceremony and reception since people will need to organize and get to the buses at the hotel, get on the bus, get to the reception, etc. I'm not ecstatic about the downtime, but people have assured me it'll work out ok because it's standard for Catholic weddings.
All of that to say that I think a 10 hour event is quite long...since we're not in Belgium! I think 7 hours is fine, however. Is there a reason you're starting the ceremony early - like, is it also at a church? Or did you just want to start in the afternoon? If you could push it a bit later, it might work out better for your timing and make use of the space for the time you're allotted - like, ceremony 5-5:30, reception 6-(whatever).
Ok, that was a novel. Hope that helps!
[QUOTE] Elinetrouwt - my boss just went to a wedding in Belgium that was 2 days long... You guys know how to party!! :)
Posted by k8888[/QUOTE]
<div>We sure do :) I hope he had a great time.</div><div>
</div><div>In fact, my wedding will be two days as well. Legal ceremony in private atmosphere in the Netherlands on Friday, spiritual ceremony and the big reception in Belgium on Saturday. Yes, the double ceremony is a European thing. I feel a bit guilty for stretching it out like that (You get one day and one day only!!! as they say on E), but it just worked out like that. </div>
I think it depends on your group more than anything Mac'sine. Do you have a lot of older people? Do your guests like a good party? Taking a good look at who your guests are can help you set a good time frame.
I'd LOVE to have our reception until 12! We have ours until 9 and personally I think it's a little early. I'm thinking we'll start the ceremony at 11 and eat lunch at 1. Everything else will go from there!
[QUOTE]I think it depends on your group more than anything Mac'sine. Do you have a lot of older people? Do your guests like a good party? Taking a good look at who your guests are can help you set a good time frame. I'd LOVE to have our reception until 12! We have ours until 9 and personally I think it's a little early. I'm thinking we'll start the ceremony at 11 and eat lunch at 1. <strong>Everything else will go from there!
</strong>Posted by Nati05[/QUOTE]
My oldest guest is in their 50's (I don't think 50 is old) and both of our familes like to party. I think I will just feel the crowd.