Scheduling help (kind of long, sorry)

megsandjohn2010

Hello ladies,
My FI and I decided to get married in a church (new decision) and keep the reception at his family's farm. Anyway, I'm having some trouble with my schedule. I don't want guests to wait around and get bored between the ceremony and reception I've been to weddings where there is a lot of lag time and it gets kind of annoying so...
Ceremony at 4
Rec. line at 4:30 (right after ceremony)
Wedding party photos 4:45 ish (we're not seeing each other before, so we'll need time built into the schedule for the extra shots here).
Guest travel time to reception about 30 minutes. So guests could end up arriving around 5:00. I had the cocktail hour scheduled to being at 5:30, with us arriving at 6:30, grand entrance, and then dinner at 7, but I think I spaced it out too much.

I'm wondering if I should begin dinner service at 6:30, grand entrance at 6:20ish. Which means we'll have to leave aroud 5;50 to get to the reception. Do you think 1 hour is enough time for all the photos? Is it still spaced out too much? Any ideas?

Thanks! -M

LolaBelle515

Good questions:) I'm not a fan of lag time, either.

I actually think your original plans OK, from the perspective of a guest. 

One thing to think about: I don't know how many people you are having, but I am betting your receiving line will last more than 15 minutes (unless you are dismissing from the pews). If your ceremony is really 30 minutes (in my experienc,e most people think their ceremony will be longer than it is...and most are less than 30 minutes) then by the time even the first people get through the receiving line and finish chatting it up with friends...it'll probably be close to 5:15 anyway.

Could your cocktail hour begin at 5pm, so that the earliest guests arrrive have drinks/appetziers awaiting them? if so, I think that timing is just fine.

ALSO, a suggestion. Since the reception is at a farm, here's an idea that we used. We had several lawn games out (bean bag toss, ladder ball, heck you could even do croquet on a farm).  That was really fun for people to pass the time, especially those that only knew a few people...that would make the lag time shorter.

Good luck!

wittyschaffy

If you can get as many of your non together shots done before the wedding, then an hour after of the stuff you need to be together for is doable.  Tight - but doable.  I dont' think it is horrible as far as stretching things out. 

veijes

We have about the same timeline as you. We are getting married this Sunday so I can let you know how it goes. Our ceremony is at 4pm and will last about 30 minutes. We aren't doing a receiving line so while we are waiting for everyone to get out of the church and ready for the grand exit, our photographer will be taking a few pics of just FI and I. Then we will do a grand exit and leave to a nearby beach to take pics, then our bridal party will pick us up and we will head to the reception where we will take the rest of the pics. We will be having an appetizer hour from 5:30-6:15, then people will be getting seated for dinner with a grand entrance at 6:30ish and dinner will be served around 7. I don't think an hour and a half is too long to wait, they will have drinks, candy buffet, find their place cards and where to sit at the table, and an appetizer hour outside on a patio.

One thing that may be a deciding factor is how big your wedding party is. We have 3 on each side and all of them have been in weddings before so they know that it's rush time to take the pics and it's not that many people to organizein the photos.

drdifabio

I think everything the girls have said is great.
I was also going to mention that you do pics with your family and BP before hand so that all you have left after the ceremony is together pics.

Also, if you are worried about your guests getting there too early - you could do an hour and a half CH instead of just 1 hour so that there is something to do the entire time guests might be there.

megsandjohn2010

Thanks for the advice and confirmation.  I chatted with my DOC tonight and we worked through it. I don't even know why I was wo worried, she was helpful and I feel so much better about it. It's always nice to hear what works and see what others did.