Worried about the gap..

Enchanted616

Okay, so just booked the church and am in the process of finalizing the contract with our reception venue.  The ceremony will be at 2pm, but it will be a mass so it will probably run about an hour or so.. and right now we have our cocktail hour starting at 4:30, dinner at 6.  I'm estimating about 400 guests, so I'm thinking the recieving line and such should take up some time.  The reception is about 15/20 minutes away.   I'm a little worried about that hour and a half gap.. is it too long? 

laura_fett

I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes the receiving line can take a LONG time, especially with 400 guests. At my cousin's wedding (they had about 280 guests) it took over a half an hour. Also, if many of your guests are staying in a hotel, it gives them time to check in, etc. GL!

MN_Jen

I don't think its a big deal.  A friend of mine had a gap like that between her ceremony and reception (I think it was longer, actually) and they included a "cool local stuff to do" insert in their invitations for people from out-of-town.

shan87

I'm in a similar boat. Mass at 2. Receiving Line starting at 3:15. But our Cocktail hr. is starting at 4. Giving ppl time to get there and get settle if they want. We have 325 invited guests though less than yours. I think that 400 ppl will take a while prob. an hour. Just ushering them out of the church takes at least 15mins. I think that you are good on time. If there is extra time ppl can get checked it or chat at the church or w/e. I would rather have extra time than overlap. However, if the receiving line does run long missing part of the cocktail hr is nothing.  

HTH 

jnickers98

We had a similar timeline.  We only had about 200 guests, but used that time inbetween for some less formal pictures and hosted a cocktail hour.  My timelines are in my bio if you are interested.

Enchanted616

Yea, I guess the more I think about it, it will be fine.. Thanks everyone!

hkiesling

You can cut down your receiving line time by only having you, DH, and maybe parents in line (skipping the whole wedding party).  I also don't like the assumption that all the guests will go and check into the hotel during a long gap.  I was just at a wedding this summer with a big gap, but we weren't staying at a hotel nor we we from the town.  We were just driving back after.  We eneded up having to wander around the streets for an hour and a half before being able to get in to the reception.  It was okay, but it was hot and a little weird in our nice clothes.

nerdygirl816

I,too, wound up with this quandry except my gap was looking to be 3 hours bordering on 3.5, so I decided the reception was the "important" part to me as it's longer amount of time and the biggest part of the budget so I'm giving out on my perfect ceremony location and going for a place closer and where I can get a better timeline. 

You're gap isn't too bad! I think gaps of 1.5 -2 hours are becoming more common. Especially if the ceremony and reception are in different places.  I look at it as leaving space for a long receiving line and driving/ settling in for cocktail hour. If you're really concerned you could open up cocktail hour 1/2 hour early. 

veijes

It also gives the guests time to grab a snack somewhere on the way. If you have it clearly in the invite that there will be a gap, then people can be prepared. If I went to a wedding at 2 and didn't get to eat until 6 or even later, I would want to grab a bite (but that's just the food horder in me talking haha).