Ceremony/Reception Start Time

chellekel

Sorry, I feel like I'm posting something every other day.

My FI put down the deposit on our venue (Belle Isle Casino) by himself when I was out of town.  The default rental time is 4 hours.  My fiance reserved the venue from 7p-11p.  Extra hours can be purchased, but I am trying to keep costs down.  I would like to only purchase one extra hour so we don't feel rushed.

Here's the question (finally):  Is 6p too late for the ceremony to start for a non-black tie wedding?  I was thinking the ceremony would last maybe 30 minutes max.  We have a small WP (2 attendants each), and do not plan on having FG/RB, readings, or a unity ceremony.  And then have dinner served at 7p.  Or should I have everything start at 5-5:30p?

Thanks again!

Meegles4

You're doing a Saturday wedding, right? I think it's perfectly fine. Large gaps between the ceremony and reception are frowned upon, so your plan would eliminate that and give your guests most of their day on Saturday to do their own thing before celebrating at your wedding.

One thing to consider is if you'll see your FI before your ceremony. If not, you'll likely want a bit more time (maybe any hour) between ceremony and reception to do joint photos. If you are doing a first look pre-ceremony, then the plan you have is just fine. You'd get all of your photos out of the way before the ceremony, and then be able to enjoy the reception. Even with your half hour gap, you could probably do a few extra photos if needed before the reception started.

Another thing you could do (and this would work if you're not doing a first look) is have the ceremony at 5:30, cocktail hour from 6-7 and then dinner at 7. You'd have to rent the casino for one add'l hour and do cocktails/apps. But that would give your people somewhere to go in between the two. If you do a 6 p.m. wedding, you'll need somewhere for them to go at 6:30 -- can you get into the casino at 6:30 or would you have to rent that extra time and can you add on just a half hour of time, or does it have to be in hour increments?

Hope that makes sense, just some things to think about.

chellekel

Thanks Meegles!

Yes, it will be a Saturday wedding and we are taking photos before the ceremony.  I've decided to rent both floors and do the ceremony at the casino too.  So once the ceremony is over they can go to the second floor for a few drinks while we get a few more pics with both sides of the family.  I was thinking maybe a popcorn bar or a simple app like cheese and crackers for the 30 min gap before dinner started.  I have just never heard of a ceremony starting at 6p, so I was worried if that was too late.

Meegles4

Usually Friday weddings have later start times like 6 p.m., but I feel like I've been to a couple Saturday ones with later times. I don't know why anyone would give you grief about it, you're saving your guests an afternoon of trying to fill a wedding gap (if you had your ceremony earlier).

heysupnatalie

I too am getting married at the casino and we have it from 5-9 I rented out the max hours so that we could be there til 11 but I'm bummed that it won't be able to go later than that. The extra hours aren't that much more expensive but if you want to keep costs down then I think that's fine. 
Our ceremony starts at 5 and we too are doing both the ceremony and reception in the casino. ceremony on the first floor and reception on the second. 

Oh and now that I just reread your post I realized that you are adding an hour to the beginning....which actually is only $25 rather than the $150 they want to go later. 

chellekel

Hi Natalie,

We are hoping to keep the party going at a nearby bar after 11p!

sparkles776

I think what you are doing is totally fine. I would rent it out starting at 6. I would much rather only have a 30 minute gap as opposed to a 4 hour one I had to deal with this summer!

alenahamlin

I also think that ia 6pm start time is fine. I have actually been to a wedding/reception at the casino. It was scheduled to start at 4:30 but the bride was late and it started after 5:30, everything was fine following the late start. The couple had the ceremony outside right at the entrance and only the first floor for the reception.