logistics of ceremony and reception

ranen19

So, I have a few questions. I wanted to have my ceremony later in the day, but I only get the venue from 8:30am to 4:00pm. First question: If I have the ceremony at 3:00 (30 min ceremony) and the next wedding gets the venue at 4:30 and I have to be out by 4, do I have time to have it at 3:00 and get out by the time the next wedding gets it? (I'm taking pictures before the wedding since I get the venue so early in the day, so that's not an after ceremony issue. The venue is also beautiful, and I won't be using any decor that needs to come down afterward)

Then my second question is if I have the reception (it's at a different venue than the ceremony about 15 minutes away) at 4:30 (with cocktail hour/appetizers) could I serve dinner as early as 5:30 or is that too early? The reception would probably last until 8:30 or 9pm.

I could have the reception later, but I don't want to have more than an hour between the ceremony and reception. Because I don't want to think of something for my guests to do in between time. And, I'd rather not have the ceremony earlier than 3:00 unless it's impossible for me to have the ceremony and be out by 4pm.

JessAndTrav

I can't lie. This made my brain hurt.

No, having your wedding at 4 when you have to be out by 4 is beyond unrealistic.

Either get a new venue or change your time.

ranen19

I know it makes my brain hurt too! That's why I need help!  We'd have our ceremony at 3 though and have to be out by 4. That wouldn't work?

tlv204

I think ceremony at 3 and reception at 4:30 sounds fine. I guess a few people might think 5:30 is early for dinner, but I tend to not care when dinner is served as long as I get food You could probably push it back to 6 if you wanted, just by having a cocktail hour from 4:30-5:30 then toasts before dinner, and if you want to do even more before dinner you could do cake cutting and your first dance then. I've never actually seen that done before dinner in real life, but I hear it's getting popular to do it that way.

JessAndTrav

No. Even with a 30 minute ceremony, not only do you have pictures after, your guests need ample time to leave (they'll visit a little right after) and you need time to take down decorations.

It's just unrealistic.

sarah0725

I think I understand. You want to have your wedding at 3-3:30 and be out of the venue by 4, and then start your reception at 4:30 and eat at 5:30? I see no problem with that. If you start at 3 and have until 4, then that gives you time to do the ceremony and maybe have a receiving line. Then you're outta there, and fifteen minutes later at the reception. As for the 5:30 dinnertime, if I'm your guest I probably at lunch at noon and got to the venue around 2:45, meaning I'd be plenty hungry by 5:30.

It all sounds fine to me, as long as you have until 4 at your ceremony venue.

tlv204

She just said she wasn't doing decorations or photos after the ceremony.

ring_pop

3:00 is doable. Our ceremony ended at 6:10 and people were gone by about 6:30 for the most part (with a little help from our families and BP). I think 5:30 dinner is fine.

JessAndTrav

Psssh, I can't read.

tenofcups4me

Sure, it's doable. If your ceremony is at 3 and done by 3:30,  I would expect everyone to be out literally by around 3:40 or so unless you intentionally do something to do try to get them to hang around. However, that's assuming that your reception starts right afterwards so they're going to get in their cars and drive there.

If your reception doesn't start till 4:30, they're going to have nothing to do for an hour and odds are good that they'll just hang out at the church for a while since what else can they do?

I'd make the reception earlier so your guests can go right from the church to the cocktail hour -- it's more considerate to your guests AND it ensures they won't linger at the church.

ranen19

Awesome! Thanks for all of your help! Sorry if it was kind of complicated the way I wrote it. It's just it came out all crazy like it is in my head. But, moving the reception time up to 4 would be a good idea. People wouldn't stick around long after the ceremony and since my fiancee and I wouldn't be sticking around for pictures, people may not feel the need to stick around to talk. And, a really good idea that I didn't think of - doing toasts and dances would allow more time between cocktail hour and serving the actual dinner. Thanks for all of your help. It feels like I have a better plan now!