Afternoon vs Evening

stephjrivers

Hey everyone,

I'm so excited, I just booked my venue.  It's at a nice downtown restaurant.  It's on a saturday and there is a significant (like, several thousand dollar) price difference between afternoon and an evening event.  If we do it during the day we would have to be out by 3pm, so I was thinking we could do the ceremony at 11am.  Is that enough time?  People are telling me that is not very long but we don't need a long ceremony, 20-30 minutes tops.  It will all be in the same location.  I thought after the wedding we could have a fun small after party, possibly rent out a private karaoke bar, so I like the idea of having extra time after the reception.  We are fun people and don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do want our wedding to be meaningful and fun at the same time.  Does an afternoon event take away from anything?  The only thing I think I will miss is some cool downtown nighttime photos but according to my fiance he'd rather spend the extra money on our honeymoon "and take even better photos there" which I have to agree is a good idea.  What do you all think about timing?  I should add that it is at a downtown aquarium/events venue and we want to do something fun right after like go through the actual exhibit in our wedding clothes which I think would make for some photos as well. They said we can get back to them about finalizing a time as it is still open.  Who all is having an afternoon wedding?

lyndausvi

I've been some great day time weddings. They all had the same stuff as evening weddings.  

Although most of them were from noon until 5pm.  So a little longer than yours.  

stephjrivers

We have to be out of the ballroom by 3pm but there is also an outdoor carnival area.  I thought that might be a fun way of extending the reception a little.  Is 3pm too weird of a time to end it?  It does seem a little early to me.  Maybe they'd be willing to extend it if nobody books the evening. 

Nickivegan

I think the time is ok. But Honestly I don't think that is enough time. We had a 4:30 ceremony then reception, at the same location, from 4:45 until 11pm and it still flew by. As a guest, that's too short, too. Especially if you have out of town guests that are traveling any sort of distance, think an hour plus. I do not travel far if travel time is greater than half the time I will be there. For example, if I drive to an event and it's an hour each way, I won't stay for only 3 hours. Two hours of travel time means I need four hours plus to make it worth the time. Of course, each event is weighed slightly different, but thats my general rule. Does that make sense?

OliveOilsMom

You mentioned renting out a karaoke bar as an afterparty, would that negate your savings from having your wedding during the day?  I think your FI has a great idea with using the savings towards your honeymoon. 

QMac73

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_afternoon-vs-evening?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:25226af5-b263-422f-918e-a1597df2f98bPost:41bf87f6-9006-4d4a-92d3-ac957083eb32">Re: Afternoon vs Evening</a>:
[QUOTE]We have to be out of the ballroom by 3pm but there is also an outdoor carnival area.  I thought that might be a fun way of extending the reception a little.  Is 3pm too weird of a time to end it?  It does seem a little early to me.  Maybe they'd be willing to extend it if nobody books the evening. 
Posted by stephjrivers[/QUOTE]

Could you have another informal gathering in the evening at your favorite bar/park/mom's home/backyard...wherever suits your fancy? "C'mon over for some light refreshments and music?"