Too late for dinner??

hockeywithadiamond

Our ceremony is starting at 6pm and should last only about 30 mintutes... short cocktail time of about 45 minutes so we're looking at a reception starting around 715pm.  Is this too late for dinner?!  I have been reading some blogs and starting to worry that people will eat before the ceremony and all the food will be wasted?

Will people recognize when they see a 6pm ceremony time that they need to have a snack and see the food options on the invitation and put two and two together?

We don't want to do a dessert reception because our venue has a food and beverage minimum and we really want a nice dinner with everyone.

Any help/advice would be great!

NYCMercedes

People will expect dinner. Don't worry.

tlc35

I would definitely expect dinner at a 6pm wedding.  My wedding is going to be at 7pm and we are having dinner.

J&K10910

Regardless of whether or not I would expect dinner at that time, if you had, y'know, dinner options on the RSVP card, I would most certainly expect dinner.

harper0813

I think 7:15 is perfectly normal. You can specify "dinner and dancing to follow" on the invitation and if the RSVP card has food options on it, that drives the point home as well. People will curb their hunger during cocktail hour (assuming you're serving finger foods) and I'm sure people will be greateful that the ceremony is only a half hour!

KellyBrian2013

We had a 6:30 PM ceremony, followed by cocktail hour, and then dinner... by the time introductions and toasts were done, dinner was served around 8:15. Your timeline is fine, and I doubt people will eat before hand.

hockeywithadiamond

Thanks guys!  That makes me feel much better!

AdeleDazeem

7:15pm is a normal dinner time.

I went to a wedding that started at 8pm and dinner wasnt' served until nearly 11pm. 

Most people get the concept of evening wedding = dinner and won't eat a full meal before attending.

melb2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_too-late-for-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b54f184-3bee-4d84-b33c-405e3696dac0Post:3d4d08b5-b144-4e6a-b920-b555d9f7e908">Re: Too late for dinner??</a>:
[QUOTE]7:15pm is a normal dinner time. <strong>I went to a wedding that started at 8pm and dinner wasnt' served until nearly 11pm.</strong>  Most people get the concept of evening wedding = dinner and won't eat a full meal before attending.
Posted by Joy2611[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>Uck.</div><div>
</div><div>I would completely expect dinner at 7:15- that's when we are serving our dinner.  I've never been to a wedding that served dinner earlier than that.</div>

Carson386

Serve dinner please. If I was a guest I would definitely expect dinner to be served.

lauralaur

I would anticipate dinner but have also never been to a wedding where a meal wasn't served so there's that. But yes, the food options on the RSVP should be a good indicator to your guests.

misssunshine17

I would put 'dinner and dancing to follow' on the invite so it's clear. 

lyndausvi

7:15 pm is not too late.  Actually it's the most popular reservation time at restaurants.

AdeleDazeem

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_too-late-for-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b54f184-3bee-4d84-b33c-405e3696dac0Post:bd5cce0b-a714-477e-ba92-6327a628dfec">Re: Too late for dinner??</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Too late for dinner?? : Uck. I would completely expect dinner at 7:15- that's when we are serving our dinner.  I've never been to a wedding that served dinner earlier than that.
Posted by melb2013[/QUOTE]

Right?  They also had an additional cocktail hour BEFORE the ceremony that we didn't know about.  We were running late so we skipped a snack and raced to get there on time only to find everyone drinking and mingling.  Ceremony started an hour after it was printed on the invitations and then dinner was pushed back so late.  I was ready to eat my arm.

I'm cool with extreme dinner times (like 11pm) and cocktails hours before ceremonies, but just WARN me.  I'm a hungry girl and like to eat.  But a 6pm ceremony seems like a no-brainer, 7:30pm-ish dinner time to me!

Loopyseven

I agree, your timeline sounds fine, and I would expect dinner at that time.

AddieCake

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_too-late-for-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b54f184-3bee-4d84-b33c-405e3696dac0Post:49d77372-b3ab-49bf-a7d0-e92e8976a03c">Too late for dinner??</a>:
[QUOTE]and see the food options on the invitation !
Posted by hockeywithadiamond[/QUOTE]



If there are food options given in the invitaions, I can't imagine that anyone would be confused on whether or not there would be dinner.

OwningAHome1981

Don'y worry- we wont be serving dinner til like 10:30 at my reception. I think people will know to expect dinner. I have never been to a wedding where I wasn't given a meal.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

First, I normally eat dinner at 7/7:30.

Second, my ceremony was at 5:30, cocktail hour at 6, and we served dinner at 7:15/7:30 or so. It was fine. We did passed hors d'oeuvres during cocktail hour.

CALEO

We are doing ceremony at 4:30 (to 5).  Cocktail hour or hour and 20 min or so and then dinner.  Dinner should be done by 7:30-8 then we have lots of time for dancing!

hockeywithadiamond

Thanks ladies!  We were really planning on serving dinner, but I read a few wedding blogs where they did just a dessert reception and I didn't like the sound of that!  Our ceremony will begin right at 6... I'm type A personality and running late is NOT an option.  I'm pretty confident our guests will be okay with it, I just had a minor freak out moment after reading the blog.

Thanks guys!!

OwningAHome1981

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_too-late-for-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b54f184-3bee-4d84-b33c-405e3696dac0Post:dcc190b8-22dc-430e-a451-0b792aaa0e9d">Re: Too late for dinner??</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Too late for dinner?? : What time does your ceremony start? I gotta say, depending on what time the ceremony starts, I'm usually gone by 10:30.  I can't stay up as late as I used to.
Posted by Edie Bee[/QUOTE]

8pm ceremony... reception starts @ 9:30pm. It's going to be a late wedding.

haha yeah I'm getting up there myself but still planning to party hardy!

OwningAHome1981

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_too-late-for-dinner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:4b54f184-3bee-4d84-b33c-405e3696dac0Post:6ff3cae2-a03d-4ef3-b7f6-f1a45ddddd06">Re: Too late for dinner??</a>:
[QUOTE]Yeah if I was not given food until after 10 p.m. I would leave. That is ridiculous. I hope you are letting your peeps know so they can basically eat dinner beforehand.
Posted by scribe95[/QUOTE]

the wedding starts @ 8. if tehy can't wait til 10:30 they should eat before. Most people know the drill by now. Also, there's a cocktail hour too @ 8:30 so I feel like people will be ok to wait for dinner.

Everyone's different- it;s really not that crazy for a saturday night wedding in this area.