Friday wedding

[Deleted User]

I don't know where to post this question, sorry if it should be somewhere else.
Our Friday casual wedding/reception will be held in the same place, it's in a large outdoor area and nothing will need to be "turned" between the ceremony and reception. We can get in as early as 9AM and need to be done (except cleanup) by 10PM. We were thinking of a 6PM start time with a 15-20 min ceremony, buffet dinner, dancing, maybe cake cutting but no toasts and probably no boquet/garter toss. Will this be rushing the guests too much? Is it better to start earlier and expect that people may need to leave work earlier than a 6PM start time? Am I totally overthinking?

nextrightthing

I think 6pm is pretty early for people  to get there if they get off work at 5pm (here, a lot of people seem to work at 5:30).  Is it impossible to get the venue to let you stay until 11?  I think 7pm or even 6:30 would be easier for people on a Friday.

Meegles4

I think a 6-7 p.m. start time is preferable. If you're fine with having only a 3-4 hour reception, I think guests would rather have a later start time than try to leave work early to attend.

You may not have much dancing, as you should probably allow for an hour or so for food. Also allow for some transition time (i.e. people lining up in buffet, staff clearing dishes, etc.). So, say the buffet line opened at 6:30, I'd plan for cake to be served around 8. Then you have only a couple hours of dancing.

KellyBrian2013

We had a 6:30 PM Friday ceremony, cocktail hour from 7 to 8, dinner concluded at around 9 or 9:30. Assuming your are foregoing the cocktail hour, you could conceivably have dinner done by 8 or 8:30ish... are you okay with only an hour or two of dancing? We wouldn't have been. We had our venue until 1 AM and we still had probably close to half of our guests still there dancing and partying when the DJ played his last song.

jessicabessica

I think that sounds fine.  With no toasts and no tosses, you won't be trying to fit things in or keep interrupting the dancing.  It sounds like you're skipping cocktail hour, which is what I would do--or you could have cocktail hour before the ceremony, for those that are able to leave work earlier.  I would actually really enjoy having some snacks and a glass of wine in that time frame--it would be a nice way to transition from work week to wedding.

brilibby4

I think that sounds fine, but don't be offended if some of your out of town guests can't make it.  6:00 is probably doable for most of your local guests, but anyone having to travel at all will probably struggle to get there on time.

MrsGandthebeag

we got married on a Friday night at 5:30.  There was only one couple that missed the ceremony.  

[Deleted User]

Thank you all! We really would like a lot of dancing time but 10:00 gives us and cousins time to go out after the wedding if we choose to forget that we're in our 40's and are usually in bed by 10. I love the idea of drinks/apps before the wedding, that way if people come early, they are treated well. I think I'll stick with 6 or 6:30, have snacks and quit trying to plan everyone's schedule for them.

[Deleted User]

I personally love Friday weddings.  I do have the flexibility to leave work early though and I understand some people can't.
As long as you are ok with some people not making it to the ceremony, then I think you are fine!