a.m. wedding??

betty426

We found out today that the church we really want to get married in would be available on our date if we could do a 10:30a.m. (before mass) ceremony. There is another wedding there that afternoon which is why we originally were told it was booked. This church is the church we attend and the church we really wanted to get married in. However...we have our reception set from 5:00-11:30 and do not want to change that. Is it possible to have so much time in between? What would our guests do during such a long break?? Thanks for insight!!

jleigh1902

Is your date flexible at all? If it is, I would try for a different date so that you can get a later time for your ceremony. If you have that long of a break I'm guessing a lot of people won't come to the ceremony. An hour or two gap wouldn't be horrible but five hours is a long time (assuming you're having a full mass with your ceremony). Let people know what there is to do in GR if they're not familiar with the area. Maybe a family member can host an open house for out of towners? Have a cocktail hour starting at 3:30 or 4?

amandaswisher1

I'm guessing that if you do the am wedding and pm ceremony, your guests aren't going to be happy about it. I would agree that a chunk of your guest list would skip the ceremony in this case, even if there is some sort of organized activity in between. How big is your guest list? How many are going to have to travel? Is it even feasible to have an open house to host out of towners or are you inviting tons of people?

I would try and find a way to either change your date, find a different location for your ceremony, or do an afternoon reception.

shrades77

Personally, if I were invited, I would probably be skipping the ceremony.  Especially if you have people driving in from a ways away, they aren't going to want to drive in, go the ceremony, and hang out for 6 hours until the reception.  Is there any way you can move your date...or do your ceremony elsewhere as suggested above?

betty426

Thanks for the suggestions!! We agree that that is way too much time to ask ppl to wait in between! I would not be happy as a guest if I had to find something to do for several hours. So we will move our ceremony to a different location at a more appropriate time Thanks!!!