Ceremony Timings?

coly06

We have some people in our family who never cease to show up late to events and parties. I've never seen it happen at a wedding, but somehow I wouldn't doubt it. I know I can't completely stop this from happening, but if I can help prevent it, I would like to take all precautions...

Did anyone else put an earlier start time on their invitations to help avoid this? I know this wouldn't be fair to those who do show up on time though... So I'm torn. I just would hate to have people walk in half way through the ceremony since our ceremony is in an outdoor garden..

If that is a bad idea, is there a way to stop the stragglers from disrupting the ceremony and make them wait until the ceremony is over to come in the garden gates (it's a prety small space..)??

I know it seems obsessive, but the space is small and people walking in during the ceremony would be very disruptive. This is why we are having no kids as well. So which, if either, would you suggest??

LeiselEB

Don't put an earlier time on your invites. That's rude to the guests that DO show up on time. Put the actual start time of the ceremony on your invitations.

If you don't want late comers to disrupt the ceremony, have your wedding coordinator or some member of the venue staff stand near the entrance and let people know it's too late to go in. Is there any lull in the ceremony where someone could slip in unnoticed? I think completely keeping people out for being just a few minutes late is a bit much, but if someone shows up much later than that I suppose they can be turned away, so to speak.

coly06

Thanks for the opinions. Good to know about putting the correct time on the invites. I've only been to one wedding in my life when I was like 8, so I'm still learning all of this stuff.

I like the ideas of having people seat guests and either holding stragglers until the end or until a lull in the ceremony. Not sure if there will be a lull but I can look into the timing of that. I wouldn't be surprised if certain people don't show up until the entire ceremony is over anyhow.. we have people known to show up an hour or two late to everything! Thanks for the input!

LeiselEB

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_ceremony-timings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:df040e53-6535-4543-9f73-5dcb94437ccfPost:b5e73f55-d039-41ed-84d7-640e63ab5be4">Re: Ceremony Timings?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks for the opinions. Good to know about putting the correct time on the invites. I've only been to one wedding in my life when I was like 8, so I'm still learning all of this stuff. I like the ideas of having people seat guests and either holding stragglers until the end or until a lull in the ceremony. Not sure if there will be a lull but I can look into the timing of that. I wouldn't be surprised if certain people don't show up until the entire ceremony is over anyhow.. we have people known to show up an hour or two late to everything! Thanks for the input!
Posted by coly06[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I have family like that, too, but they all show up on time to important events like weddings. Don't stress yourself out too much about it :)

</div>

Ravenclaw79

I suppose you could get two sets of invites printed, if you have the money to do that -- I seriously considered it myself, as my FH's parents are notoriously late for everything, and I totally don't put it past them that they'll be late for his wedding, too.  (At the last wedding we went to, the family actually tried to fool them by telling them the night before that the ceremony time had changed at the last minute and was a half-hour earlier.  Nonetheless, they showed up exactly one minute before the actual start time, thinking that they were a half-hour late.)

But I didn't want to shell out to have special invitations printed just for them, so I've accepted that the entire ceremony might be delayed waiting for them to show up and get in position. *sigh*