11am wedding ceremony? Do or don't?

ujuobi25

Hi all,

We found a location to have a Catholic wedding ceremony. It's the Saint Paul Cathedral, which is my dream church! However, the only time available is at 11am! Is that too early? Our reception, which we have already booked the location starts at 6pm. I'm worried about all that down time and also if people would skip the ceremony since it's so early. Should I do it at 11am or find a different church? The different church is difficult because many Catholic churches are sticklers if you are a parishoner and since we don't live in the state that makes it a mute point.

Thanks for your comments!

lyndausvi

Why would you book a 6pm reception without finding the church first?  That just does not make sense to me.

A 6 hour gap is ridiculous IMO.   My sister had a 10:30 mass, sit-down lunch at noon.   Drinking and dancing lasted until 5pm.    I would say 80% of the 265 some people were there till the end.  The dance floor was packed all afternoon.

Honestly if I received an invite to your wedding I would skip the ceremony and just go to the reception.

kaos16

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_11am-wedding-ceremony-do-or-dont?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:97b2ed14-a751-42cf-9db8-933fc1b71b39Post:b278bd83-5193-457b-8413-489ff6b0f4fa">11am wedding ceremony? Do or don't?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi all, We found a location to have a Catholic wedding ceremony. It's the Saint Paul Cathedral, which is my dream church! However, the only time available is at 11am! Is that too early? Our reception, which we have already booked the location starts at 6pm. I'm worried about all that down time and also if people would skip the ceremony since it's so early. Should I do it at 11am or find a different church? The different church is difficult because many Catholic churches are sticklers if you are a parishoner and since we don't live in the state that makes it a mute point. Thanks for your comments!
Posted by ujuobi25[/QUOTE]

Even a Catholic mass is what, 1-1.5 hours long.  The ceremony will be over by 12:30.  That leaves 5.5 hours for your guests to hang around until the reception.  IMO that is entirely too long.  Even if they have to travel from ceremony site to reception site, that is a lot of downtime.  I recommend a different ceremony location if you can't/won't have an earlier reception.

itzMS

Since your wedding is still over a year out, I'm sure you could change your reception to a lunch reception. Even if it means losing a small deposit.

I had an 11:00AM Catholic ceremony with a lunch reception and it was awesome! We had a great turnout, too.

p.s. It's "moot" point not "mute" point for future reference

daria24

An 11am ceremony is fine...if you are having a lunch reception. So you either need to find a church with a later Mass time available, or change your reception time. FWIW, if you are having a Catholic ceremony, I think your priority should be the church and not having an evening reception. 

AddieCake

Our ceremony was at 10:30 followed by a lunch reception. You want to have a gap of several hours?  What do you expect your guests to do during that time?

AdeleDazeem

Just say no to gaps!  Any gap at all is not appropriate.

harper0813

Either have a lunch reception or find a new church.

Or you can have a 5.5 hour gap and expect many people to skip your ceremony or your reception - or both. I went to a wedding like this two weekends ago and only 25% of the guests attended the ceremony and my FI and I left the reception right after dinner because we were tired.

bakerie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_11am-wedding-ceremony-do-or-dont?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:97b2ed14-a751-42cf-9db8-933fc1b71b39Post:2e46ee72-4140-450c-a8d8-d8be954caa6a">Re: 11am wedding ceremony? Do or don't?</a>:
[QUOTE]An 11am ceremony is fine...if you are having a lunch reception. So you either need to find a church with a later Mass time available, or change your reception time.<strong> FWIW, if you are having a Catholic ceremony, I think your priority should be the church and not having an evening reception. </strong>
Posted by daria24[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it's kind of baffling to me that you would book your reception venue before your church.

Simply Fated

11 am for a ceremony is fine, but long gaps are not. You might need to find a new church to hold the ceremony at or eat the cost of the venue's downpayments and find a new one.

MsYeck

Gaps suck! I would call your venue and see about moving the time to earlier. With this much notice I bet they will. It probably will even be cheaper.

ujuobi25

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Very helpful. We booked the reception because it was our #1 location and that was the only date available in June. As a physician, my schedule is pretty inflexible. We were hoping to find a church that would be accomodating with my schedule and did not think it would be a big deal since we are planning over a year and half in advance. We still have the option of using my parents' church, which my parents started going to after I left for college, although the FI and I would prefer the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Nevertheless, wanted to get a sense of what people would do in this scenario. 

QueerFemme

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_11am-wedding-ceremony-do-or-dont?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:97b2ed14-a751-42cf-9db8-933fc1b71b39Post:ed67353e-c747-446e-95a2-0286d6021091">Re: 11am wedding ceremony? Do or don't?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks for the thoughts guys. Very helpful. We booked the reception because it was our #1 location and that was the only date available in June. As a physician, my schedule is pretty inflexible. We were hoping to find a church that would be accomodating with my schedule and did not think it would be a big deal since we are planning over a year and half in advance. We still have the option of using my parents' church, which my parents started going to after I left for college, although the FI and I would prefer the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Nevertheless, wanted to get a sense of what people would do in this scenario. 
Posted by ujuobi25[/QUOTE]

I hope you take the PPs advice to heart.  A gap is unacceptable and incredibly rude to your guets.  talk to your dream venue and ask them if you can shift your reservation to an afternoon event. 

libby2483

I agree with PPs that a gap is extremely rude.  I think you either need to find a different church that will let you do the ceremony at a later time, or move your reception to lunch time.

artbyallie

The answer to what to do in this scenario is move the reception or move the ceremony. We got married at 11am and had a lunch reception immediately following in our church's Family Life Center. It may not have been precisely what I had hoped for, but it fit our time and budget needs and was a spectacular event nonetheless.

HobokensFury

PP have given you great advice. You can't have a 5.5 hour gap. Either change the church or move the reception.

Jen4948

If the ceremony is going to be at 11am, you need to move up the time of your reception so it starts right after the ceremony is over.  A gap that long is really going to piss off your guests.

[Deleted User]

I agree you need the afternoon wedding or change the church.  As far as booking the reception first, honestly we are looking for receptions first because it's the one thing that really fills up fast at most places around here and it's the biggest cost of the whole thing.  However, with us we have looked at more venues that do both the ceremony and reception since I am okay with a non tradition location for the ceremony so I have plenty of options thus not worring about booking the ceremony place first.  I know to some it's the most important part but it's not for us.  We are all about the reception and getting to celebrate with our family and friends.