Texas-Dallas and Ft. Worth

Ceremony Start Times?

Hi all,

We are officially on the calendar at our church (!!!), but we have to make a decision on the ceremony time.  The church offers 2:00 and 7:30pm.  I had always envisioned having an evening wedding, but it seems like the reception wouldn't start until 9:00 - at a minimum - if we did the 7:30 ceremony.

That being said, I have heard it is poor form to have a huge break during the middle of the day.  Also, I'm not sure what I would do - since obviously with full hair, make up, and dress, it would be difficult to "relax".  We do want to do a full dinner and dancing reception. 

What have been your experiences?  What did you do?  What would you suggest? 

Thanks in advance!
Sara

Re: Ceremony Start Times?

  • Are you doing a Catholic mass? That is really the only time a small gap is appropriate. Otherwise, if you want an evening wedding, you must choose 7:30.
  • In my experience unless the wedding is Catholic the ceremony is pretty short.  So if start time was 7:30 finish and out the door was about 8pm now I would worry about 8 being late for dinner.  I would have to take in consideration the time it took for people to arrive, settle in.  This is of course if it takes 30 mins for the ceremony.  It's not impossible though.  But for this reason is why I have declined a few places because it would be a big gap OR too late in the day.  
  • I'm pretty sure you're getting married where I got married.  We originally chose the 7:30 time because we wanted the party to go well into the night, but changed our minds because it would be pitch-black outside by the time we were done, meaning photos outdoors were out unless we did them beforehand.

    With the 2:00 ceremony, we had cocktail hour starting at 3:30-ish (we missed all of it, but that's kind of the point of cocktail hour -- the guests drink, eat, and mingle while the WP attends to business).  The reception began at 4:30-ish, and it was full dinner and dancing.  We ended around 8:30 or 9:00, and actually one of my favorite things ended up being watching the sun set over Dallas.  Afterward there were two afterparties -- one for the "adults" at the hotel where my ILs stayed and one for the "kids" at the home of a friend of ours.  We made an appearance at both, but we were so exhausted that we were more than happy to get on to bed.  =)

    I'd be happy to send you our timeline if you'd like!
    Anniversary

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  • Professor Science is helping me keep my sanity.  :)  We're church twinzies! 

    Thanks all - it looks like it's going to be 2:00 after all.  Will probably be back with timing questions as we proceed. 
  • Colleen (wedding coordinator) at CTK is amazing to work with.  My coordinator was wary of working at a Catholic church and since my wedding has raved about how awesome the whole office staff was.
    Anniversary

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