Chit Chat

How long is/was your wedding?

This came up on a tangent on another board, but I was wondering...how long is your wedding?  (Not including a gap, if you have one).

Mine will be 7-7:30 ceremony, 7:30-8:30 cocktail hour, 8:30-midnight reception.  Does that seem short?  I have the option to add time onto the reception.
«1

Re: How long is/was your wedding?


  • This came up on a tangent on another board, but I was wondering...how long is your wedding?  (Not including a gap, if you have one).

    Mine will be 7-7:30 ceremony, 7:30-8:30 cocktail hour, 8:30-midnight reception.  Does that seem short?  I have the option to add time onto the reception.
    You know your crowd best.  Would they party much past midnight?  If you think they would I say go for it.  Either way is fine though.

    My ceremony was from 11:30-12, 12-12:30 cocktail half-hour, 12:30-4 brunch reception.  My 3.5 hour reception flew by.  It was over before we knew it!!
    image


    Wedding Countdown Ticker


  • Ours was shorter than we would have liked because we had it in our in-laws' yard and agreed to turn the music off at 10:30 pm. But almost everybody just moved to the bar at a nearby hotel. Ours was

    5 - 6: Ceremony
    6 - 8: Dinner
    8 - 10:30: Dancing
    10:30 - whenever: After party. We went to bed around midnight I think. Some folks closed the bar.

    I don't know your crowd, but midnight is probably about as late as I would do it.
  • My ceremony was 6:30-7:30, cocktail hour was 7:30-8:30, and the reception was 8:30-1 am.
    Anniversary
    image
     
  • Ceremony = 4:30-5
    Cocktail hour = 5-6
    Reception = 6-10

    Then those who wanted to continue the party went out to a local bar until it closed.

  • 2:30 Grounds open to guests
    3:00 Ceremony
    3:30 Cocktails and Appetizers
    5:00 Dinner Served
    6:00-8:00 Live music & dancing

    Our venue is a restaurant, not a place like a ballroom or private location that lends itself to a late into the night party. 
  • melbelleupmelbelleup member
    500 Love Its 1000 Comments Second Anniversary First Answer
    edited October 2013
    ceremony: 1:30-3
    reception: 3:30-8:30
    dinner: 4:30
    after ish party: 8:30 to whenever (in the hotel lobby, not hosted by anyone.)
    Daisypath Wedding tickers
  • So far, I have it set up that ceremony is at 6 30 til MAYBE 7 and then dinner served at 7 15 or so... and dancing from 8-11... I dont want to be partying late...I wanna do it with my new husband.
    Anniversary
    image
  • We did:

    4 pm - pre ceremony reception
    4:30 pm - 5 - ceremony
    5 - 10 reception

    on a Sunday evening
  • My wedding ceremony will be from 7:00-7:30, and reception immediately following until 10:30. We have mentioned to our best friends that we plan to head to New Orleans after the wedding since we will be flying out of there the next morning for our honeymoon so we are thinking everyone is going to come party with us out there.
  • 4:30- 5pm Ceremony

    5:30-7 cocktail hours

    7-12 reception

    12-3am unplanned post party at the hotel bar.

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • Our whole ordeal was about 6-7 hours. Everything was over by 11pm. 
    *********************************************************************************

    image
  • We are looking at
    Ceremony 3-3:45 ish
    pictures / cocktail hour 4 - 5/5:30
    Dinner served 5:30
    Dances/speeches etc 6:30 - 7:30
    Dancing/party time 7:30 - midnight

    If at the end we have enough steam to want to keep going - we may invite some people out with us to a local bar - we often go to karaoke on Saturday nights and would love to show up in my dress / his suit and sing a song before calling it a night.  

    Still not set in stone as wedding is MONTHS away but thats what we are planning on ..
  • 6:00-6:30 Ceremony
    6:30-7:30 Cocktail Hour
    7:30-8:30 Dinner (Salads will be on the table when guests enter the hall so they can start eating)
    8:30-11:00 Dancing etc.  Over by 11:15

    We're not a big dancing crowd but for those who want to continue to party there are a bunch of bars around but FI and I will probably be heading to bed.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker 
      Visit The Knot!
  • Ours is pretty long...

    2:30-3:  Ceremony
    3:30-5:30:  Refreshments & pastries at the RH (optional for those that do not want to stop home)
    5:30-6:30:  Cocktail Hour
    6:30-12:  Reception

    So for people that skip the refreshments before the cocktail hour, it's 7 total hours of scheduled wedding things, and for those that do go it's 9 hours total.  I didn't really intend for it to be quite that long, but our RH threw in some extra time and a Viennese hour, which I didn't think would upset any of my guests too much!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Ceremony 4:00 - 4:30
    Cocktail hour 5:00 - 6:00 (15 min drive time to reception, plus time to park and navigate building)
    Reception (Dinner/Dessert/Dancing/etc) done at 10:00, we had kids at the wedding, so most of the parents were leaving by 9, we are an "older" couple (late 30's, early 40's) and we were done by 10.  
  • ceremony: 1:30-3
    reception: 3:30-8:30
    dinner: 4:30
    after ish party: 8:30 to whenever (in the hotel lobby, not hosted by anyone.)
    Wow, that is a long ceremony!

    We did ceremony from 6-6:30, cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 and reception from 7:30 - 11:30.  Many of us spent a couple hours at the hotel bar afterwards.
  • Ours was:
    4:00 - 4:30 ceremony (maybe 4:45 cos we did a group photo will all of our guests too)
    4:45 - 6:00 Cocktail hour/photos.  We were done photos by about 5:30ish and joined everyone for a drink before dinner started
    6:00 - 8:00 dinner
    8:00 - 8:45 Polynesian dance show
    9:00 - Lost amplified everything, since we were surrounded by outdoor patios to hotel rooms
    9:00 - ??  Karaoke after party in the restaurant below us

  • Nothing's set in stone yet for me, until we've met with FI's uncle (the priest who'll be conducting the ceremony) but I'm guessing something along these lines:

    11am - Ceremony
    11.30am - "cocktail hour"
    12.30pm - Lunch, speeches etc
    1.30pm - Cake cutting, and we're done

    We're skipping a lot of the "traditions". Only 2 toasts (BM to us, and us to our guests), no dances, no bouquet/garter toss, and definitely no cake-smooshing. It's about us getting married, not making fools of ourselves and our guests.
    imageDaisypath Friendship tickers
  • 3pm-  Full Catholic Mass

    4:45pm-  Leaving the church...some guests will head to the hotel to check in the others will head to the venue

    5:30-5:45pm- Arrive at venue for pictures while guests not staying at the hotel enjoy "hospitality"

    7pm-"Official" Cocktail hour

    8pm-12am- Reception...dinner, drinks, and dancing...

    Pregnancy Ticker
  • Total, we went from 5 PM ceremony start to ending at midnight at the reception hall.  Our ceremony was about an hour though as we had a full Catholic wedding mass.
  • We're having a private ceremony the day before. 

    1pm-2pm: Cocktail Hour 
    2pm-5pm: Drinks, Dinner, Dancing 
    5pm-6pm: Campfire 
    6pm-whenever: Afterparty at winery 
  • JoanE2012 said:
    ceremony: 1:30-3
    reception: 3:30-8:30
    dinner: 4:30
    after ish party: 8:30 to whenever (in the hotel lobby, not hosted by anyone.)
    Wow, that is a long ceremony!

    We did ceremony from 6-6:30, cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 and reception from 7:30 - 11:30.  Many of us spent a couple hours at the hotel bar afterwards.
    It's a traditional catholic wedding, plus receiving line, but yes it will take a while LOL
    Daisypath Wedding tickers
  • Our wedding day is a long one: 

    4:00 Ceremony
    4:30 - 6:00 Cocktail hour
    6:00 - 11:00 - Dinner & Dancing 
    11:00 - 1:30 After party - we're hosting tapas
    1:30 - ???? Inviting our closest friends back to our suite to continue hanging out

    And b/c of my hair/makeup artist's schedule, we have to start getting ready at 9:00. Caffeine to the vein anyone? 

    We will probably never have all our family and friends together like this again, though, so we want the most of it. 

    @ClimbingBrideNY - we seriously considered a campfire/bonfire as well! FI and I were both sold on doing it in place of an after party, but our venue wanted to charge us $550+++ to stock it with wood and tend it. 
  • Our wedding day is a long one: 

    4:00 Ceremony
    4:30 - 6:00 Cocktail hour
    6:00 - 11:00 - Dinner & Dancing 
    11:00 - 1:30 After party - we're hosting tapas
    1:30 - ???? Inviting our closest friends back to our suite to continue hanging out

    And b/c of my hair/makeup artist's schedule, we have to start getting ready at 9:00. Caffeine to the vein anyone? 

    We will probably never have all our family and friends together like this again, though, so we want the most of it. 

    @ClimbingBrideNY - we seriously considered a campfire/bonfire as well! FI and I were both sold on doing it in place of an after party, but our venue wanted to charge us $550+++ to stock it with wood and tend it. 
    Damn!! That's crazy. My venue is charging us $125. However, they did want to charge us $5 per person for S'Mores. I was like Uh, I can do that myself for my cheaper. 
  • 4:00 Ceremony
    4:30 - 5:30 Cocktail hour
    5:30 - 10:00 - Dinner & Dancing 
    10:00 - ??  Hosted after party at the hotel for anyone who would like to join (1 of our groomsman is throwing it for us as a wedding gift.  We will be having KFC and kegs of beer lol).
  • 6:30-7:00: Ceremony

    7:00-8:00: Cocktail hour

    8:00-Midnight: Reception

    Midnight-???: After party with the bridal party

  • 6-6:30 ceremony
    6:30-7:30 cocktail hour
    7:30-11 reception
    image

    Anniversary
  • Ceremony: 4:30
    Cocktail hour: until 6 (or earlier if we finish with pictures, I really want it to be less than an hour)
    Reception: 6ish to 9:30 then back to the B & B



    Anniversary
    image

    image


  • @ClimbingBrideNY - we seriously considered a campfire/bonfire as well! FI and I were both sold on doing it in place of an after party, but our venue wanted to charge us $550+++ to stock it with wood and tend it. 
    Our venue has a campfire in the courtyard that will be burning throughout our day.  It's one of my favorite things about it. I love the thought of our guests being able to sit outside  around it on a cool afternoon with their drinks.
  • OjitosVerdesOjitosVerdes member
    250 Love Its 500 Comments Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited October 2013
    @ClimbingBrideNY - enjoy it! I had such a hard time letting go of the bonfire. :( And yeah, it's crazy the up charges on some things. Although I love our venue, the fire price made me literally LOL. 

    Edited to add - when I first spoke with the coordinator, she was so gung ho about the fire idea - said we could even have coolers of beer brought down! They could arrange a guitarist! Ah, but everything for a price. And a steep one.  When I found out that it was going to be like $1,500 to re-create an experience that we could walk 50 feet outside our back door and have any night of the week, FI and I just about keeled over. 

    @WonderRed - that sounds absolutely wonderful! As a guest, it would probably be my favorite thing about the wedding. :)
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards