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Sunday Wedding Timing

osumegsosumegs member
100 Comments
in Wedding Etiquette Forum
I've looked around and haven't found anything great to answer my questions, so hopefully you all can help!

When we were picking our date, there was a conflict almost every weekend in April, May, and June of next year (we both work every other weekend and his family considers birthday weekends off limits - insert eye roll). We finally found one weekend that would work, but our only options were Friday night or Sunday at the venues we liked. We ended up opting for the Sunday afternoon wedding. We aren't doing alcohol (FI's family is against any type of alcohol being present). Both wedding and reception are at the same location.

Now we are planning our timing (we can have the space all day). Most of our guests will be coming from cities within a 3 hour radius. However, we do have 4 families that will be coming from pretty decent distances (Texas, Wisconsin, New York). Hotel check outs are around noon and so far nobody has seemed flexible on that time. I don't want it to start too early (brunch wasn't our thought), but I don't want to inconvenience people by having gaps between hotel check-out and start time. Also, we were hoping to wrap up by 7 so people could head home. FMIL is pushing for 11 am so her family in WI can drive home that day. Does anyone have ideas for a start time that would work for a meal and checkout? I don't want to inconvenience anyone, because I've hated dealing with gaps before!

Sorry so long! Thanks in advance :)
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Re: Sunday Wedding Timing

  • annakb8annakb8 member
    2500 Comments
    How long do you have the venue? At my venue we get 5 hours of time that can start whenever we want. We are having a 1 pm ceremony and the reception is over at 6. This seems like it might work for your wedding as well, not too long after hotel check out but not too late to drive 3 hours home. I went to an 11 am wedding earlier this summer and it was a little difficult to get up and ready that early, I think 12 and 1 are more do-able times.
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  • opalsky007opalsky007 member
    5000 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2010
    I think 11 AM might actually be your best bet, if you could find venues that would do it. You could have a lunch reception after, and it wouldn't be unusual to not serve alcohol that early in the day.

    The only cautions: you're going to be on a tight schedule as far as hair and makeup and photography go. You can plan around that, but be aware of it.

    Edit: on re-reading, I see that you already have a venue. As long as they're cool with it, I'm sticking with my suggestion.
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  • osumegsosumegs member
    100 Comments
    Thanks, Anna.

    We get it for 6 or 7 hours, starting whenever we'd like. I like the idea of the 1 pm time. We might be able to make that work. I agree on 11a weddings. I would never be awake and ready to go myself lol.
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  • kcscejalkcscejal member
    1000 Comments
    i would probably do it around 11 or 12 and have a lunch reception.  Getting ready in the morning might be rushed, but it would give your OOT guests time to get home and the hotel check out time won't be a problem.
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  • osumegsosumegs member
    100 Comments
    Thanks, everyone! I think I'm going to revisit the heavy lunch idea after hearing your input. :)
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  • TurtlesAllTheWayDownTurtlesAllTheWayDown member
    10000 Comments Sixth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    If you do 1, that's a little late for lunch, IMO.

    If you do 11 or 12, you can do lunch or brunch.

    For YOU doing hair, makeup and pics might be hard. Like, you'll be getting up at 4 or 5. As a guest, I would have time to have breakfast, shower, get ready, etc if it was 11. That's not terribly early.
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  • kcscejalkcscejal member
    1000 Comments
    I agree that 1 is a little late for lunch.  If lunch was starting at 1 it'd be fine, but lunch probably wouldn't get served until about 2.
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  • Summer2011BrideSummer2011Bride member
    5000 Comments Third Anniversary 25 Love Its Combo Breaker
    I would suggest the ceremony at 12 and the reception to begin by 1. I think you could do lunch at that time, and no one would miss or expect alcohol. For guests staying at the hotel, that gives them ample time to get ready that morning and get checked out (since they'd have to be at your wedding by noon anyhow).


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  • Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
    Knottie Warrior 2500 Comments 25 Love Its First Answer
    we were married at 11am.  Ceremony was an hour and fifteen, and we had a lunch buffet starting at 1230pm.  we had folks from 2 hours away that made the trip all in one day, and those that had hotels checked out and came to the wedding and a few had flights that night (reception wrapped at 4pm).
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    Moderator Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its
    My sister had a 10:30am (saturday) wedding and it was fine.  We had to get up early, but it was not a big deal.

    My question is how religious are your guests?  Having a 11am ceremony might cut into people's church time.

    1pm is not too late for lunch IMO, but I grew up having mid-afternoon Sunday dinners






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  • meganyanimeganyani member
    100 Comments
    We did a Sunday wedding but all the OOT guests had to fly in anyways (and it was a holiday weekend) so everyone left on Monday. We started at 2pm and it was over by 5. Obviously yours isn't that short but you get the idea. Any earlier than 2pm would've been a time crunch for us since we had to do hair for 4 people and set a lot of stuff up and take pictures beforehand.

    Do those people HAVE to leave the same day as the wedding? I don't mean to sound rude but that is part of having a Sunday wedding...no extra time off. Unless those certain people are very very important to you.
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  • osumegsosumegs member
    100 Comments
    The majority of the people from out of town have said it's no problem. They would ordinarily have to take Friday off of work to travel for a Saturday wedding, so they've all said they would book Monday flights and take that day off instead. Only one family (the Wisconsin ones) wants to drive back the same day. Two of them are in the wedding party. 

    Our friends and family are pretty religious, but for the Catholic ones, they usually go to 8 am mass on Sundays (could go Saturday night, however). They were part of the reason we wanted a later time. However, FI's family doesn't see why we'd work it around "Catholic things" lol. The others could also go on Saturday night or wouldn't worry about missing one weekend.

    To summarize: my family wants it at 2:30 and to have an early dinner. His family wants it at 11:30 so 5 people could drive back to their home. I'm playing the go-between and my biggest concern is the gap in time. 
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  • mkruparmkrupar member
    5000 Comments Third Anniversary 5 Love Its
    How long do you expect your ceremony to be? If it's only 30 minutes to an hour, I would say ceremony at 12pm and lunch at 1pm. That sort of splits the difference between what the two families want.
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