Good Morning Wedding Freakout - what time do I want?

sarahdactyI · January 2013

Hi All!

I've found that throughout the planning process, whenever I have to make a big decision that I thought was a no-brainer, I somehow find myself with a big "wait wait what if I want something else?!" freakout right before. Thus:

We can finally officially book the church now that we have started marriage prep.
I was set on a 2:00 ceremony. Well, I kind of thought it was a 2:30 time. So now that it's a 2:00 I'm wondering if it's too early.

My choices are 2:00 or 7:00.

-I'm getting married in early November, the week after the time change. Internet says the sun will set at 5:30 in Houston.... which still gives us several hours of night-feeling.
-I'm not doing a gap. So reception will either go from 3:30-7:30 (?!) or 8:30-12:30?
-We're probably doing a first look regardless, so I'm not super concerned about pictures (though for a 7:00 ceremony, we'd have to be ready two hours in advance to take pictures??)

FI doesn't have a preference. Most of his friends have done a 2:00 ceremony and a gap with reception starting at 6. This really doesn't make sense given our largely OOT guestlist and the area we're having the wedding.

erin5286 · January 2013

I'd say stick with the 2:00 pm ceremony. Like you said, with the early sunset you'll still feel like you're having an evening reception, and you can always continue celebrating at an after-party somewhere if you want to!

We had a 2pm ceremony and had plenty of time before to get ready and get pictures done. We got all our pictures done ahead of time except for the WP went to a bar to have a drink together after the ceremony and we got some pics of that, as well as my H and I had a VERY short session in this cool brick alleyway behind our reception site.

lalaith50 · January 2013

do the 2 pm ceremony. Can you have cocktails for an hour (or even 1.5 hours!) then everyone is leisurely seated and the WP is introduced and before you know it it's 5 or 5:30, dinner won't be done til 6:30, and won't you have more than 1 hour of dancing?!

bibliophile2010 · January 2013

Definite vote for rellax!

And another vote for 2pm. In addition to the things others have mentioned, 7pm would likely be very hard on little kids (if you have any coming) or older people, like grandparents.

We did mass from 2-3:15. People got to the reception between 3:30 and 4. Cocktails 'til 5, introductions, first dance and grace at 5, dinner at 5:15, and over at 9. It was actually very nice.

sarahdactyI · January 2013

Awesome. I texted my mom at work and she reassured me that 2:00 is not too early.

We are planning on having cocktails for an hour or so - I guess I'm just so used to my cousins' leisurely evening weddings that it's hard for me to imagine... but yes I'm really looking forward to the lighting in the stained glass at the church Kristan!!

I feel much better now

professorscience · January 2013

I vote panic.

Not really.

Okay, we got married the first weekend in November. I thought that was late enough that DST would happen, but I was wrong. Anyway, we first chose 7:00 because DH wanted an evening reception. Then one night we were driving home at like 8:00 and I pointed to the sky and said, "Just so you know, this is what it will look like outside when our wedding is over. So if we want ANY pictures outside, we're going to have to do them before the ceremony." Changed his mind right quick.

To be honest, I don't have a clue when the sun set. I just remember at one point realizing that it was no longer light outside. We went from about 3:45-8:30/9:00 (again, don't remember). Afterward we all went out and had a few extra drinks at a bar. My ILs hosted some of the adults at the restaurant in their hotel, and some of our friends hosted the younger adults at their house.

Also, our videographer got a really neat time-lapsed shot of the sun setting over Dallas from our reception venue.

Resa77 · January 2013

I can't say what time, because I don't know all your preferences, but I definitely say RELAX

getaclue44 · January 2013

We did a 2 pm church followed by 3:30-9:30 cocktail hour and reception. We had a lot of older guests, so I couldn't do anything later. They younger crowd hit the bar in the hotel after the recpetion. It worked perfectly.

darlingc · January 2013

We did 12pm wedding, 2-7 reception. I LOVED having the reception a little bit earlier in the day. I was originally concerned that people would be less likely to drink/dance, but we had no trouble with that- the dance floor was packed the whole afternoon/evening. We had an "after-party" at the hotel bar with friends and a few family members which allowed us to spend even more time with people in a little more relaxed/intimate setting. We also got to head up to bed at a reasonable hour, which we were both happy about.

zantster · January 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_good-morning-wedding-freakout-what-time-mass-do-i-want?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:eda17d8c-dff8-413e-9812-a453af1624fdPost:22a3fad9-450b-4986-8d33-7a83a293f392">Re: Good Morning Wedding Freakout - what time do I want?</a>:
[QUOTE]do the 2 pm ceremony. Can you have cocktails for an hour (or even 1.5 hours!) then everyone is leisurely seated and the WP is introduced and before you know it it's 5 or 5:30, dinner won't be done til 6:30, and won't you have more than 1 hour of dancing?!
Posted by lalaith50[/QUOTE]

Fantastic! That's what we'll do too.

Good Morning Wedding Freakout - what time do I want?

Re: Good Morning Wedding Freakout - what time do I want?

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