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HELP!! How long does a Catholic wedding last?

jana216jana216 member
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in Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions
I am in serious trouble! we are having a Catholic wedding and my reception site is not very flexible with the time frames as is my church. How long does a Catholic wedding last and can I add things to make it last longer? I have an hour gap between my wedding and reception......any ideas??
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Re: HELP!! How long does a Catholic wedding last?

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    bbyckesbbyckes member
    First Comment Combo Breaker

    Wouldn't it depend on what you plan  to include in your ceremony?  Are you doing a full mass?  Are you having readings? A solo? A unity ceremony or something like that?  I'm not Catholic, but I think how long a ceremony lasts is completely up to those planning the ceremony and who is performing the ceremony.  I suggest you ask the person who is planning on marrying you.

    Are you having a cocktail hour after the ceremony?  Generally an hour gap is seen as tolerable.   This gives guests enough time to get to the reception location. 

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    Catwoman708Catwoman708 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited April 2010

    Depends on how formal, if you are doing communion or not, and how many guests.  Usually between 40 minutes and a little over an hour.

    For planning purposes, count on an hour.

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    MacFreitas7MacFreitas7
    First Comment
    Hello :)
    Congrats!!
    If you are doing a Mass it's about an Hour...
    If you are doing a ceremony it's about 30-40 minutes... Always plan on a little longer...
    For the hour in between... You can have the receiving line at the Church... Or request your guests to take pictures with you outside the church...
    BUT keep in mind that this day is about YOU and not your guests and you shouldn't worry about what the guests are going to be doing within that HOUR..
    You will be taking pictures with your bridal party and MOST of the time the reception hall (are you having a cocktail hour??) will allow people who are early to come in and start their festivities...
    if you're having a cocktail hour and it starts promptly at 6 for example... the guests could go in early and purchase their own drinks until the actual hour starts...
    If you're not having a cocktail hour.. maybe that's something you can consider!
    HOPE this helps:)
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    amdjellyamdjelly member
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    Well the wedding day is actually also about your guests, not just the bride.  An hour gap though is not considered rude though.
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    MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Mass weddings usually take 45-60 minutes.  You can add a receiving line on the end and eat up another 20 minutes.  Will the church allow you to host your guests for an hour in the rec room?

    Leaving a gap is rude.  Have you booked the reception yet?  If not, I'd keep looking for someone that will work with you on the time thing.
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    MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_long-catholic-wedding-last?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:3c4b868f-3f64-4ea1-b28e-dfcc255d1ab0Post:d4bcf189-942c-4ec1-991c-f5925b057089">Re: HELP!! How long does a Catholic wedding last?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hello :) Congrats!! If you are doing a Mass it's about an Hour... If you are doing a ceremony it's about 30-40 minutes... Always plan on a little longer... For the hour in between... You can have the receiving line at the Church... Or request your guests to take pictures with you outside the church... <strong>BUT keep in mind that this day is about YOU and not your guests and you shouldn't worry about what the guests are going to be doing within that HOUR..</strong> You will be taking pictures with your bridal party and MOST of the time the reception hall (are you having a cocktail hour??) will allow people who are early to come in and start their festivities... if you're having a cocktail hour and it starts promptly at 6 for example... the guests could go in early and purchase their own drinks until the actual hour starts... If you're not having a cocktail hour.. maybe that's something you can consider! HOPE this helps:)
    Posted by MacFreitas7[/QUOTE]

    <div>This may be the worst advice I've ever seen.  Ever.  </div>
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    jana216jana216 member
    First Comment
    Yes I have already booked the  reception site...originally the plan was to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue but my MIL freaked out that we were not getting married in the church and my FI agrees with her  ....so now I have this problem.
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    MyNameIsNotMyNameIsNot member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Are many of your guests OOT?  If so, you could tell them to go back to the hotel after the ceremony and arrange to have a shuttle or something drive them back and forth to the reception.  That will eat some time.  

    But really, if you can get it under 30 minutes, and your guests have somewhere to go when they get to the venue (front bar or whatever) it will be ok.  
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    krmabojokrmabojo
    First Comment

    My entire family is Catholic and every wedding I have been to has been around an hour long.

    I would plan for around that.

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    unplainjaneunplainjane member
    First Comment
    my schedule is the same. i will be having a catholic ceremony at 3pm and the guests will have around an hour to spare before the reception which starts at 5pm. i've been to other weddings where this happened too and people just waited around. no one really complained but it can be boring. 

    try to suggest things for the guests to do. my reception venue is on this little street where there are galleries, a little museum, winery shop where they can have a tasting, and there is a cafe and pub if people want to sit down and have a drink before the reception. i'll have a hotel room at the venue too where guests that need to can have a rest. i have some elderly relatives where i would be concerned if they had to stand too long waiting. if you can make suggestions i think that would be good but if there is absolutely nothing around the area i think it's okay if people wait an hour. maybe once the reception is open it would be nice to have the servers pass around a refreshing welcome drink right away so your guests don't have to wait in line at the bar.
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    SmileykazSmileykaz
    First Comment
    Girls, my eyes have been opened here tonight!

    I'm from Ireland and here there's always a gap between the church/ceremony and the reception, usually a few hours!

    My wedding is 1pm, the ceremony will be over by 2pm, then there's the receiving/greeting line outside the church and chatting to guests and maybe a large group photo til 2.30pm and then everyone goes to the hotel for a drink and some canapes...but dinner isn't until 5.30pm or 6pm. That's just the way it is here!

    In those intervening hours the bride and groom and bridal party have photos taken, usually at a beauty spot or in nice gardens at the venue. And the guests have a small bite to eat and go to the bar for a couple of drinks/catch up with relatives and friends. Then the bride and groom arrive to the venue after the photos and mingle chatting with guests until dinner.

    So in my opinion, as a Catholic and as an Irish woman, having one single hour between the church and the meal is NOTHING, it'll be fine, don't worry about it. Maybe arrange for your venue to have some sparkling wine or coffee and cookies for guests when they arrive so they can have a bite to eat in case they're famished before the meal. If you whack some food into them they won't notice an hour, honestly.

    Best of luck!


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    jennylove810jennylove810 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    I totally agree that a 1 hour gap is not a big deal at all.
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    banana468banana468 member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    Make it a Nuptial Mass and kindly request that the priest make sure his sermon is long. :-)

    Add to that a receiving line and you're at about an hour and a half right there.

    How long of a ride is it to the reception?
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    desrosiersldesrosiersl
    First Comment
    An hour in between is not a big deal - people will understand - but adding the reception line afterward is a good idea to kill some more time.  Some guests will mingle and chat before leaving, others will leave right away and find their own way to pass the time.

    Another thought is to have everyone hang around for a "group" photo.  FInd a spot that let's you gather all your guests together for a couple of shots, where the photographer has height to catch everyone.  -- maybe back in the church if it has a balcony, the photo could be taken from there, or from the elevated alter.
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    desrosiersldesrosiersl
    First Comment
    Just found think link looking for something else that might be helpful as it outlines a typcial Catholic Ceremony with Mass

    http://www.programsandbulletins.com/catholic.php
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    MacFreitas7MacFreitas7
    First Comment

    MyNameisNot- YOU are extrememly rude... I see that YOU'RE an expert on giving advice?!


    The day is about the COUPLE not the guests...

    is every bride going to worry about Dan the Drinker and how much he's going to drink? ORRRR are you going to be so fixated on your new husband that no one else is going to matter?! --- yeah, thought so.

    Good Luck Jana216 hope that you have the wedding of your dreams!Laughing


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    MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited February 2013
    Unless your reception venue is literally right next door to the church, you will probably have little to no gap.

    Almost nothing starts exactly on time.

    A complete nuptial mass will take approximately one hour.  Along the lines of Banana's thoughts, choose songs and readings wisely.  ;-)

    Many bridal parties have some photos taken immediately after the ceremony at the altar. Those in attendance not involved in the photos either watch, or use the time to use the restrooms prior to the drive to the reception.  Guests will also mill about, chatting amongst themselves.  More often than not, guests do not arrive early enough to the mass to visit with people that they may not have seen in some time.  Guests also will wait around to "send off" the bride and groom ala the bubbles, wands, or other fan fare.  

    Guests still then have the drive to the reception. 

    ETA: Similar to MyName, many of our guests also needed to drive back to the hotel in order to make use of the shuttle.  That alone could be the hour time difference.

    And that is IF everything happens in a timely manner.  I would personally not "blink" at an hour differential.  That time will fly.
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    kmmssgkmmssg mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited February 2013
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_long-catholic-wedding-last?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:3c4b868f-3f64-4ea1-b28e-dfcc255d1ab0Post:d4bcf189-942c-4ec1-991c-f5925b057089">Re: HELP!! How long does a Catholic wedding last?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hello :) Congrats!! If you are doing a Mass it's about an Hour... If you are doing a ceremony it's about 30-40 minutes... Always plan on a little longer... For the hour in between... You can have the receiving line at the Church... Or request your guests to take pictures with you outside the church... <strong>BUT keep in mind that this day is about YOU and not your guests and you shouldn't worry about what the guests are going to be doing within that HOUR..</strong> You will be taking pictures with your bridal party and MOST of the time the reception hall (are you having a cocktail hour??) will allow people who are early to come in and start their festivities... if you're having a cocktail hour and it starts promptly at 6 for example... the guests could go in early and purchase their own drinks until the actual hour starts... If you're not having a cocktail hour.. maybe that's something you can consider! HOPE this helps:)
    Posted by MacFreitas7[/QUOTE]
    <div>
    </div><div>Worst bridezilla advice I've seen in awhile.</div>
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