Louisiana-New Orleans

3 pm ceremony?

My fianc and I are just getting into planning, and we are looking at getting married at the cathedral. They have a few 3 pms left in the time frame we are looking at, which is fine with my fianc. But have any of y'all had a 3 pm ceremony? Did you go straight to the reception after? I'm just afraid the guests are going to think its too early. Thoughts? Thanks!

Re: 3 pm ceremony?

  • RYLZRYLZ member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Between your catholic ceremony, 2nd line (if you do one) and cocktail hour, the actual reception might not start until 5 or 6-- seems like a late enough to start to me.

    We had a short ceremony that started at 4-- between the 2nd line and cocktails, the reception didn't start until 7pm.

    I think you should be fine.  Happy planning!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_3-pm-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:8e980630-03dd-4d7c-a6ab-b80c7c99e425Post:05b7654e-db08-481c-9dda-0804df52bad6">Re: 3 pm ceremony?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Between your catholic ceremony, 2nd line (if you do one) and cocktail hour, the actual reception might not start until 5 or 6-- seems like a late enough to start to me. We had a short ceremony that started at 4-- between the 2nd line and cocktails, the reception didn't start until 7pm. I think you should be fine.  Happy planning!
    Posted by bezlu[/QUOTE]

    <div>I'm in total agreement with this.</div>
  • thanks ladies for the reassurance. I think we are definitely going to do a second line. My fiance is from georgia, so I thought his family would like the tradition. I'm not sure we're going to do a cocktail hour, but between pictures and the second line, I think we may get to the reception around 4:30 or 5.

    P.S. I'm not sure why my  phone autocorrected fiance to fianc.
  • edited April 2012
    We had a full mass at 3pm then a second line at 4pm. Guests could go straight to the reception which was open at 4:15 but I don't anyone got there until about 4:30pm. We took pictures with the weddng party until about 5pm and then took a private moment for ourselves and had a bite to eat (just the two of us in a private room). I think we were announced around 5:30pm and our reception went unitl 8:30pm. We were beat by the end of it all, but a lot of our friends just went out after in the quarter. It was perfect!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_3-pm-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:8e980630-03dd-4d7c-a6ab-b80c7c99e425Post:fddc3992-c78f-4f0e-9fcd-1b226c33ec8f">Re: 3 pm ceremony?</a>:
    [QUOTE]We had a full mass at 3pm then a second line at 4pm. Guests could go straight to the reception which was open at 4:15 but I don't anyone got there until about 4:30pm. We took pictures with the weddng party until about 5pm and then took a private moment for ourselves and had a bite to eat (just the two of us in a private room). I think we were announced around 5:30pm and our reception went unitl 8:30pm. We were beat by the end of it all, but a lot of our friends just went out after in the quarter. It was perfect!
    Posted by carolemb[/QUOTE]

    We are doing exactly this.  cocktail hour 4:30-5:30, dinner/dancing 5:30-9:30, then out in the quarter somewhere after.
  • forgot to mention the reason that I chose 3 pm was to have it late enough for dinner but early enough to still get pictures outside after the ceremony in November (still have some daylight!)
  • Ditto to pp. I'm getting married at the Cathedral at 3:00, full mass until about 4:00, quick pics in Jackson Square with family and bridal party until 4:15, second line to reception from 4:154:30, reception starting at 4:30. Guests will have about 30 min to get a drink, find their seats, and enjoy music and hand passed apps until 5:00 when we will be introduced. Then the food stations will be open for dinner. Reception ends at 8:30. This allows our own little ones to get in bed at a somewhat decent hour and all of our guests to do their own thing in the Quarter. Can you tell I have just recently worked out my timeline with my planner? ; I originally wanted a 7pm ceremony, but now am so glad I went with 3pm instead!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Hey Ladies!
    This post is really helpful, can you guys provide some insight into the time frame I'm thinking?

    I'm thinking ceremony in Jackson Square at 2pm, then photos there and in the French Quarter after. Reception at The House of Blues from maybe 5 or 5:30 to 9 or 9:30, then Second Line after....

    I definitely want some time between the ceremony and reception for some unqiue French Quarter photos of us and the bridal party....but it would leave the guests around 2 hours til the reception. But I'm thinking its not hard to entertain yourself in the French Quarter for that long.

    Also, if we end up doing the Second Line after, would you guys recommend going straight to an After Party site, or going to the hotel to change and having everyone meet up after? Not sure how to coorindate the Second Line and if the guests would enjoy it more after. I think it would be pointless to do it after the ceremony since it would be too early for the reception to start! Thoughts?? 
    Thank you!

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