All Day Celebrations - timeline help please

SarahInVegas · March 2012

Hello,

my fiance and I are both morning people - as in crazy, we don't even own an alarm clock, we are always up before 6am and the morning is our favourite time of the day. We therefore want a morning wedding around 10 or 11am.

I am not too sure about traditions etc, but definitely want to do the right thing by everybody so hoping for your input.

We are having a destination wedding and will have about 25-30 guests.

I thought we might be able to have a ceremony followed by fingerfood and cake plus champagne toast. Then I would be happy to organise something for everybody (any ideas???) or alternatively meet again for dinner with speeches, dancing etc.

Does that make sense at all? Not worried about money by the way, just wandering how I can entertain these people that mean so much to both of us for a whole day...

Thank you do much for your help!

Mrs.B6302007 · March 2012

Well, before you plan too much. YOU guys might be morning people, but are your guests? How far is the DW? Is everyone flying to Hawaii or some place or driving in from one state to the next? What time are people going to arrive - the day before, two days before? If you have guests flying in at 9 pm across several time zones, asking them to be up and ready for a 10 AM ceremony is a lot. Also, have you taken into consideration all of the prep for you guys and your WP for a 10 AM ceremony? Hair, makeup, pictures, etc?

As a guest, I would expect to be fed a full brunch after a 10 AM ceremony, not just a few finger foods because most likely, I wouldn't have time to eat a full breakfast (especially if I was still dragging my brain through time zone changes) because I had to get up early to get ready for your wedding. I also wouldn't want to tie up my whole day (again, especially after traveling) by having a morning ceremony and then a reception/dinner later. I would prefer to have it all at once so that I can rest, relax on the beach, at the pool, or whatever in the afternoon. That's just my feeling on it but I think a host should be especially careful to think from a guest's point of view when there's a DW involved. The guests have already given a lot of time and money to get there.

AdeleDazeem · March 2012

Yikes... 10 or 11am ceremony followed by cake and champagne? I'd want a meal. In fact, I probably got up with just enough time to shower and put on clothes that I wouldn't have eaten anything before the ceremony.

It's fine to have a morning wedding, but think about how your guests are either most likely not morning people or might not like the idea of getting up so early on their vacation. Pamper them with a full meal afterwards. I would do all the speeches, cake cutting, etc then and let your guests go for the day after that.

You can casually tell people where you're meeting up later, but some people migh want to do their own thing, especially if they are on vacation and this is a true destination wedding.

SarahInVegas · March 2012

Thank you so much for your quick replies. I really care about my guests and was worried that only have a few hours of "something planned" might be rude, especially given they are flying in from all over the world really. But sounds like it might be more considerate to just give them the morning off and then maybe have an early afternoon ceremony, followed by champagne and then dinner? So yes, they will be in town for a few days beforehand, I am not worried about coming late at night before, but I totally get your point regardless. Really appreciate your thoughts, this board is so awesome. I love how you get totally independent advice! Thank you!!!!

Mrs.B6302007 · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_all-day-celebrations-timeline-help-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:0e6c7afc-d25e-47b3-ade3-732cb5649b88Post:aabee0c5-f34c-43e2-9892-792e4dd6340f">Re: All Day Celebrations - timeline help please</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you so much for your quick replies. I really care about my guests and was worried that only have a few hours of "something planned" might be rude, especially given they are flying in from all over the world really. But sounds like it might be more considerate to just<strong> give them the morning off and then maybe have an early afternoon ceremony, followed by champagne and then dinner?</strong> So yes, they will be in town for a few days beforehand, I am not worried about coming late at night before, but I totally get your point regardless. Really appreciate your thoughts, this board is so awesome. I love how you get totally independent advice! Thank you!!!!
Posted by SarahInVegas[/QUOTE]

That sounds lovely!

As far as the early bird aspect, if you're planning on seeing each other before the ceremony, you and your FI could have a private breakfast together the morning of the wedding. If not, you're going to have many, many early mornings together once you're married. ;-)

MJandDL · March 2012

I think as long as your guests aren't arriving the night before you could do a morning wedding followed by a lunch reception. In that case I'd maybe have the ceremony at 11 AM so people could sleep in a little more and have breakfast if they want to. But the afternoon wedding sounds lovely as well. If you did a morning wedding, I don't think you have to entertain them for the whole day.

AdeleDazeem · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_all-day-celebrations-timeline-help-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:0e6c7afc-d25e-47b3-ade3-732cb5649b88Post:cdf53fc3-0ed2-4bf7-86e4-22b3e0feb6d7">Re: All Day Celebrations - timeline help please</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: All Day Celebrations - timeline help please : That sounds lovely! As far as the early bird aspect, if you're planning on seeing each other before the ceremony, you and your FI could have a private breakfast together the morning of the wedding. If not, you're going to have many, many early mornings together once you're married. ;-)
Posted by Mrs.B6302007[/QUOTE]

I agree with Mrs.B!

pgcp · March 2012

There is nothing wrong with a morning wedding. Nothing at all. Anyone coming in from out of town will simply have to plan around the wedding time just like they would do for any other wedding. You do need to have a reception that is fitting to the time of day though which would mean brunch.

My wedding was at 10:30 in the morning followed by a brunch. Most of our family members drove in the day prior (most with 12 hour drives) some arrived two or three days before hand. Some people chose to leave shortly after the reception and had the rest of the weekend at home. Others chose to leave on Sunday or Monday.

RebeccaB88 · March 2012

I think you could go either way with the ceremony timing. You could always give your guests a day-of timeline ahead of time, so they will be able to plan their travel accordingly. That way if they do arrive late the night before, they know what they're getting into.

For a morning ceremony like you're talking about, as a guest I would definitely expect a lunch or brunch after. In the afternoon you could do cake and apps, but then would you have everyone at dinner too? If you did the morning/lunch thing, you and your new husband could slip away for the rest of the day alone together, if you wanted to. For the dinner thing, your guests would have a short break before dinner that they would have to find things to do during. Might be more concise to just do it in the morning and let the guests have the afternoon/evening to themselves.

My sister had an 11am ceremony with a lunch after. We didn't have to get up that early to be ready on time. I was at the hair salon at 8am (caffeine in hand) and we were taking pictures by 10am. It can work.

mdeidre · March 2012

I think a morning wedding followed by a full brunch with mimosas and the like would be lovely. 10 am is later than most people get to work in the morning and they make time to get dressed and eat a little something then. I plan to have mine in the early afternoon followed by lunch or brunch/high tea. As for prep time for the BP, you just have to start earlier. I do agree that it should be a full meal and then make any other plans that day optional.

SarahInVegas · March 2012

Again, thank you!!!! You guys are so helpful!

All Day Celebrations - timeline help please

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