the "infamous church time gap"

butterflyjumper1 · February 2012

as k8888 so eloquently put it in a prior post...a lot of us are dealing with the infamous church time gap.

how many of you are having a big gap in between your ceremony and your reception?
if so, how long is your gap?
what are you doing to try to keep guests from complaining about it?

we are NOT doing a "first look" and will be having most of our pictures taken after the ceremony. we will have approximately 1.5 to 2 hours in between the ceremony and the reception (depending on how quickly our receiving line and church exit goes), and our reception is only about a 10 minute drive from the church. i know people are going to complain....but i don't want a first look and i am the bride so i am going to do what i want!! (there is my bridezilla coming out again

)

ceglare4 · February 2012

Our ceremony and reception is one venue, so I'm not dealing with this, but I have been to a few weddings that did have a time gap. Are you having a cocktail hour? Please say yes haha. FI and I went to a wedding a year and a half ago that sounds similar to your situation. They didn't do a first look, had a church wedding, and a reception at a golf course about 20ish minutes or so away. I think we waited for about an hour and a half at the golf course for them while they were taking pics and there was NO food and it was a cash bar. That wedding suuuuucked.

What kinds of things do you have planned for your guests so far?

Eliz77 · February 2012

I hate the idea of 1st look, but I also hate the idea of unhappy guests, so I'm going to have to miss a big chunk of cocktail hour for pictures, since I do want pictures! Our ceremony is about 10 minutes from the reception and there is a 1/2 hour wait between the two. Luckily, our reception venue offers a holding room of sorts and will greet guests with champagne as they walk in.

amygodfrey10 · February 2012

We aren't doing a first look either, so all our pictures together will be done after the ceremony. Wedding party pictures before though. Our church and reception site are about 15-20 minutes apart, so we're just having some fruit and crackers and cheese to tide people over until we get there. Oh and the bar will be open. So hopefully no one gets too bored :]

ceglare4 · February 2012

Oh and as a side note: I wouldn't count the time that it takes to do a receiving line as part of a time gap because guests will be participating in that for some amount of time. Are you planning on taking as many pictures as you can before the ceremony (family, WP, etc.) without seeing each other? My photog said that pics for us after the ceremony should last about an hour tops, so I'm wondering if you might be overestimating your gap?

bells24412 · February 2012

We have a 3 hour gap between the ceremony and cocktail hour. This is pretty standard where I live so people usually go home or find a place to hang out until cocktail starts.Plus from the ceremony to the venue it takes 1hr.

AllyG303 · February 2012

Honestly, my cousin had a 2 hour gap between the ceremony and reception for pictures. We hung out for a while at the church after the ceremony and talked with relatives that we hadn't seen in a while, and then went back to the hotel to freshen up, redo hair/makeup, watch tv. It really wasn't a big deal. I didn't even really pay attention to it, and I've been to weddings with no gaps.

We don't have a gap in between ours, so I can't help too much with ideas. I would say cocktail hour. Maybe do a photobooth or creative guestbook idea (mad libs, scrapbook pages, tips for bride/groom for happy marriage, etc) to entertain your guests if you're worried about them.

bridetobe71412 · February 2012

Our Catholic ceremony starts at 3pm in the city. (That was actually the latest they would let us because they have a mass on Saturdays at 5pm).

Our reception starts at 6pm, and is 23 miles from our ceremony in the suburbs. We are providing bus transportation for all guests, leaving from the city at 5pm from one of the hotels at which we have room blocks. That hotel is 2 blocks from the church. I would assume that most people will go to that hotel to pass the time between 4-5pm, at which point the buses will come to pick people up. There's a bar in that hotel lobby, but we're not providing drinks/food. That's what the reception is for!

We will be providing rolling transportation back to the city every half an hour (or hour, depending on when people want to leave). I think wer'e going above and beyond, but transporting people was very important to us.

k8888 · February 2012

bahahaha I'm more of a jerk than eloquent when it comes to my word choice

Our ceremony starts at 3PM, cocktail hour starts at 6:30PM. The venue wouldn't budge on that time because there was already a larger wedding booked for the earlier cocktail hour. They're trying to prevent our 2 weddings from running into each other, which is fine with me.

The ceremony should take about an hour, the venue is about 30-45 minutes from my church, so that will take off some of the time in between. My family is also known to take their sweet time with everything, so I'm sure the receiving line will take up some more time.... weather permitting... we are not allowed to go back into the church for pictures after the ceremony.

I'm directing our friends/family to the hotel where we have a room block/shuttle service which is right down the street from the reception venue. There is also a mall across the street from the hotel which has a Starbucks and a bunch of little places to get a quick bite if they want... there's also a bar in the hotel.

The WP will be driving to a park for pictures in the time gap between so hopefully the weather doesn't screw us too bad.

bridetobe71412 · February 2012

k8888 we have the exact same plan and same situation. I'm glad to hear that you aren't terribly worried about the situation, either! If I would have mentioned this on a different board, I'm sure I would get reamed.

butterflyjumper1 · February 2012

my situation is similar too!

ceremony is scheduled to start at 2:30; however, my friends are known for being fashionably late, so i am bettint on actual ceremony start time of closer to 2:45.

ceremony will be approximately 45 minutes. then there will be a receiving line.

it is about a 10-15 minutes drive from the church to the reception site. our reception site is a hotel and is also our biggest 'block' of rooms for guests, so many of our guests will go to their hotel room to hang out. there is also a huge hotel bar, a starbucks, a mall that is connected to the hotel via skywalk...hopefully enough things to do in the one hour or so that they will have to kill!

guests will probably have from about 4:00 to 5:00 to kill. then the cocktail hour begins at 5, seating for dinner at 6.

pre-ceremony, we will do girl photos and boy photos separately. after the ceremony, we will do about 20 minutes of formal photos in the church, then about an hour of photos around the various monuments downtown. wedding party will probably arrive between 5:30 and 5:45 to the reception.

k8888 · February 2012

bridetobe - Both FI and I come from Catholic families so I think they're not only used to weddings like ours, but expect it. I would have gotten WAY more sh!t had I not had a church wedding. I don't think time in-between etiquette rules apply to weddings like ours.

BmoreBride311 · February 2012

We went to a wedding last summer with 2 hr gap. The thing that annoyed me most about it was that I didn't expect it. I knew that the reception place was walking distance from the church, so I assumed it would immediately follow the ceremony. Nope. Apparently we were supposed to go back to our hotels for the 2 hours while they did pictures and things. I was actually one of the few local guests, so I didn't have a room to go back to. It was very annoying as a guest.

We have the church gap and are not doing a first look. We're sending our guests to the reception site where they'll be an outdoor cocktail hour. It's at a museum, so our guests will have free entry and be able to browse during the party, as well. Hopefully that'll keep them happy

bridetobe71412 · February 2012

I think I'm most worried about my friends and my father's side of the family. My mom's side is Catholic so I'm not worried about them, but my dad was raised Christian non-denominational so they don't understand Catholic ceremony/reception issues. And the majority of my friends are not Catholic, either.

WHATEVER.

I considered seeing if we could move our reception to 5pm (we have the place to ourselves for the whole day) but we are paying for the cocktail hour and I want to be there for part of it!!!!

sara814 · February 2012

Our ceremony and reception are at the same place, so we don't have a gap at all, but we have the opposite problem. There is very little time for photos between the ceremony and the actual reception. If we did photos, we would miss pretty much the enitre cocktail hour.

So, we decided that we will do some photos on the day of the wedding, and more wedding portraits on another day at another location. I don't want to do the first look thing. I'm pretty much totally against it, although people keep suggesting it. We have a very small bridal party (1 bridesmaid, 1 MOH, and two matching guys, plus two flowergirls), so I don't think it will take too long to just get shots of everyone. We would rather wait to do the other photos so that we can enjoy our guests and our party! It's costing us enough!!!

elizabethmae315 · February 2012

We are doing a first look; so I dont have the same situation.

But we were debating between this or doing pictures in between and having a cocktail hour and the salads served in the down time.

elizabethmae315 · February 2012

We are doing a first look; so I dont have the same situation.

But we were debating between this or doing pictures in between and having a cocktail hour and the salads served in the down time.

Id say its fine as long as its a cocktail hour in the wait.

elizabethmae315 · February 2012

We are doing a first look; so I dont have the same situation.

But we were debating between this or doing pictures in between and having a cocktail hour and the salads served in the down time.

Id say its fine as long as its a cocktail hour in the wait.

elizabethmae315 · February 2012

We are doing a first look; so I dont have the same situation. Our guests will have about a 15 drive between locations though.

But we were debating between this or doing pictures in between and having a cocktail hour and the salads served in the down time.

Id say its fine as long as its a cocktail hour and some munchies in the wait.

karasanel2018 · February 2012

We actually have a 2 hr gap... Ceremony at 2:00pm and it will last about 1.5 hrs including seating, entrances, wedding and receiving line. The reception will start at 5:30pm. It was really supposed to be 6:00pm but we got them to open early. We don't have the option of doing a cocktail hour because our reception will be until 12am.

This is already costing a fortune - so on our wedding website, we listed entertaining things to do in our area. The majority of the guests are local. There is a bar down the street and an outdoor and indoor mall all within 5 miles of the venue. Their hotels are about 10-15 minutes from the venue... I don't know what else I can do for them. This wasn't an option for us so we have to take it with a grain of salt.

StephanieToBeKeys · February 2012

We're having the ceremony and reception at the same place so it cuts out some of the time. Our photographer told us to plan for 45 minutes after the ceremony for pictures. In the mean time, we have a cocktail hour for our guests. I'm not too worried about not being there for the cocktail hour as I will still have plenty of time to mingle with our guests during the reception. Having the photobooth during the cocktail hour is a good idea, but it would have to get shut down for the dinner then opened back up. I don't think the place I'm going with will allow that without major fees.

meagid · February 2012

We aren't doing a first look either. I have a 3 hour gap between the ceremony and reception, but this is normal where I live. Guests will usually head to a restaurant for drinks or to someone's house for a while before heading to the cocktail hour.

littlemoments324 · February 2012

We aren't doing a first look either (per FI!)...We're doing as many photos before the ceremony as possible! Pictures will start around 1 for the guys & then shortly after that for the girls. We're having all group shots done that do not include both FI & myself. There is only an hour gap inbetween ceremony & reception for cocktail hour. All events are taking place at the same venue. During the cocktail hour, all we're having is the bar open. Photobooth will start after dinner.

If we were having a church wedding, there would be a good time gap between everything so there would be time for pictures & such. Ceremony would be around 2:30 or 3 (be like 45 minutes), then cocktail hour would start at 5pm, dinner at 6...That is the norm for some weddings in our area...Never been more than a 3 hour gap if I remember right for a wedding I attended...

Eliz77 · February 2012

FI just reminded me that last year we attended a wedding with a 2 hour gap. However, because the ceremony and reception were at the same place, and only one event occured at a time, plus most of us (including us since FI was in the WP) were staying there, it was not a big deal. While the wedding party was off doing pictures, teh venue provided us open bar and we just hung out and chatted. I do remember going back to my room, making a few calls and then joining the rest of the guests in the pool area for drinks. And I do recall asking a few times,"Where ARE they?!" but it did not seem like a 2 hour gap!

the "infamous church time gap"

Re: the &quot;infamous church time gap&quot;

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

the &quot;infamous church time gap&quot;

Re: the &amp;quot;infamous church time gap&amp;quot;

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

the "infamous church time gap"

Re: the "infamous church time gap"