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Timing of Ceremony/Reception

KiwiKelly87KiwiKelly87 member
10 Comments Second Anniversary
in Catholic Weddings
   Hi everyone!  I haven't posted on this board but I've been a lurker.  I have a question regarding timing of your wedding ceremony and receptions.  My fiance and I will be married in the church with our ceremony at 2pm (full mass) and our reception is currently scheduled to begin at 5pm with a cocktail hour.
   I feel as though this is more common with Catholic weddings so I was wondering if anyone else had/has a gap between their ceremony and reception? If so, did you receive any feedback on this from guests? I would say 95% of the people attending my wedding live within 10 minutes of the church and are about 20 minutes away from the reception site.  Thanks!
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Re: Timing of Ceremony/Reception

  • Riss91Riss91 member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    Can you move your cocktail hour up to 4? and/or make it a 90 minute cocktail hour? I think that would solve the issue of the gap.

    I think it usually will depend on your group of guests. If they are expecting an hour long gap and you don't think they'd be put off by it, then I wouldn't worry too much (especially if they can just run home for it). It is always a good idea to direct your guests to a location where they can sit, use the bathroom and grab some water. Even better if you are able to set up a hospitality suite or something with light food and beverages.

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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
    5000 Comments Third Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    I agree with trying to move your cocktail hour up.  It can be really obnoxious for a guest to have to find something to do when there is a "gap."

    FWIW, we had a 2pm ceremony.  Guests arrived at the reception site around 3:30-3:45, and the WP arrived around 4:00-4:30.  We went until 9:00 and it was a total blast.
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  • itzMSitzMS member
    2500 Comments 500 Love Its 5 Answers First Anniversary
    We avoided the gap by moving up our ceremony to 11:00 and having a lunch reception immediately following.

    As far as the traditional 2:00PM Catholic wedding, I've attended more than I can count. And every single time the gap is annoying, even when I'm prepared for it. DH & I usually just sit in the car in the parking lot and play Iphone games until it's time to head into cocktail hour.
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  • Tami87Tami87 member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    I also had the 2PM ceremony and our reception didn't start until 6PM (the venue for the reception was a museum that was open to the public and this was the absolute earliest we could start).

    I know gaps are super unpopular on the knot boards but in my husband's family and circle they are expected and I didn't think anything of it until coming to the knot. We did host drinks and snacks at a hospitality suite at the hotel all our OOT guests were staying at during the gap (which ended up being about 2 hours with drive times) so guests could drop by (even if they were local) if they wanted somewhere to go. I think it is nice to have a place for guests to go during the gap (maybe have a few snacks and water or tea in the church hall if this is an option?). But if gaps are common and expected in your circle I wouldn't stress too much about it.

    We heard no comments about the gap, but I doubt anyone would say something directly to us. Recently we went to my husband's friend's wedding and they had the 12PM mass time with a 5PM reception. We ended up grabbing lunch and hanging out with a few of my husband's friends in between and it was a nice chance to catch up with people we don't get to see often but that gap felt excessive to me, but I still didn't hear anyone complain about it. So I really think it just depends on your guests and what they are used to.
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  • monkeysipmonkeysip member
    2500 Comments Fifth Anniversary 500 Love Its First Answer
    It's hard for me to judge because I've never been to a Catholic wedding.  Most of our guests will not be Catholic, so we've tried to eliminate the gap.

    We're having a 2:00pm ceremony as well, and the earliest we could find a reception to begin at was 4:00pm.  I'm guessing by time the guests mosey on over to the reception hall (it's only like 5 minutes away), it'll still probably only be 3:30-3:45.  I'm hoping guests don't mind killing 15 minutes or so until they can get into the venue.  I'm thinking our guests would definitely mind an hour gap, but that's because they're not used to it.  And because  they don't live that close to the venue.

    If your guests could drop by their house first, they may not mind a gap.

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  • mcda04mcda04 member
    Fifth Anniversary 1000 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    I had a really big gap last minute because our ceremony was changed from 2:30 to 12:30.

    I  organized refreshments and a quick lunch at my in-laws since it was only 15 minutes away from the Church. I served soft drinks, shrimp cocktail, ceviche, chicken salad, & veggies. Our Mass was 1:45min. long so our guests ate and relaxed for 2 hours until the reception hall opened at 4:30pm while H, BP, and I went for off-site pictures.

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  • swanratswanrat member
    Second Anniversary 10 Comments
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_timing-of-ceremonyreception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:d32c7b2e-c457-4e92-a195-373d9f1bfe0dPost:73860964-d970-481e-8aca-dbf59dcacb3c">Re: Timing of Ceremony/Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]I agree with trying to move your cocktail hour up.  It can be really obnoxious for a guest to have to find something to do when there is a "gap." <strong>FWIW, we had a 2pm ceremony.  Guests arrived at the reception site around 3:30-3:45, and the WP arrived around 4:00-4:30.  We went until 9:00 and it was a total blast.</strong>
    Posted by professorscience[/QUOTE]

    We did exactly the same and it worked out really well!
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  • KiwiKelly87KiwiKelly87 member
    10 Comments Second Anniversary
       Thank you all for your reponses!  I have to say, I was quite nervous to post after seeing how similar posts have gone over on other boards here :) 
       I'm unable to move the timing of the reception up, but I didn't even think of looking into using the church hall for some time in between.  I will definitely look into that!  As I said, the majority of the guests live within a few minutes of both locations so I figure that most of them will head home in between.  I also plan to have a page in my program dedicated to restaurants and other things in the area with directions so that if anyone wants to do something else in between they have the information.
        I figure that if the ceremony ends right around 3pm, I'll have a receiving line afterwards to take up a bit of the time and it is about 20 minutes to the reception location so I think that all total it will be about an hour in between for the guests. 
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  • Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
    Knottie Warrior 2500 Comments 25 Love Its First Answer
    lifelong catholic and ive never heard of a gap until i came onto the knot. 
    id do your wedding at 2, it will be about an hour and a half, then start your cocktail hour at 330. 
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  • Resa77Resa77
    1000 Comments Second Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Calypso, what's funny is that the only 2 wedding I attended that had a gap were in Boston!  I just figured it was a Boston thing, but later learned that it NOT the case. 

    But ultimately, you can't please everyone.  Some people have a huge problem with a gap. Some people hate Friday evening weddings.  Some people hate morning weddings.  There's really no way around irritating someone if you're having a Catholic wedding. 

     

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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
    5000 Comments Third Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    I don't really care about gaps.  I've been to weddings that have them, but there was always something to do AT the venue while we waited.  I'll admit one of the big reasons I skipped a wedding recently was because there was like a 3-hour gap.  No thx u.
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  • bibliophile2010bibliophile2010 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    My timeline was similar to Prof's. I don't mind an hour or so where it's easy to grab a drink or a coffee or whatever. Much longer than that, I feel gets to be a lot of waiting.

    Story I just remembered: In college, I went to a wedding that had Mass at 10a (I was not Catholic at the time). Then I went to lunch with my family (I was my cousin's "date" since the wedding was in the same town as my university). Then I studied for a few hours. Then I changed and we went to the reception at like 6. Yeah, that was excessive, even though most of the guests were local!
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  • zantsterzantster member
    Eighth Anniversary 500 Comments Combo Breaker
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_timing-of-ceremonyreception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:d32c7b2e-c457-4e92-a195-373d9f1bfe0dPost:677d7103-37df-4ae0-8f91-480da2aeae3d">Re: Timing of Ceremony/Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]   Thank you all for your reponses!  I have to say, I was quite nervous to post after seeing how similar posts have gone over on other boards here :)     I'm unable to move the timing of the reception up, but I didn't even think of looking into using the church hall for some time in between.  I will definitely look into that!  As I said, the majority of the guests live within a few minutes of both locations so I figure that most of them will head home in between.  I also plan to have a page in my program dedicated to restaurants and other things in the area with directions so that if anyone wants to do something else in between they have the information.     I figure that if the ceremony ends right around 3pm, I'll have a receiving line afterwards to take up a bit of the time and it is about 20 minutes to the reception location so I think that all total it will be about an hour in between for the guests. 
    Posted by KiwiKelly87[/QUOTE]
    Same.
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