Ceremony start time

Re: Ceremony start time

• MobKaz member

  

  January 2014

  ddvirts said:

  So our ceremony starts at 6pm. What time should I put on the invitation? I was thinking 5:30pm to give people a chance to arrive on time and have a glass of champagne and chat with family/friends. But now I'm not sure what the proper etiquette here is. Any help on this topic is appreciated!
  

  If your ceremony starts at 6 PM, that is the time you put on the invitation.  People typically leave with enough time to get to the ceremony on a timely basis.  I almost always arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of any event.  If I found out that the time was deliberately incorrect, I would not be happy.  You don't penalize the courteous guests, and you cannot worry about the ones who may arrive late.

  Report5 Reply
• AddieCake member

  

  January 2014

  It starts at 6. You put 6. Why is this a question? People know if they want to mingle first they need to get there early. It's like going to a movie. The movie starts at x time. If you want popcorn and to get settled, you get there before x. 

  
  

  
  

  What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14

  

  Report1 Reply
• mimiphin member

  

  January 2014

  Why not say something like Cocktails to be served at 5:30 ceremony to start at 6:00
  

  

  Report0 Reply
• JoanE2012 member

  

  January 2014

  ddvirts said:

  So our ceremony starts at 6pm. What time should I put on the invitation? I was thinking 5:30pm to give people a chance to arrive on time and have a glass of champagne and chat with family/friends. But now I'm not sure what the proper etiquette here is. Any help on this topic is appreciated!
  

  If it starts at 6pm, that's the time you put on the invitation.  I always get to weddings early.  If you put 5:30pm, I'd probably get there a little after 5pm.  I'd be annoyed to have to hang around for almost an hour before the ceremony.

  Report1 Reply
• HisGirlFriday13 member

  

  January 2014

  If it starts at 6, you put 6 on the invite. If you don't, you risk SERIOUSLY pissing off your guests.

  
  

  True story: A friend of mine issued wedding invites that said, "ceremony to start at 5.30 p.m." So DH (then-FI) and I got there at 5.10. We had cocktails and mingled. 

  
  

  They started seating us at 6 p.m. The first BM walked down the aisle at 6.30. 

  
  

  Apparently, the "5.30" time was for the groom's notoriously late family -- they really meant 6 p.m., and it STILL started late.

  
  

  By the time the bride walked down the aisle, DH and I had been standing/sitting/whatever for more than an hour. We were both STARVING by the time cocktail hour started (around 7 p.m.), since we had left our hotel room at 4.30 to get to the venue in time. And since we thought the ceremony was starting at 5.30, we figured cocktails would start at 6, not at 7. 

  
  

  That left a very, very bad taste in our mouths. As we were there, DH said, "I now understand your military-precise timing of our wedding and reception and I love that you're super-anal about this."

  

  
  

  
  

  I'm gonna go with 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'

  Report2 Reply