What time is your ceremony?

trm358 · May 2014

I am really conflicted! My FI and I decided on Mandarin Oriental for the ceremony but the only option for the venue we want is a 12:30pm ceremony. That seems a bit early to me. I'm afraid I won't have enough time prior to the ceremony for all the logistics and that it might be too early for my guests. Anyone having/had an early ceremony? Did you immediately have a reception following? We anticipate doing an in-suite cocktails and heavy apps at Mandalay Bay but right now that would be 1:30/2ish to 4. Am I overthinking this?

Knottie1450123632 · May 2014

I think so but totally up to you. I think if finished at 4 then you could do strip tour after if that's what you are planning

tcnoble · May 2014

A 12:30pm ceremony is fine, so long as you do your in-suite cocktails/apps immediately following (which it sounds like you are planning, from 1:30 - 4) and don't leave your guests with a gap. Vegas is a big city - you'd hope that adults could find something to do with themselves after your reception. Otherwise like PP said you could arrange to do a strip tour if that's in your budget.

a13049 · May 2014

interesting, I wanted the earlier time slot so we could have more of the day/evening to enjoy the city. We took the 4:00 because that was the first available. I don't want to spend my time in vegas siting around getting ready. It should take maybe 2 hrs max, but i doubt it. I would love a 1230 wedding. Wake up have breakfast/brunch with fi, (not really traditional, I know) then run off getting pampered for a couple hours, show up at chapel and get married. We dropped our cocktail hour because of this. Our 4;00 wedding, dinner, strip tour and bottle service seems like we are over scheduling our guest. I hope it is wonderful for you

ssteele04 · May 2014

our wedding ceremony is at 2:30pm

dbacksgirl · May 2014

Ours will be @ 4pm.

myriah505 · May 2014

I recommend you scale back on your "logistics" if you think it is going to take more than 2-3 hours to get ready. The whole point of a Vegas wedding is to be laid back and fun! I do not know one single person in this entire world who can't get their butt out of bed and be ready for a special event by 12PM.

KrisLSmiley · May 2014

Ours is at 4pm. I picked that time because sunset that day is 4:25pm. Figured we might get some good lighting and some day and night photos that way. I'll let you know how it all works out...

Valeriecruz82 · May 2014

Ours was at 3pm and we got ready at the same hotel as the ceremony and still barely made it at the scheduled time.

wrigleyville · May 2014

12:30 PM lends itself well to a brunch reception, which will save you money. It would be something like this:

12:30 - 12:45/1:00: Ceremony

1:00 - 1:30-ish: Guests enjoy mimosas, Bloody Marys, and various hors d'ouevres

1:30-ish - 2:00: Reception starts, brunch is served, nom nom nom

2:00 - 4:00: Reception! Cake! More cake!

4:00 - 5:00: DDB tour? Or, this is a good time to do your strip tour with your photographer.

Now, at this point, you have some options. Guests are free at 4:00 to do whatever they want (if you don't do a DDB tour). OR, you can announce something like, "H and I are going to do a strip tour for more pictures. You can join us if you like. If not, we will be meeting at X place for drinking, dancing, bowling, mini-golf, gambling, etc" - just figure out what you want to do.

We had a 4:00 ceremony, 4:30 - 5:30 was cocktail hour while we took pics, 5:30 - 8:00 reception, and then we all met at a bowling alley at 9:00.

I scheduled that gap on purpose so people could change out of their wedding clothes if they wanted. I have some awesome pictures of me bowling in my wedding dress (like hell I was taking that off after paying for it and getting all prettied up).

Knottie1450123632 · May 2014

lmao classic I just imagined a white poufy gown and blue/tan bowling shoes lol

that would be a cool pic

vegasgroom · May 2014

I think a 12:30p ceremony is great in Vegas. Gamble all night, sleep till 11, grab a sammich, get dressed, ceremony, start getting hungry again about the time the reception starts, and then when things start winding down, still plenty of time to go party again.

DixeChik19 · May 2014

Our ceremony is at 2, and the reception doesn't start until 6. I'm worried about filling the time between the two for our guests. We'll be doing our photo tour...

azwildcat · May 2014

Our ceremony is at 11, and then we will have a lunch reception afterwards. Our guests are actually looking forward to having their evening free to do whatever they would like.

Rosebubbly · May 2014

Wow @KrisLSmiley‌ I had no idea sunset was so early on our wedding day!!! My ceremony is at 4 too! That's crazy!

KrisLSmiley · May 2014

@Rosebubbly - We were there last Thanksgiving and were surprised too! Short days in Vegas in November! http://www.sunrise-and-sunset.com/en/united-states/las-vegas__nv/

Rosebubbly · May 2014

How's photography in the dark?

vegasgroom · May 2014

Rosebubbly said:

How's photography in the dark?

As long as the photographer has good lenses, you should have no issues. You'd be surprised how great pics can come out in very low light with a good lens.

cirena166 · May 2014

Our ceremony is at 1, reception at 3:30, so a late lunch.early dinner - supper? - here. I plan to keep everyone full with snacks. Not worried about the gap - folks can entertain themselves with a few options listed on the programs. Damn! The programs! Still have to print them!

tcnoble · May 2014

Our ceremony isn't until 6:15pm. Most of our guests are OOT and have expressed interest in doing "Vegas" while they are here so we figured a later ceremony would give them plenty of time to explore. Plus then we avoid any kind of gap, and we couldn't afford a cocktail hour anyways. I'm also loving the idea of not waking up super early to start HMU with 8 girls... so I think it'll work well for everyone involved.

It's always interesting hearing everyone's timelines. I'm a little jealous of all your DDB and strip photo tours - not something we ever considered.

nicolajane81 · May 2014

Our ceremony is at 3pm at the Wynn. We've got the courtyard for an hour, so are planning to have photos there straight after the ceremony, and have ordered some fizz for our guests while that happens.

We then have another hour of photos around the Wynn grounds, and our guests can leisurely make their way to Maggianos for our reception from 5pm-10pm. Then we're planning on hitting the strip (not sure where yet).

We were thinking about a photo tour, as I'd love pics at the sign and Bellagio fountains, but when we were talking through the flow of the day, it just seemed to add extra stress to it, what with traffic, getting in and out of the car etc so we're going with some extra Wynn pics (which is lovely, so I'm happy). Who knows, we may end up drunk at the sign at some point during the night :-)

wrigleyville · May 2014

DixeChik19 said:

Our ceremony is at 2, and the reception doesn't start until 6. I'm worried about filling the time between the two for our guests. We'll be doing our photo tour...

*Stuck in the box*

So let's say your ceremony ends at 2:30. Can you start cocktail hour at 5:00 and then have the reception at 6:00? That's still a 2.5 hour gap, though.

Is it at all possible to have a cocktail hour from 2:30 - 3:30 and then the reception from 3:30 onward. You could serve an early dinner at 4:00.

wrigleyville · May 2014

cirena166 said:

Our ceremony is at 1, reception at 3:30, so a late lunch.early dinner - supper? - here. I plan to keep everyone full with snacks. Not worried about the gap - folks can entertain themselves with a few options listed on the programs. Damn! The programs! Still have to print them!

Maybe. Lots of people hate gaps. People won't want to do much while dressed up, and I hate that down time between the wedding and reception. I get super bored just hanging around my hotel room, waiting for drinks and food.

trm358 · May 2014

Thank you all for your feedback! We do have some guests that have suggested catching early flights the day of prior the ceremony to eliminate an extra hotel night cost. I'm just afraid 12:30 cuts it close for them. I'm also worried about gaps- I was really hoping on getting our photos done prior to the ceremony. That way, from the ceremony on, we can spend all of our time with our family and friends. So much to think about!!!

ssteele04 · May 2014

we have guests who are cutting it close, our wedding is at 2:30, and have people flying out at 5-6pm that night

Rosebubbly · May 2014

@vegasgroom‌ we havent hired our photog yet, but have a small budget for it. Is a good lens something most photographers have or is that something only expensive ones have? That may be a really dumb question! :-)

mspenn · May 2014

Ours was at 3pm so that our East Coast family and friends could watch the live feed at a reasonable hour. I had one group of friends get together and watch and then have dinner after words.

Our guests for the ceremony were all family with a handful of friends so they just hung out at the chapel while we had our photos done and then we all went to dinner after.

We are debating the time of our Vow Renewal, that is why I didn't book it yet. I'd like to do late afternoon and then go to an early dinner after, but the only times NOT available are 4:30 and 5.

vegasgroom · May 2014

Rosebubbly said:

@vegasgroom‌ we havent hired our photog yet, but have a small budget for it. Is a good lens something most photographers have or is that something only expensive ones have? That may be a really dumb question! :-)

I think anyone at the point where they're accepting money to take pictures probably has a few good lenses. They're definitely expensive, but they're not THAT expensive if you're doing it as a career or even just a side business. I have three good ones that accomplish pretty much everything I could need to do; the good ones are excellent in low light without needing a flash and they let the photographer blur the background to draw more attention to the subject(s). I wouldn't worry about it as long as you request a portfolio from anyone you're considering and you like their quality and style.

wrigleyville · May 2014

I agree with VG. Check their portfolios.

Also, nighttime photography in Vegas isn't full-on dark. The Strip is super bright, thanks to all of the lights, traffic, and neon. It's more like shooting in a living room with table lamps. It's ambient lighting and not too hard, as long as you know how to use shutter settings and the correct lens(es). Indoors, they'll likely use a bounce flash in addition to the other tricks.

I was able to get really good pictures along the Strip at night using my iPhone, so a professional can definitely nail it.

Short answer: Don't worry.

What time is your ceremony?

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