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Help! Afternoon Weddings.

Knottie21949705Knottie21949705 member
5 Love Its First Comment
in Budget Weddings Forum
Hi, Everyone!

My fiance and a I got engaged in July and we are planning our wedding for May/June 2017. Of course, this is the beginning of peak season. Although we can afford an evening wedding, we received a great quote for a Saturday afternoon wedding. Our initial thought was, in planning for our future, it would be great to have some money left over for buying a house, etc., instead of spending everything we have on an evening wedding. Here are our concerns:

We are concerned that people won't have as much fun. My fear is that we spend that money and find ourselves the only ones on the dance floor. I know that is a stretch, but it's still a concern. I've read posts which state that if WE (the groom and I) are having a good time, so will everyone else. Have any of you been to an afternoon wedding and, if so, did you have fun?

Thank you in advance for your input!

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Re: Help! Afternoon Weddings.

  • Rrobinson15Rrobinson15 member
    5 Love Its First Comment First Anniversary
    I have been to an afternoon wedding and it was a ton of fun. I didn't care that it wasn't at night, in fact it was okay that it wasn't. We had enough time to stay until the end of the wedding, go home rest up and then go out afterwards at night with some of the other guests. Why would anyone not be dancing because it's the afternoon? As long as there is a fun atmosphere, good food and booze people are happy.
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  • AddieCakeAddieCake member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I had a morning wedding with afternoon reception and got plenty of compliments.
    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
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  • artbyallieartbyallie mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    My wedding was late morning with a lunch reception that went til about 3pm. People still tell us how much fun it was four years later. Not everyone danced, but people ate, talked, mingled. We were on the dance floor with at least most of the folks our own age for the majority of the reception.
    image
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  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    You answered your own question - if you're having a good time your guests will feed off of that energy.  I think you're being smart about your planning, if an afternoon event is far more affordable then go for it!!!   
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited September 2015
    There are several great reasons to have an afternoon wedding:

    1.  Older guests can attend, and then go home without fear of driving at night.

    2. Guests can still make plans for the evening.

    3.  People tend not to drink as much alcohol in the afternoon.  Fewer drunk drivers on the road home.

    4.  Costs are much lower.

    5.  Only out of state guests might have to get a hotel room for the night.

    6.  Catholic brides don't need to worry about the dreaded gap.

    7.  Daylight photos can be easily taken any time of year.

    8.  Your guys don't need to rent tuxedos, though they might rent morning coats if you are having a super formal daytime wedding.  (Will and Kate had one of those!)
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
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  • climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I had an afternoon wedding. After we ate, the dance floor was packed the entire time.
    As far as people not drinking as much during the day, our consumption bar tab did not reflect that at all. People drank, they danced their asses off and had a great time.
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    climbingwife said:
    I had an afternoon wedding. After we ate, the dance floor was packed the entire time. As far as people not drinking as much during the day, our consumption bar tab did not reflect that at all. People drank, they danced their asses off and had a great time.
    Sorry to hear that.  ;-)
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
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  • Knottie21949705Knottie21949705 member
    5 Love Its First Comment
    Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. This was all so helpful. I want that "party" atmosphere. It's what I always envisioned. I guess I'm just afraid that people won't have AS MUCH fun during the day. I'm not sure why, but it's just a fear. I'm glad to hear that those of you who DID have afternoon weddings had a great experience! My FI and I are just trying to be practical, while giving ourselves the wedding that we deserve. It's all so much to think about!! 
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  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I've been to a shit ton of afternoon weddings. Worked a bunch too. All were a blast with a bunch of dancing.  All had open bars, so that might have helped.

    My sister's wedding was a 10:30am, reception started at noon (Catholic wedding with a 20 min drive).   The dance floor was packed.


    climbingwife said:
    I had an afternoon wedding. After we ate, the dance floor was packed the entire time. As far as people not drinking as much during the day, our consumption bar tab did not reflect that at all. People drank, they danced their asses off and had a great time.
    yeah, my experience is the same.      My family and friends are all about day drinking and dancing.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
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  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Knottie21949705 said:
    Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. This was all so helpful. I want that "party" atmosphere. It's what I always envisioned. I guess I'm just afraid that people won't have AS MUCH fun during the day. I'm not sure why, but it's just a fear. I'm glad to hear that those of you who DID have afternoon weddings had a great experience! My FI and I are just trying to be practical, while giving ourselves the wedding that we deserve. It's all so much to think about!! 
    One other nice thing that an afternoon wedding affords you is the opportunity to have an "Apres' Party" - say pool at the designated hotel that you and your guests can have fun doing without being completely exhausted from being up so late!!
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  • cotton8744cotton8744 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment

    I personally would rather attend an afternoon wedding than an evening wedding.


    That's just me though :) I'm not an evening person, so when I attend weddings at night it takes me hours to unwind and finally fall asleep versus the afternoon where I can still get home and fall asleep on time. I promise I'm not old, by the way lol.

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  • jenna8984jenna8984 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    cotton8744 said:

    I personally would rather attend an afternoon wedding than an evening wedding.


    That's just me though :) I'm not an evening person, so when I attend weddings at night it takes me hours to unwind and finally fall asleep versus the afternoon where I can still get home and fall asleep on time. I promise I'm not old, by the way lol.


    HA- me too! Husband and I are 30 and when we go to weddings with an 8 o'clock dinner we are falling asleep on our plates. We never stay and dance actually because we get tired early so we leave. I'd love to attend more afternoon weddings.

                                                                     

    image

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  • Liatris2010Liatris2010 mod
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper
    We had an afternoon wedding at it was a blast. Tons of food and dancing and everyone had a great time. Our timeline went like this:
    3:00: ceremony
    3:15: receiving line into cocktail hour
    4:30: wedding party entrance, spotlight dances
    4:45: salad
    5:00: dancing
    5:30: dinner
    6:00: more dancing
    8:00: cake cutting and dessert
    9:00: reception end

    The hotel where we blocked rooms let us bring beer and wine into the lobby, so after the reception we hung out there until bed.
    image
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I get it, OP.  I felt the same way planning our wedding - I really wanted that evening wedding.  And in the end, we were able to afford it so we did it.  But that said, as a guest now, I'd much rather go to an afternoon wedding - I have much more energy during the day than I do late at night.  :D
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  • luckya23luckya23 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    Liatris2010 said:
    We had an afternoon wedding at it was a blast. Tons of food and dancing and everyone had a great time. Our timeline went like this:
    3:00: ceremony
    3:15: receiving line into cocktail hour
    4:30: wedding party entrance, spotlight dances
    4:45: salad
    5:00: dancing
    5:30: dinner
    6:00: more dancing
    8:00: cake cutting and dessert
    9:00: reception end

    The hotel where we blocked rooms let us bring beer and wine into the lobby, so after the reception we hung out there until bed.
    This was mine except everything moved up an hour!  Ceremony started at 2.  We did have a "dinner time" before dancing music started, but the buffet was available the entire reception.

    image

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  • Esther MoralesEsther Morales member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Answer First Comment
    Great idea!  Go for it!  People love love, dancing, food, drinking and sharing at any time of the day!
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  • danindidanindi member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    This is a late reply but I just gotta say as someone having an 11:30am ceremony and brunch reception, I've been pretty anxious about people not enjoying it (we don't have a lot of space for dancing, since it's in a restaurant's event space), but the posts on this thread have made me feel a lot better. 
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