Afternoon Weddings

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:20 PM

Afternoon Weddings

What does everyone think about afternoon weddings???

It looks like I may not have a choice since every place I look at is booked on my date in the evenings... most of them have the afternoon open but I just don't know if I should do it in the afternoon.

Jordan Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:23 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

What are you skeptical about?

I'm assuming you're talking about a Saturday...what about switching it to a Friday night?

Kt11bride2004 Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:25 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

I don't know if you are getting married in a Church or not but check what times the
you can get married. I am having a 1:00 reception and almost freaked b/c
when I was scheduling with the church the secretary told me they don't do any
marriages before 12:00, so you may need to do a little more coordinating in
an afternoon wedding. That I think is the only drawback.

lulu Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:30 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

I had a Sunday afternoon wedding and it turned out fantastic. I would have preferred Sat night. but DH is Jewish so that wasn't an option. I chose Sunday afternoon since we had a lot of guests from NJ and we didn't want them to get home too late.

In the end, I was very happy with the afternoon. My hall is an old mansion and has beautiful grounds so people were able to appreciate this aspect of it more during the daytime. Everyone was socializing, dancing, and drinking more than I thought they would be. I was a little nervous it wouldn't be as lively as a nighttime affair, but it wasn't a problem at all.

Also, it saved us some $$ too which is always a bonus.

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:32 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

I can't do it on a Friday night.. too complicated to go into right now. But, yeah, it would have to be Saturday afternoon. I've always wanted an evening wedding though.. but my evening date is booked everywhere I look..

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:33 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Kt11bride - thanks for that piece of advice. I will definitely check with my Church first before I do anything.

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:35 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Thanks lulu!!

jannshari Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:37 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Are you absolutely adamant about the date? If you really want a Saturday evening, you can always change your date. If you are set on the date, and nothing is available, go for the afternoon wedding. We're having a Sunday afternoon wedding the day before Columbus Day, so for people who have off, it's almost like a Saturday afternoon.

There's no reason why you can't continue the party elsewhere afterwards with your friends and family.

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:39 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

jannshari - yeah.. we are stuck on the date. There are a lot of reasons behind it. I guess if I can get it to work with the Church, then maybe I'll do it so I get a place I really like.

Mich1108 Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:43 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

I am getting married on a Sat. afternoon and the biggest drawback is you will not have a lot of time in between church & reception for pictures. I am lucky though b/c my ceremony is at 11:00am & the room that I picked at East Wind has a 1:30pm cocktail hour. I looked at some places where they only had 12:30 starts and with a full mass, there would be even less time in between so I would have had to considered seeing my FI before the wedding which my sister did but I would rather not do that. I will be taking my pics at East Wind too b/c there's really no time to stop anywhere else which is fine with me but if that's an issue with you, you have to think about that. GL!

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:45 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Thanks mich1108... I appreciate your thoughts on this!

shawl Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:47 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

The best wedding I have ever been to was in the afternoon. I think afternoons are particularly great if you are having kids at your wedding, as well. So go for it!

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:49 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Thanks shawl... The only kids I am having are the ones in the bridal party.. I figured that it may make things easier on them as well...

btrflygrl Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:52 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Why not?? We are having an 11:30am ceremony with reception to follow and then getting limos for afterwards for us to go have a few drinks with the bridal party at some local bars after the wedding ends at 5pm!!

Pickle Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:55 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

I'm having a Sat Afternoon wedding, i say don't worry about it. Our wedding is smaller in size, so once we started looking, we got used to the idea of being in the afternoon no matter where we looked. We're having the ceremony at the hall, which makes things a little easier. I was a little skeptical at first also - whether the party will be as fun as nighttime,etc.

But i know my friends & family will have a great time, and will make it a great party no matter what time of day it is. have faith in your guests, it will all be great. Don't sweat it.

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:56 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Thanks btrflygrl... what time is your reception? My only problem is that I'm going to be going out to LI after the Church and the Church is in Brooklyn so I would hope that it would be enough time to get to where I need to go.

July2004Bride Posted: Sep 03, 2003 03:57 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Thanks pickle.

btrflygrl Posted: Sep 03, 2003 04:14 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

WE are marrying at the hall so our cocktail hr starts at 12...you'll have plenty of time to get from Brooklyn to LI...if you're worried about your guests having too much free time, in the OOT bags you can give them some local places on the way where they can kill some time

LIPrincess00 Posted: Sep 03, 2003 04:43 PM

Re: Afternoon Weddings

Almost all of my friends and family have had afternoon weddings all at different places and each and every one of them was fantastic. Either a group of us went back to someones house or went to another restaurant sometimes with the bride and groom and continued the party or just had coffee. So when I booked mine at the Meadow Club I looked for an afternoon wedding and I got a 12:30 ceremony, 1:00 cocktail hour and 2:00 starts the reception. The only thing I had to change was from a Sat. to Sun. (which I had no problem doing).