Unfortunately due to the limited availability at our church the ceremony will be from 1pm - 2pm in Bay Shore while our reception will start at 7pm in Sayville making it a 5 hours gap...sigh. We have no idea what to do to make it easier for our guests. Some of the options we have been able to come up with but not certain if it makes sense or will even work are:
1) Choose the 5:30pm ceremony time slot which closes the gap to half an hour. Con is that it won't give us any time to take pictures at the church since it will end at 6:30pm and will take us half an hour to get to the reception site. Sunset is around 7:30pm so there won't be much daylight left once we get there.
2) Per my genius FH..lol...rent the conference room in the hotel to host the guests with refreshments & movies
3) Indicate on the invitation that the ceremony is optional so guests aren't obligated to attend
4) Need to figure out what guests can do for 5 hours all dressed up........
Your thoughts or ideas would be a life saver for us. Thanks!!
BrideAS
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I have a 4 hour gap. I may plan a place for people to go, but I'm leaving it up to them for the most part.
Jenn7982
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I have 4 hours as well. My photographer said don't change a thing because it's the perfect amount of time for pictures. I've asked a lot of people, and they all say don't worry about it. Most people will go to the church in comfortable clothes, then go home and change...
foodgirl785
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I agree with the above poster: most people will probably come in comfortable clothes and then go home and change. OR some people may not come to the ceremony at all.
My mom plans on having people back to her house after the ceremony for some refreshments, but my gap is not quite as long as yours is
soon2beMrsHenry92912
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
Posted by Jenn7982
I have 4 hours as well. My photographer said don't change a thing because it's the perfect amount of time for pictures. I've asked a lot of people, and they all say don't worry about it. Most people will go to the church in comfortable clothes, then go home and change...
This!! Also, this gives OOT guest time to check into their rooms, change if necessary and be ready to party for your reception!
rosatemp
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
Posted by Jenn7982
I have 4 hours as well. My photographer said don't change a thing because it's the perfect amount of time for pictures. I've asked a lot of people, and they all say don't worry about it. Most people will go to the church in comfortable clothes, then go home and change...
this
Rivera2be
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
Honestly I would not stress yourself too much about this. If you and your FH want to rent the conference room w/ refreshments that is definitely a nice gesture, but you will have to pay & really do not know how many people will take advantage of this.
I agree with the other gals, most ppl will arrive in more casual clothes, then go home and prepare for the reception. Anytime I've attended weddings with a large gap, we've always found ways to entertain ourselves.
kfizz
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I have a 3.5 hour gap and have have been to wedding that have been even longer
I wouldn't make the ceremony optional in my opinion...bc that is really the 'wedding'. If people are important you to and you are to them they will make the effort and come to both and the gap wont bother them!
Lsorrent
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I wouldn't change a thing. We had a four hour gap and my IL's were stressing over what people would do in between so they hosted a hospitality time at the hotel. Only like 5 people showed up.
Your guests are adults - they'll figure out what to do with themselves. And definitely don't put on the invite that the church is optional......of course it's optional. You don't need to highlight it.
Moonmist09
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
i have a 3 hour gap. i don't have anything planned for the guests. as it is, the ceremony is optional, you can't make people come and you can't make people not come. i need those 3 hours to take pictures in between. I'm sure if they are inconvenienced by the gap, they just won't come to the ceremony and i'm fine with that. although from the church to my RH its about a 15 minute drive, but then again, since most everyone is local, if they wanted to go to the church, they could just go back home afterwards and then go to the RH
HSsweethearts
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I think #2 is the best option
Bree71584
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
we chose a nighttime ceremony (6pm) and our cokctail hour starts at 8pm in order to not have a gap. but our church is literrally only about 7 miles form the RH so we didnt have to take travel into consideration. we chose to eliminate the gap as much as possible because we have so many OOT guests we thought they'd appreciate that more. we are taking pics pre-ceremony so we can still get some daylight photos in.
dpanzarino
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
We have a bit of a gap as well. My Mass is at 3pm and the reception starts at 7:30pm. I figure it's a good time for most guests to get to the hotel and check-in and got some cocktails at the hotel bar. Those not staying at the hotel can figure out what to do - they must be local anyway!!!
Lovebee
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
Thanks for all your comments! We have OOT guests who will likely arrive Friday because the ceremony is at 1pm so we aren't too worried about them since they can relax at their hotel rooms. The group of people who this may prove to be a big inconvenience for are the guests who aren't locals and don't have hotel rooms because they drove over an hour from the tri-state area.
Skinewyork
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
My parents are really worried about this as well. We will have a 3 hour gap, and they think we're being inconsiderate of our guests who are local enough that they don't need a hotel room, but far enough that they wouldn't go home in between. We are not going to have a 'hospitality hour', but our ceremony site is on a really nice main street that they could stroll to kill some time, or stop into one of the many stores/bars along the way. Or, as many people said, they can choose only to go to the reception. I wouldn't say that on your invitation though!
bebita0830
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
choice #2 is pretty good!, I've heard some brides have family members hosting entertainments in their houses 'til is time for the reception, having a gap between ceremony and reception is done more times than u think, and a lot of guests that are not OOT just go back to their homes 'til is time for the reception, I'm also having a gap of 4 hrs 'cause I refuse seeing FH before the ceremony to take pics
lisak
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
i have a gap..my church is at 5:00 and my ch is at 8:30...i figured the people in the area may go back home or they can wait at the reception hall...u need that gap to take pictures..hopefully the guests will understand that
Irishbride16
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Re: Ceremony & Reception Gap
I wish i had a gap....i only have a hour and my chruch is in babylon and RH is in westbury ....i only have an hour to take pictures and try to get what i like ..im going to feel so rushed ...totally sucks but there nothing i can do...but at least you have a gap to take nice pictures and go somewhere nice!!!! but i would say 2 b/c your guest can go there and relax till your cocktail hour...and some might just go home ....
