Well... it looks like my ceremony is going to be at 1pm, and the coctail hour/reception starts at 5pm. The out of town guests will just go back to the hotel (there is a little bar there) and later on will take a shuttle to the reception. But what about the LI guests who live too far to go home in between, but aren't staying at the hotel?
My mom does not want to have any type of get-together at my house (we will be too busy that day to worry about people coming over). My FH lives out of state so it's not as though his mom can have anything at her house.
I am afraid that this will cause people to either skip the church, or skip the reception, which would be even worse... just because they won't know what to do in between.
I can't be the only one having these problems/fears... any advice/ideas? Should I just not worry about it and let people fend for themselves? But I don't want no-shows at the reception because of it either... ugh
meg193
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Re: gaps of time...
There is no way to have the ceremony later? That is a pretty big gap of time in between for people to find something to do. Are there any close family friends who live near the reception hall that would be willing to have people over?
FuTuRe MrS MaZz
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Re: gaps of time...
If I was a guest at your wedding, and didnt live close by, I would def skip the ceremony .... Just be well aware that you might have lots of empty seats because of the gap!
Sue and Danny
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Re: gaps of time...
maybe you can move the ceremony to a later time ...like someone said if they were a guest and lived in li they might skip the cermony and just go to the reception ?
maybe you can have the cocktail hour earlier depending on the hall
HTH
sparkle
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Re: gaps of time...
Posted by meg193
There is no way to have the ceremony later? That is a pretty big gap of time in between for people to find something to do. Are there any close family friends who live near the reception hall that would be willing to have people over?
Nope, no family is from LI. The problem is that we had to space out the ceremony and the reception so that the OOT guests had time to go back to the hotel in between so that they could then catch a shuttle to the reception. But in leaving time for the OOT guests to do that, it leaves the LI guests (of which they are very few) with free time. Some of them live very close to the church, so it will be easy for them to go home in between. The rest I guess will go to either the church or the reception but not both, which stinks, but what can you do. My other option is to forget the shuttle from the hotel to the reception and just have OOT guests drive themselves from the church straight to the reception, but I hate to see OOT'ers on unfamiliar roads at night, and obviously I would like everyone to be able to drink and have a good time.
I guess what it comes down to is that the people who care enough to make the effort will find a way to deal, and the others just won't come to both. There's only so much I can do to make life easy for everyone
magbride
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Re: gaps of time...
We have a big gap too. 3 o'clock ceremony, 7:00 Cocktail hour. I figure the people who really want to make the church will be there, others will skip it if too far. Some family is going back my in FILs and some will go to the hotel. I was thinking about inquiring about a hospitality suite but I'm running out of $. There is a bar, so I might just spread the word that people can kill time there if need be.
GinaZ
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Re: gaps of time...
I dunno where your reception is, but do they have a bar or restaurant? maybe you could suggest for them to go there inbetween? I know of many people who run into this problem but it usually ends up being fine.
sparkle
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Re: gaps of time...
Thanks. Yea, the reception site does have a bar and a very nice restaurant, so that is def a possibility. Also, I went through my guest list again, and it actually should only affect about 10 guests. Everyone else from LI lives within minutes of the church, so they should be able to go home after the church for a bit (which isn't too great, but I've done it before for other weddings, and it's not that bad - actually I kind of liked it, b/c I changed into something more 'not church appropriate' in between the church and the reception lol).
FH and I have def initely busted our butts to go to other friends' ceremonies and receptions in situations like this, so I can just hope that people reciprocate! Thanks ladies!
Wedding999
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Re: gaps of time...
I wouldnt worry about it ... people will figure it out for themselves. If they want to go to the church - they will go - they're not gonna miss it just b/c of the time schedule. Sometimes the out-of-towners and the local family that havent seen each other will just do their get togethers (hotel or bar or something like that). Im having a large gap (ceremony at 2pm - coctail at 7pm) - i feel like the invitations are sent out at least 2 months before hand giving people plenty of time to figure out what they're gonna do.
Spelldizzy
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Re: gaps of time...
How about suggesting a few places people can go to chill out inbetween?
anneandchris
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Re: gaps of time...
We have a large gap of time too...IMO don't worry about it. As much as you want to you can't worry about everyone. My FH and I went to wedding this weekend in RI due to the Ferry Schedule we arrived near the church 2 hours early -- we found things to do to occupy our time. It was fine.
Don't forget its not as much time as you usually think it is going to be -- by the time your ceremony is over and people linger outside for a bit and they drive to the reception site are more time is killed then you think.
DanNette
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Re: gaps of time...
That time gap is pretty normal. My church is at 3pm and the Cocktail Hour starts at 7pm. People will have at least two hours to kill. If this makes them skip my ceremony, I would be upset. I can't have my ceremony later, church won't allow it they have to prepare for 5pm mass. There are local bars people can go chill at if they don't live locally and there is even a bar at my RH where people can go hang out starting from 6pm on. I can't worry about this, people will make due. Some people extend their cocktail hours, of course this means more $$, but if you want to, check with your RH they might be able to.
