How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Original post by MrsH09

May 05, 2008 09:10 PM

Hi girls,
I've gotten so much advice from past brides on this so I think I'm going to stick with the ceremony @ 3 and the CH @ 7..this leaves a huge gap..but oh well ..i just wanted to know how big everyone else's gap was..count from the end of the ceremony approx to the beginning of CH

MrsInglima Posted: May 06, 2008 09:59 AM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Our RH and Church are within two miles of each other so we don't want there to be too much of a gap.

songwriterchic Posted: May 06, 2008 10:47 AM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

We had a 3 hour gap, but the church and RH were far away from each other (about 45 min), so that killed some of the time.

MrsH09 Posted: May 06, 2008 11:08 AM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Posted by bluegreen08

we are getting married at our hall so no gap.. i say either leave enough time for your guests to go straight there and not much more, or leave enough time for them to drive home, relax a while, and then drive to the hall.

an in between amt of time can be annoying

lol..i've had that awkward amt of time...it is annoying

bluekat16 Posted: May 06, 2008 11:11 AM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

We left an hour between the end of the ceremony and the CH.

eoconnell09 Posted: May 06, 2008 11:18 AM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Right now the ceremony is at 3 and CH is at 7, but we are going to push it up to 6:30 to accommodate the guests a little more.....RH has champagne and strawberries and cheese and crackers in the lobby for early arrivals and will have servers taking drink orders as well.

Also, we have a lot of OOT guests that will have time to go to the hotel and check in first and relax for a few minutes before we send the bus to come and pick them up.

GOOD LUCK and don't worry about the timing. This is the one day you can be a little greedy! YOu want to be able to enjoy yourself a little bit at the CH and can't really do that while taking a zillion pictures, so leave it at 7!!!

kewlpuff Posted: May 06, 2008 12:01 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Posted by stacey23

for me everything is at the rh, so no gaps in between

same here!

FinallyEngaged Posted: May 06, 2008 12:10 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

I have a huge gap! My church is at 1:30 and cocktail hour is at 7....

It is a Greek Orthodox Ceremony, so it probably will not be over until 2:30/3.... by the time the reception line is finished I still want to have daylight to take pictures outside, that is why we are having mass so early.

My parents will have people over my house in the in between time so that way people do not have to go home if they do not want to.

FutureMrsF2010 Posted: May 06, 2008 12:26 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Our Ceremony is at 4:30 and CH begins at 7:30

ammie1016 Posted: May 06, 2008 12:29 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Cermony starts at 3:30, CH starts at 6

Colleen214 Posted: May 06, 2008 05:34 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

our mass ended at 4:30 and the cocktail hour didn't start till 7, but it worked out fine. People either went to their hotel in between, or a local bar, or my parents house.

It worked out well for us, because we had time to take pictures and get those out of the way so we could enjoy most of the cocktail hour. i don't think any of our guests minded, some of them actually liked having extra time in between to freshen up or relax. Also, some people got to the RH early, so that narrowed the gap a little too, and it is a 30 minute drive from the church to the RH.

MrsDtoBe09 Posted: May 06, 2008 06:19 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Ours is two hours but I feel like thats closer than usual because its a daytime wedding. there's going to be a lot of rushing!

Brooklynbride Posted: May 06, 2008 10:58 PM

Re: How long is the gap between ceremony & reception

Posted by BklynBride2Be

my ceremony starts at 2pm and my CH starts at 7pm. By the time the ceremony ends and our church pics are done it'll be 3:30pm. And we are an hour from the hall so guests have to leave Brooklyn by 5:30-6pm. FILs are hosting a gathering at the house for the down time between.

Same here, except for FIL's hosting a gathering