My church ceremony starts at 230, and my priest said they last about 50 minutes (we are also having a mass), So I figure the ceremony would be done by 330. I am a little nervous about the ceremony starting late because the last mass on Sunday is 1245, which means it will end at 145, giving little time for parishioners to clear out by the time our priest wants us there (he told FH to be there by 2, me 215). (I also just realized its Pentecost sunday, and I can't remember if that mass would be longer...)
Anyway, how much time do you think guests should have between ceremony and cocktail hour. Originally I was thinking of giving them an hour and a half (making cocktail hour 5-6) but now I feel like god forbid the ceremony starts late, it will give FH and I less time for pictures or whatever. Is having two and a half hours between ceremony and cocktail hour too long? Because now that I am thinking about it, I feel like I would feel much more at ease having more time in between the ceremony and cocktail hour than less time. If we had two and a half hours in between, the cocktail hour would be 6-7, and the reception 7-11.
**oh and our reception sight is about 25-30 mins away, without traffic of course.
If anyone could help me out, I greatly appreciate it.
kedjmay2015
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
** oh and my wedding date is the sunday before memorial day, i don't know if that means we will encounter more traffic
JaimeLin
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
I wouldn't choose to have that much time before cocktail hour personally. For guests that don't have a hotel room might not have anywhere to go if home is too far and then just have awkward time to kill. My church ceremony and full mass is at 4, cocktail hour is at 6:30 and then hall is about 20min away and I was worried that was you'll much time in between. My hall let me know they'd let my guests in as early as 5:30.
rcotter90
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
Our ceremony is at 3PM, over by 4PM.. by the time the receiving line and some pictures are taken, I plan to leave by 4:30 the latest, go to a secondary picture location. Cocktail hour is at 7 so there's a 3 hour gap between for guests, but there's nothing I can do about it. The time of the mass is the time of the mass. Our families will be at Fox Hollow around 6 to take family pictures as well. There are so many pictures to be taken, and people understand.
kedjmay2015
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
@rcotter- I completely forgot about a receiving line and wasn't even accounting for that... how long does that usually take?
booie135
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
I'm doing a full mass at church starting at 2:30 and cocktail hour is starting at 6. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to take all our pictures in between and not miss any of our cocktail hour!
rcotter90
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Re: how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
Posted by kedjmay2015
@rcotter- I completely forgot about a receiving line and wasn't even accounting for that... how long does that usually take?
My photog said it shouldn't take too long.. Depends on the amount of guests and how much they talk your ear off lol. I'd say no more than 10-15 mins. Then it's a matter of all the pics outside the church and getting everybody to get their sh!t together and get in the limos. So he said plan a half hour after mass is over before we pull away just to be safe.
QueensNYC
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
We're doing a full mass starting at 3pm in Flushing, Queens. Distance to WM is about 30 minutes without traffic which I think is doable given that we are getting married on a Sunday afternoon/evening way in late September. Reception starts at 6pm. So with the receiving line and if guests hang out to watch some of the picture taking (or maybe not) they have an hour and a half to kill.
I fretted about this big time because I was worried about guests being annoyed. May I suggest do you need to do to insure you get the pictures you want...if that means a 2.5 hour gap so be it. I have been to weddings with gaps and either I went home or went for a light bite to eat a diner or we've stopped off at a bar even before heading out to the reception. Guests will find a way to keep themselves occupied.
vc2014
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
Do what is best for you! Your guests will figure it out or not come to church. My ceremony was 3:00 and cocktail hour at 6:30 and I honestly could've used more time in between lol
msktomrsc
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
My ceremony was from 3:15 - 3:45, then cocktail hour started at 6. The timing worked out perfectly. We got all of our pictures done and enjoyed the entire cocktail hour. Our ceremony was about half an hour from the reception, and I was the weekend prior to Memorial Day as well. Traffic really wasn't an issue, which was a pleasant surprise!
kedjmay2015
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how much time between ceremony and cocktail hour?
Thanks for all your input ladies! I think I'm going to give us more time in between the ceremony and cocktail hour (2 and 1/2 instead of the 1 and 1/2 we originally were thinking)... Originally I didn't mind missing cocktail hour, but since I want pictures at the farm where my reception is, I don't want the guests there during that time... I think it would also be nice to see the space before anyone else gets there. It also gives FH and I the option to go to old westbury if we choose (fh really doesn't want to go there but of course, I do haha)
