Question for newlyweds who married on a Sunday

I'm starting to get really worried that people are going to leave early...

Our reception is from 6:30-12:30 on a Sunday night... We paid for the viennese hour and now I'm worried that nobody is going to stay for it

I called the hall and tried to move things up an hour and they wouldn't let me. In your experience did everyone leave early??? And if so, what would you do about the favors? I was thinking of asking if I could put them in the lobby, but with multiple weddings going on i'm not sure they'll allow that...

That's what we want to do with the favors. I guess if we have them brought out right after dinner we should get everyone before they leave.

A wedding we went to last month did that and we loved it

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Posted by nicopico13

We'll probably do that too. I feel like if they were left by the door people would take like 5 instead of one and some people would miss out on the favor.

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Some people do that even if the favor is left at each place setting! My dad went to a sweet 16 a few weeks ago and the favor was a chocolate bar with the personalized wrapper... well he caught someone at his table going around the table and stuffing the chocolate bars in her purse! Can you imagine?!

Its kinda funny how people go crazy for 'free' things!! We'll have to pat them down at the door before they leave!

I would be worried about people leaving early-but there isnt much that you can do about that.

As for favors depending on what they are-if you are giving one to each guest or one for each couple-I wouldput them out at the place settings. OR have them set up on a table behind your dais.

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Posted by nicopico13

Its kinda funny how people go crazy for 'free' things!! We'll have to pat them down at the door before they leave!

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HAHA, We'll def have to have them distributed at the tables, if it's by the door that's too easy of a get away

Somone would have to have a HUGE purse to sneak a bunch of ours out

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Posted by PegaLega

I would be worried about people leaving early-but there isnt much that you can do about that.

As for favors depending on what they are-if you are giving one to each guest or one for each couple-I wouldput them out at the place settings. OR have them set up on a table behind your dais.

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We're doing bottles of wine, they're in my pics if you wanna check them out.

Peggie I just realized your date was a Friday, is that right? Was that a holiday?

I got married on a Sunday and figured a lot of people would have off from work for Veteran's Day the next day. We got married at the hall and the cocktail hour immediately started after. The whole thing was from 6-12 even if you count the ceremony. By 10:30-11:00 people started leaving in droves. Turns out a decent amount had work or children at home that were left with a babysitter. The last hour there was only 10 of us left out of around 125.

As for the favors, mine were in a decent sized box so I didn't want to put them on the tables since they would get in everyone's way. I told my hall to put them under this table that we had the place cards and other stuff on. No one could see them since the table cloth hid it. I had several guests including my little sister who were 12-13 years old so they happily passed around the favors to each couple right after I cut my cake. Unfortunately some people didn't get one, but I never thought that many people would leave that early.

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Posted by SusanAdam

I got married on a Sunday and figured a lot of people would have off from work for Veteran's Day the next day. We got married at the hall and the cocktail hour immediately started after. The whole thing was from 6-12 even if you count the ceremony. By 10:30-11:00 people started leaving in droves. Turns out a decent amount had work or children at home that were left with a babysitter. The last hour there was only 10 of us left out of around 125.

As for the favors, mine were in a decent sized box so I didn't want to put them on the tables since they would get in everyone's way. I told my hall to put them under this table that we had the place cards and other stuff on. No one could see them since the table cloth hid it. I had several guests including my little sister who were 12-13 years old so they happily passed around the favors to each couple right after I cut my cake. Unfortunately some people didn't get one, but I never thought that many people would leave that early.

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Ugggghhhhh, I wonder if I should have them cut an hour out and just start the viennese hour at 10:30 instead of 11:30?? I'd hate to lose an hour, but I'd hate for everyone to leave before it even starts too... I dont know why we didn't think of this when we were booking...

I know our OOT guests have monday off, which is all of my family b/c I'm not from NY, and I'm sure most of our younger guests (which is about 1/2 of the 250) will stay, plus the bridal party...

Do you think I should move up the viennese??

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Posted by SusanAdam

Maybe they could move it up a half hour and start it at 11? I'm sure you will have a large number who stay to at least 11:30 since you said you have a large portion who are on the younger side or are off from work. Most of my guests left right as the cake was brought out, but a lot of them had kids to get back to, work the next day, or had a long ride back home. All the people that stayed until the very end were our friends. We practically had to drag them off the dance floor at the end because the staff was ready to go home.

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Awe I just looked at your album, that's so cute how you two met!! Your honeymoon sounds a lot like ours, which cruise line did you sail with? We're doing Carnival. <-- I love that smiley lol

Moving it up 1/2 hour sounds better than an hour, that might be a good compromise. I'm gonna wait and see what other Sunday brides say, but you're probably right... gotta run it by FH too and I know he's probably not going to want to do it...

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Posted by tcotier

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Posted by PegaLega

I would be worried about people leaving early-but there isnt much that you can do about that.

As for favors depending on what they are-if you are giving one to each guest or one for each couple-I wouldput them out at the place settings. OR have them set up on a table behind your dais.

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We're doing bottles of wine, they're in my pics if you wanna check them out.

Peggie I just realized your date was a Friday, is that right? Was that a holiday?

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Yep it was a friday, it was the friday before Memorial Day.

I would see if they can set a table up behind your dais, this is what a friend of ours did and it worked out very well. See if this is possible, or even a small table near the door to leave the room you are in.

Also, ask about changing the VH, Im not sure if they actually do it as the last HOUR-they may start it a little earlier but definitely ask, it cant hurt

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Posted by tcotier

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Posted by SusanAdam

Maybe they could move it up a half hour and start it at 11? I'm sure you will have a large number who stay to at least 11:30 since you said you have a large portion who are on the younger side or are off from work. Most of my guests left right as the cake was brought out, but a lot of them had kids to get back to, work the next day, or had a long ride back home. All the people that stayed until the very end were our friends. We practically had to drag them off the dance floor at the end because the staff was ready to go home.

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Awe I just looked at your album, that's so cute how you two met!! Your honeymoon sounds a lot like ours, which cruise line did you sail with? We're doing Carnival. <-- I love that smiley lol

Moving it up 1/2 hour sounds better than an hour, that might be a good compromise. I'm gonna wait and see what other Sunday brides say, but you're probably right... gotta run it by FH too and I know he's probably not going to want to do it...

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Thanks! We went on Royal Caribbean. I love Carnival as well. Three of the six cruises DH and I went on were with Carnival and we had a great time on each one. We even got engaged during one of them. What can I say...we love cruising. Cruising through Europe was just amazing. If you want any recommendations on some ports send me FM. I used some amazing tour guides that were a million times better than the ship tours. Congrats on your upcoming wedding!

My FH's 2 brothers were married last year. One was a Sunday in June, before summer started for the kids. We saw a huge difference from the 2 nights. For the Sat, most people stayed for the whole thing and took the shuttle and stayed at the hotel. For the Sun, most were gone by 10 and it ended around 11:30. By 11, it was mainly just the immediate family members. Many didn't stay at the hotel, people tended to drink less because they had to get up the next day or drive home. IMO, I think there will not be many people left at 12:30 am. I am a late person, but even that would be late for me.
As for the favors, I always thought they were left at the table.

I am a Sunday bride, but Sunday afternoon. We were worried about people leaving early, and leaving time for our OOT guests to travel if necessary.

I'm Jewish, so if we did a Sat night wedding the ceremony would have to start after sundown, so it would be an 8:30pm++ start. Our reception (if it was the standard 5 hours would go until at least 2, maybe 2:30am). I knew many people would not stay THAT late

We went with Sunday afternoon because I love daylight and windows and also because it will give our guests time to drive home that night, or our OOTers to catch a flight if they need to be at work Monday.

A lot of our friends are off the next Monday because they are on summer vacation (either as students or teachers) so hopefully they will come to our afterparty! So far we have 14 hotel rooms booked for Sat AND Sun night, so plenty of people are planning to stay the night.

If I had a Sun night wedding I would definitely stay until 12:30 if I was otherwise having a good time, as long as I didn't have a long commute home. You know your guests better than I do but I'd hope people wouldn't clear out and leave more than 30 min early. I'd just be careful w/ the added hour (this applies to Fri and Sat night too) -- people may expect a 5 hour reception and tell babysitters accordingly and feel they need to head home after 5 hours.