Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

nrvbrd Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:09 AM

Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

Hey Ladies, are you lying about the start time on your wedding?

I am having my ceremony and reception at the same place.

My ceremony starts at 630pm to immediately be followed by the cocktail hour at 7pm.

I am thinking of putting 6:00pm on the invites.

My goal is to really get people there by at least 6:45pm . I do not care if a large amount of people miss the ceremony but I do not want people to miss the cocktail hour that I am paying $$$$ for.

What are your thoughts???

shelzyp Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:14 AM

Re: Time on invites.....

I am getting married at the reception at 5:30 so I am goign to put 5:15 on the invitation, becaseu I don't want people getting there too early, and having to wait around. I got to a wedding 10 minutes late, and i missed 1/2 of the ceremony.

kptoys Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:20 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My ceremony begins at 12. Invite time to my hall (where the ceremony is) is 11:30. They serve wine and champaigne to the guests when they arrive.

jennbaby Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:21 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I am being honest

Jodi73 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:22 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My ceremony starts at 7:30 and my hall told me to put 7 invite time.

Happy_Bride Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:26 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I too was told to put down 5:30 instead of 6 :)

curly2003 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:28 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My ceremony start at 7:30 I will be putting 7 on the invite

Sassy Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:29 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

Since mine is at 10 am, I didnt put an earlier time, then they might be tempted to miss the ceremony all together

Misty Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:29 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My ceremony starts at 7:00 and I put 6:30, because the hall is such a stickler for time that they start EXACTLY ON THE BUTTON even if people are standing outside.

Jess2 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:30 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My invitation calls for the ceremony at 11, but it starts at 11:30. People generally never come on time, so I just want to be safe. There will be music at 11 and champagne/mimosas being served. The place I am getting married at also told me to do this, since it starts exactly at 11:30.

Betty Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:33 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I never even thought to lie I will be married at 5pm and that's what I put on the invitation

dgtlsunshine Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:35 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I was married in the morning so I didn't lie. People were already telling us they will meet us at the reception.

AlisonMT Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:38 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

same as Betty, it never occurred to me

ss2002 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:42 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I told the truth; I didn't even think to put an earlier time on the invites. I think that most people know that they should be on time for a wedding.

If you are going to fudge the times, check with your hall to make sure they can accomodate your guests. You don't want anyone stuck waiting outside because the hall is setting up for your ceremony.

KarenK122 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:45 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

I was originally thinking about doing this too...my ceremony starts at 6:30 so I was putting down 6:00 on my invites, but I then got worried that people would arrive really early and have nothing to do for an hour. So I think I might just stick to putting down 6:30 and hope everyone is on time.

HillandRon Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:46 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My invites say 7:00 but the actual ceremony starts at 7:30. There is a hospitality 7-7:30 for the guests where we will have a piano playing and drinks will be served-champagne, wine, etc. before they are lead into the ceremony.

nrvbrd Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:47 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

My hall will serve drinks for early arrivals.

They actually told me that it would be best if I fudged the time on the invite.

ChristineC68 Posted: Jan 31, 2003 10:52 AM

Re: Time on invites, to tell the truth or not....

We had the ceremony & reception at the same place and we put the actual time the ceremony starts on the invite. I had concerns about people being late and considered having a hospitality thing before the ceremony. But we really weren't in the $$ position to incur the added expense to accomodate people not courteous enough to arrive on time. And I didn't think it was necessary - if the ceremony was at a church, no one would expect beverages.

We also didn't want to penalize the guests that would make a point of getting there early then have to cool their heels for 45-60 minutes.

I also want to add that just about everyone was at the place was early or on time with few exceptions and I attribute that to the parade and street fair taking place in the town at the same time. Several of our guests unfamiliar with the area did not know how to get around with the detours.

And I wanted our invites to have the time our ceremony started for properity.

Sorry for babbling