What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

Just hang out? Go to a restaurant? Get some drinks on their own?

I have about 2.5 hours in between. I feel bad, but we wanted a lot of time to take pictures, and the reception hall won't start eariler.

Also my FMIL told me that the bride's family is supposed to invite the groom's family over their house refreshments in between. (She said this to me when FBIL got married, and his wife's family didn't do it). Has anyone heard of this? Because I never did. Honestly, my parents are going to have enough to deal with, so I guess she's going to be disappointed! Whatever!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

I think everyone expects that at most weddings there will be some time between the church and reception. If there is a bar at the reception location, I would let your guests know that they can hang out there in between, but as for the bride's family hosting the grooms family in between...all I can say is YIKES...they are going to be hosting the largest party of their life (at least in my case) later that night...i think that is quite sufficient!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

We have a TON of time inbetween the ceremony and reception (Church 3 p.m. and Reception 7:30) so it's about 3 hours total. The church wouldn't go later, and we couldn't start the reception earlier. Luckily, we were aware of this when looking for a hall, and thisis one of the reasons that we chose Fox Hollow. We are having a hospitality room at the hotel in between. It isn't too much money, and atleast our guests will have somewhere to go!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

no clue
some people are from queens others from long island (both our familes live in these 2 places).my church is in queens and reception in long island.
i will leave this up to them because i want to give them time in between to do as they please. i heard some people saying they wanted to change in between and others had kids that will not be going to the receptin.
besides, i only have 2 1/2 hrs in betwen so by the time they drive from church to reception, and there may be traffic (you know LI highways ) ??!?also there are always people who form little groups and go somewhere together.

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

Because we are marrying on a Friday night, and not in a church, we had the luxury of starting things when we wanted (whew)...so our short and sweet ceremony starts at 6, and our cocktail hour at 7:30...the locations are about 25 min away from each other, so the timing is perfect!!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

There's a bar that they can hang out at. Our ceremony ends at 4:00 I'm hoping to have everyone headed out to LI by 4:30 and assuming it takes an hour to get there we'll be there an hour before cocktail hour.
Since a lot of guests will be staying at the hotel, the hour gives them time to check in, freshen up, some people will be changing into tuxes for the reception as well.

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

i went to a wedding recently and there were FOUR HOURS between the ceremony and reception. personally, i think this is unfair to the guests. people who don't live in the neighborhood need to find something to do and somewhere to go during this time, for us it was too far to go home but too close to pay for a hotel room. plus, it made the wedding day a lot longer, and tiring for us as guests. there were no real options for us during that time, and to be honest, we kind of resented it. just something for people to consider when planning.

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

DRIVE!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

my church is in queens at 4pm and my reception starts at 7.30 in long island...jerricho terrace has piano lounge that people can wait around in with tables and a bar....hopefully the guests won't be too drunk by the time we get there

also, many people live close to the church so they will go back home and then drive out to the reception a little later

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

I think my mom is going to invite everyone back to my house for coffee and snacks. We have this great place for cookies, it's a wholesale bakery. That's the plan so far. I live right near the church. And then everyone has a bit of a drive. But JT has that bar down stairs for early arrivals.

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

I have to have four hours between my ceremony and reception- there was no other way to get my family church and the reception site on the same day. I really dont feel that it is unfair to guests and I will be very sad if they feel resentful!
I will do my best to provide options in between, but I have heard that this time difference is very common when doing a Catholic mass, since most churches have masses in the later part of the afternoon. there was nothing else we could do, so we are just planning to make the best of it and enjoy a nice long day!

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

We'll be at my grandparents home for everything. So I would imagine everyone will be drinking... unless Granny breaks out twister or something! LOL! (I hope I just didn't jinx myself!!)

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

My parents will have some of the people back at their house for some light refreshments. Our house is 3 blocks from the church and on the way to the reception hall.

Re: What will your guest do between the ceremony and reception?

Our ceremony starts at 2pm in Huntington village and the reception begins at 5pm in Oakdale. We figured people could walk around the village or go back to our home (which is 5 minutes from the village) for drinks, etc..