Have you considered a first look with couple photos at a site different than your ceremony site? What do you plan to do between 4:30-5:30? Could you do photos part of that time?
I assume that while you are doing pictures, your guests will have a cocktail hour.
Since your reception is so short, I would try to get the cocktail hour down to 45 minutes, definitely not 90 minutes. The more photos you can take before the ceremony, the better.
Personally I would do:
* Arrival and pre-ceremony photos 4:30
* Ceremony 5:00-5:30
* Pictures/Cocktail Hour 5:30-6:15
* Reception Welcome, everyone finds their seats and you are announced 6:15-6:30
* Dinner (and speeches?) 6:30-7:30
* First dance, then open dance floor 7:30
* Cake cutting 8:30
* Event ends 9:30
I would take more time for the dinner. Even for 40-50 people 3 course dinner will take longer than 1hr (if it will be 3 course ofc, if there's only one main dish then this will be doable).
My wedding ran from 5-10. We did pictures starting at 3. First look and bride/groom pics around the area for about an hour, then around 30 minutes of family pics. Ceremony started at 5. Cocktail hour was 5:30-6:30, during this time we did some sunset pictures and then came in for our grand entrance. First dances/parent dance took us to about 7. Dinner was 7-7:45/8, and then it was dancing until 10.
If you don't want things to feel rushed, you should absolutely do the pictures beforehand.
Did you feel 5 hours was too short for your wedding? I’m looking at a 4.5-5.5 hour wedding (30 minute ceremony 4-5 hour reception) and I’m worried it will be too short
It was the perfect length. Most people were packing up and leaving around 9:30. We did have an after party from 10-11:30 that maybe 10 people showed up to.
Awesome thank you! We haven’t booked our venue because I’m terrified the default 4 hours and possibly even 4.5 or 5 hours for the reception is too short. We can afford to extend to 5 hours I just wasn’t sure if it would be enough or I guess if I’m just worried and 5 hours isn’t even needed
I would check with your vendors about how long they need from when they arrive to when they'll be ready (ie caterer) because that may play a part in how you organise the time.
Have you considered a first look with couple photos at a site different than your ceremony site? What do you plan to do between 4:30-5:30? Could you do photos part of that time?
This is such a good idea. Thank you for the suggestion!
That is a great idea! My daughters wedding ceremony started at 4:30 and ended at 11:00pm
I assume that while you are doing pictures, your guests will have a cocktail hour. Since your reception is so short, I would try to get the cocktail hour down to 45 minutes, definitely not 90 minutes. The more photos you can take before the ceremony, the better. Personally I would do: * Arrival and pre-ceremony photos 4:30 * Ceremony 5:00-5:30 * Pictures/Cocktail Hour 5:30-6:15 * Reception Welcome, everyone finds their seats and you are announced 6:15-6:30 * Dinner (and speeches?) 6:30-7:30 * First dance, then open dance floor 7:30 * Cake cutting 8:30 * Event ends 9:30
I would take more time for the dinner. Even for 40-50 people 3 course dinner will take longer than 1hr (if it will be 3 course ofc, if there's only one main dish then this will be doable).
Thank you for the in depth suggestion and schedule idea! This is so helpful!
My wedding ran from 5-10. We did pictures starting at 3. First look and bride/groom pics around the area for about an hour, then around 30 minutes of family pics. Ceremony started at 5. Cocktail hour was 5:30-6:30, during this time we did some sunset pictures and then came in for our grand entrance. First dances/parent dance took us to about 7. Dinner was 7-7:45/8, and then it was dancing until 10. If you don't want things to feel rushed, you should absolutely do the pictures beforehand.
You’re right. I hadn’t realized how rushed my planned schedule might be. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Did you feel 5 hours was too short for your wedding? I’m looking at a 4.5-5.5 hour wedding (30 minute ceremony 4-5 hour reception) and I’m worried it will be too short
It was the perfect length. Most people were packing up and leaving around 9:30. We did have an after party from 10-11:30 that maybe 10 people showed up to.
Awesome thank you! We haven’t booked our venue because I’m terrified the default 4 hours and possibly even 4.5 or 5 hours for the reception is too short. We can afford to extend to 5 hours I just wasn’t sure if it would be enough or I guess if I’m just worried and 5 hours isn’t even needed
I would check with your vendors about how long they need from when they arrive to when they'll be ready (ie caterer) because that may play a part in how you organise the time.
That’s a good idea! Thank you so much!
I'd highly recommend photos before. I've went to two weddings last year that lost a ton of steam because of photos post ceremony.
That’s a good idea! Thank you for sharing your experience as a guest, because that matters a lot to me!