11am ceremony

Personally I think 11am is too early, not just for you to get yourself ready but for your guests as well and it makes it quite a long day with an 11am start. I would go for the 3pm slot.

Do all your guests live very close to the venue? If so, could be fine

If not, they'll have to travel and stay over the night before the wedding - are you expecting them to celebrate with you into the night of the day of the wedding and stay that night too? If so, you should think about their accommodation costs. While most people would expect to pay for one night's accommodation, I personally wouldn't ask them to pay for two, unless they're coming from abroad.

Look at some 'alternative' wedding schedules online. There's no reason you HAVE to go for the traditional ceremony - drinks - wedding breakfast - evening party.

I think 3pm would be ok, you could always perhaps arrange a mid-morning brunch - one for the brides and her close family/friends, and same again for the groom, to stretch the day out a bit?

When are you expecting the evening part to carry on til?

I have shot many 11 am weddings and they work just fine. Although people dont generally choose them out of choice and its usually because of the registrar availability. Here are some real life timings for you.

11 am wedding

11.30 outside with a drink in your hand.

Relaxing mingling chatting and photos, you can leave this part for 2 hours and have a relaxed atmosphere here as quite often this part can be very hectic.

Call to sit at 1.30

3 hour for the meal and speeches =4.30

Tell the evening guests to arrive at 6-6.30 pm

That only leave 2 hours before it starts to get really busy again, quite often with a later wedding I see that the speeches are still going and the eve guests are arriving, with everything being a rush and the whole day ending up a blur. During that 2 hours I see some day guests go home and get changed - or feed the dog, some take a nap if hey have a room., others are happy to chill and drink and chat, you can freshen up - re apply make up and the groom can wash gravy off his chin. Even some more photos in the changing light.

When the eve guests arrive at 6 if you have a first dance at 7.30-8 that give plenty of time for you to say your hellos and chat to the eve guests and they will all want to know about your day.

If you are concerned about gaps then you could get some garden games in.

Just as people dont go for a 11 am wedding out of choice they do mainly choose a 3.30-4 wedding because they want to keep it short and go straight into an eve reception without a 3 course sit down, this can be a good way to cut down on costs but if you have already booked the venue on an all day basis they may not want to change, most people who go for a late wedding will be looking for a venue that are offering this as a standard.

Its your wedding day why not make it as long as possible, I love shooting weddings like that as they are so much more relaxed.

One concern though is how early in the morning you will all need to get up to get ready, my advice here would be to try and have as few bridesmaids as possible.

We're getting married at 11am it is the only time that our venue is available. Also, we're getting married and having reception in different locations. It's a very early start, we're putting on transport between the venues and lots of people have opted to stay the night before. People are genuinely excited and are turning it into a weekend thing to be honest.

Yes it is early but we have the whole day to celebrate with the people we love

Our ceremony is at 12pm as the registrar only had that time and 4pm available!

I was a bit worried that it was too early in the day, but it should be fine. Our wedding is in October so it will be a good way to make use of the shorter day light hours!

Myself, my 2 bridesmaids and parents are getting ready at my home before travelling to the venue. It will be a very early start as the hair and make up ladies will be arriving around 7am to get us all ready in time! Lots of cups of coffee needed that morning haha!

11am ceremony could work for you, it depends how much time you will need in the morning. You need to consider where you are getting ready, how many people need to be done up (eg BMs, MOB, MOG?), how are you getting to the venue?

Our ceremony is at 12pm as that the registrar only had that time or 4pm available!

I was a bit worried that it was too early in the day, but it should be fine. Our wedding is in October so it will be a good way to make sure of the shorter day light hours!

Myself, my 2 bridesmaids and parents are getting ready at my home before travelling to the venue. It will be a very early start as the hair and make up ladies will be arriving around 7am to get us all ready in time! Lots of cups of coffee needed that morning haha!

11am ceremony could work for you, it depends how much time you will need in the morning. You need to consider where you are getting ready, how many people need to be done up (eg BMs, MOB, MOG?), how are you getting to the venue?

Many many years ago I had an 11am wedding. It worked just fine. Food was at lunch time so noone was hungry. don't worry. N

A good friend of mine got married at Midday (not quite 11am, but what's an hour between friends) and it was a marvellous day! The early start meant there was no rush to do anything and the day was really relaxed and flowed nicely. There were a couple of early casualties who hit the bottle too hard too soon, but apart from that inevitability it was a brilliant day!

Mine is at 11am, we are getting to the venue for 10.45.

Canapés and drinks at 11.40ish.

Photos while the guests can access all areas of the museum.

At 2pm we arrive at the other venue, food is served as we arrive and ALL our extra guests join us!

3pm speeches.

4pm the first band kicks off.

7.30pm the DJ starts.

2am party over...

Will be one crazy, crazy day. Hopefully!

We are getting married at 3pm! This is largely because we're doing a lot of the prep ourselves (have to drive to the reception to drop off the flowers on the morning of, after 10.30 because it's a country pub)

I think 11am is a bit early if people aren't local, but I am now a little worried about ours being at 3 in case it ends up being a rush!

I think go for the 11am and make it a lovely long day. All the planning, time and effort that goes into the planning, make the day full, relax and enjoy it!

We are planning on 1pm but I am thinking about moving it to 12am to give us an extra hour to play with and relax.

I'm getting married at 3pm and concerned it is too late, we have to stick with that time due to the venue however.

I would stay with 11am you are paying enough for the day so get the most out of it. xx

11am is FAR too early! Think about what you have to do to get ready. My sister's wedding was at 1pm and she started hair and makeup at 7am. Your guests might be coming from far and wide and that's barely enough time to eat breakfast and get ready. How are you going to keep people fed, watered and entertained ALL day? You really need to provide lunch, snacks and dinner for that amount of time. Weddings I have been to that have a lot of standing around leave people either overly bored or overly drunk if they start drinking at midday. Definitely go for 3, no question!

I agree with RedHair 82. I was a bridesmaid at a 1pm wedding and that was a long enough day, never mind an 11am one. We were up about 7.30am to be ready for 12.30pm.

Were having an 11am wedding, I personally dont see the point of weddings past 12 as half the day has already gone + every wedding ive been to I hate the morning of waiting around

its never taken me longer than 2 hours to get ready before even with proffesional hair and make up so I have no idea how people cant be ready in time, especially since most people Ive spoke too said they couldnt sleep so got up early