7 hours from ceremony to evening reception. Will they get bored?

Can you put the food off until about 14.30? What time of year are you getting married?

We had a very similar problem to this with registrar only having 12 or 12:30 or 4 or 4:30. We've gone for 12:30 and are going to have nibbles straight after the ceremony then thinking with photos we probably wont sit down for a meal until 2:30. We're going 4 board games and a diy photobooth to keep people busy, I love the idea of garden games. We have quite a few kids coming so plan on putting together a little pack of activities for them as we cant have a bouncy castle unfortunately. I am worried that people might get bored but there will be lots of family they haven't seen for ages to chat to. In some ways though I'm pleased we have a longer day as it means we can mingle with all our guests and hopefully have a nice relaxed afternoon. And I want the day to last as long as possibles as people say it really flies!

Are you having a photographer? If so, do you need to allow more time for photos before the meal? At my venue, they recommended having about 2 hours between arrival and the meal being served - at this point there will be canapés and a welcome drink. Your 3 hours gap is only an hour longer, and it could give you time to mingle with all the day guests and maybe have a bit of time alone with your H2B on the big day

We are getting married in july so should be good weather for people to stay outside and chat until dinner. We are having a photographer so could extend time before food. Im just a bit conscious of having hungry guests as we may not be having canapees. How long should we be allowing for food (3 courses )without speeches?

Hi

We have the same problem, we're getting married at 12:30 the venue has organised the day so it runs like this: after the ceremony we are having canapés and drinks whilst photos are taken, we'll be sitting down for the wedding breakfast at about 2:30 so we should finish the meal at about 4:30 and the evening reception kicks off at about 6:30 with the hog roast being ready for about 7:30.

We are getting married in July and there will be about 10 children aged 2-11, the venue has giant garden games so fingers crossed if the weather holds out we'll be able to use them (I'd also like a bouncy castle just because I love them) they've also got table football and pool for if the weather isn't great. The wedding planner at the venue has suggested a mobile casino or a performer such as a magician for the break between WB and evening reception (I noticed at my brothers wedding last week that most of the drinking seems to get done in the lull after the WB when there isn't much to do) We also went for the hog roast over the buffet as she said its more of an event for the evening guests... and my family are all farmers so they'll appreciate this much more!

As it's July you could get away with having the food at that time and then doing photos after the food. This will also break up that time in between the evening guests coming.

An hour between the ceremony and wedding breakfast will go very quick though so extending it a little wouldn't hurt. You'll have a lot of people wanting to speak to you after the wedding, they'll also grab a drink etc. If your photos are out of the way before hand then you can enjoy the rest of the day not having to leave your guests.

Have you told your venue you are struggling for times? Some venues have better links with the registrars and can sort it for you...the people on the phones only have access to their team whereas the head registrar might be able to get other teams to come in.....failing that I would do:

12 - ceremony

12.30 - drinks and ask the caterers or venue to put out some nibbles (nuts/crisps etc)

14.15 - call guests through to dining room

14.30 - meal starts

16.30 - speeches

17.00 - entertainment of some sort

19.00 - evening do starts

hope that helps xx

I think you need to add more time for your photos etc.

Our is

2pm ceremony

4pm sit down for meal (the time between will be filled with photos and canapes / arrival drink )

6pm speeches / tea/coffee

7pm evening guests arrive

If there is a bit of space they are all adults and able to entertain themselves be it at the bar or in their rooms until the evening guests arrive. I think your overthinking it all, stop stressing people will just get on with it and enjoy the day.

I agree with what others have said re allowing more time for photos and drinks. You could always invite your evening guests a little earlier? Our timings were

12.30 - Ceremony

12.30 - 2.30 - Drinks, photos, mingling

2.30 - 4.30 - wedding breakfast (we only had 40 people for this and didn't do speeches)

4.30 - 5.30 - coffee and more mingling

5.30 - Evening guests arrived - steel band starts for 1 hour

6.30 - Bowl food served

7.00 - caricaturist arrives for 2.5 hours

7.30 - Speeches, cake and first dance

9.30 ish - Hog Roast served

I'm as the same as AlmostMrsM, My co-ordinator at the hotel set up a timetable of:

2:00 Ceremony

2:30 photos/mingling (guest go up to the bar/restaurant)

3:30 3 course meal

6:30 end of meal (not sure if we'll have speeches before or after. i want after)

7:00 evening guests arrive

If i squeezed another 30 mins for photos, it'll push up the end of the meal to when the evening guests arrive. hmmmm

2 hours between the ceremony and the start of dinner is always nice to have.

People are most awake, not too tiddly either, they're all excited, they'll want to talk with you and others and there's no rush for photos.

This "can" sometimes be a problem. Often people will go missing, particularly after having eaten and drank, an even more so if they are staying at the venue when they disappear to their rooms to "freshen up"..............getting the photography of the guests is usually easier straight after the ceremony, although shots of the two of you could be done both before and after.....

Peter

Hi MissK

I usually am booked for drinks receptions just after the ceremony, or between the breakfast and evening reception this usually lasts for around 2/3 hours. Guests mingle, chat, have canapes, sit outside if its sunny, explore the venue, book into their rooms if they havent already, and just generally relax and enjoy the venue.

Its nice to have this time because you can get your photos done without having to worry about entertaining the guests, and they can relax. It takes a while for guests to enter and leave the room that you are eating in. After the wedding breakfast you will also be kept busy greeting your evening guests, lots of whom will no doubt arrive early, especially if they have a long journey.

Miranda

Hi there

I got married at noon (it was meant to be 11.45am but I've since been informed that I was late!) & this is my order of the day:

12-12.30pm Ceremony

12.30-2pm Canapes & photos

2pm Speeches followed by the food

5pm Mingling in the marquee

7pm Evening do

I too was worried about people getting bored & did panic a bit when the day part was pretty much over by 4.30pm. I couldn't afford to put on any extra entertainment either. Quite a few people have said to me (unprompted I may add) that they weren't bored at all & liked having that time to rest, chill & chat. My OH & I were particularly grateful to have the chance to chat to people & go to our room to relax & freshen up before the evening do.

The time between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception is the most popular time for couples to book me to perform. If you would like to find out more then please take a look at my website in my signature

Andy

This is where you have to watch out as the mingling and photos start at 2.30 and you say the meal starts at 3.30----but you have to allow time for people to get in the room so if your mingling and photo time ends at 3.30 then by the time everyone is in the room and seated the food will not start until 4, or if you need to be seated and start eating at 3.30 then your mingling needs to be done by 3.00. In your case you could put the eve back to 7.30 to take the day pressure off.

I was worried about timings on my day but it went like this:

12.30 - Ceremony

1.15 - Photos start in gardens, starting with shots of everyone then onto smaller groups

2.00 - Non Family Guests start to drift off to reception venue

2.30 - Photos finished and remainder head to reception venue

2.45 - More photos just for us (guests are mingling, checking out my awesome decorations and tables)

3.00 - We rejoin guests for mingling, chatting, drinking

4.30 - Dinner served

6.00 - Speeches

7.00 - Evening guests start to arrive

9.00 - Evening buffet

I did have a line in my invitations which said "we won't be sitting down to eat until about 4pm, if you are anything like the Groom please make sure you have a hearty breakfast". That way there were no surprises on the day for anyone!!

No one was bored, they chatted all afternoon and the time goes a lot faster than you think it will!

Your times sound perfect --- I wish I had those times to work with at every wedding