Timings

You may find that your venue will give you a recommended timeline. Personally, I think 11am is too early for a ceremony - you'll find there's a lot of down time during the day. I have photographed 11am weddings but they tend to be forced onto the couple because registrars are already booked for the more popular times.

1pm is probably the most popular ceremony time. That gives you the meal around 3pm and down time from about 5.30 to 7pm

Don't under estimate how long it takes you to get ready!

This is exactly the same as my thread I started before you? Not really sure what to do about that.

@somethingblue I couldn't find anything when I used the search function so I posted my own question.

We have provisionally booked our venue today, going to speak to registrar tomorrow to confirm. Venue also recommaned a later ceremony - around 1:30.

My fiance was the one who wanted the earlier time but he's been convinced that the later time will be better now ?

My post includes the word timings and was at the top of the page when you posted so I'm not sure what you searched for.

I'm getting a little fed up and I'd just like to mention it if that's ok. Lots of people have put their personal opinions up about ceremony times (which you of course are entitled to do and I'm not having a go) and haven't really considered the feelings of others when posting, please be mindful that those of us with 11am ceremonies, who may not have had a lot of choice will get fed up by continually seeing really negative things about the timing of their day. I'm starting to get a little het up about my ceremony which I can't change as there are no other options so I feel a little like my wedding is going to be awful and it's stressing me out now...

When posting I just ask that maybe we consider our choice of words and the connotations they suggest, we are all stressed about out weddings and the plans we are making, let's attempt not to make it worse for each other by inadvertently suggesting that someone else's wedding is going to be awful. I'm sorry to put this but both wedding timing threads have now got me really stressed about my whole day. Constructive criticism not just criticism, one is helpful, the other is not.

I got married at 11am on 3rd June. I'm so glad we went for 11am had lots of time for everything and a relaxing day. We had ceremony 11am, back to reception venue for 2, meal at half 3, evening guests at 7pm. It was perfect!

It really is each to their own. People told me it was the best wedding they'd been to (I'm sure people always say this but I don't care) and the timing meant we could speak to everyone and just have fun.

I am sure 11am ceremonies come with their own challenges - not just for the wedding party but also for the guests too and most people would probably choose a later one if they could. I guess if registrars have an 11am slot to fill, someone has to take it!

But it's how you fill the rest of the day that counts. If you know you're having an 11 o'clock start you just work out different ways of entertaining people. We are having a 12.30 ceremony (not that much earlier than 11am!) with 150 guests on site all day for 12 hours! Yes, we could have looked at starting later, doing less but we want to party, with friends and family and all have a great time.

We don't eat til 5pm so we're filling 4 hours or so with our music entertainer, a caricaturist, giant garden games. Our photographer loves the fact he has 4 hours of collecting great memories for us,

It's horses for courses and at the end of the day, it's what you make of it - just plan accordingly would be my advice.

We did canapes after the ceremony, and then again when we arrived back at the reception venue. A lot of our guests actually had a 9:30am start as they got a vintage bus from the reception venue to the ceremony, and they all told me how they loved it. We were worried about people getting tired but actually they were the last ones standing at 1am!!

Thanks for all the replies, I always wanted a later ceremony but my fiance wanted the earlier time. After speaking to our venue he has agreed to a 1.30 ceremony and the venue co-ordinator was able to give us a good guideline for everything else.

We've booked the venue and the registrar!!!!

Apologies but this is not what I meant, as I put its perfectly fine to have an opinion and state that you don't like them. What I mean is saying as a brush stroke all 11am ceremonies are bad or boring just because they are at 11, or saying specifically that it's the worst time etc as we are all limited to experience. You don't have to say that you don't like something constructively of course not because that's silly but saying I didn’t like an 11am wedding I went to because (then whatever the reason is), then give an idea of how to improve it such as you would need to add extra entertainment etc, is what I meant. It just struck me that negatives can impact people and you can dwell on an aspect, so it may be good to give a reason and a suggestion rather than just a statement.

I had my ceremony at 1pm, which was lovely, however, I would have liked an 11am ceremony. As I have family I love but who I can't see often I would have liked that bit extra time to see them. What swung it for me in the end was the length of time to get ready for me and 4 others, as I didn't want to feel rushed!

I think 11am starts are great as it gives you more time with your guests, I think you just have to bear in mind that it'll be a long day and provide entertainment/food where needed. Then again all timelines need this! (eg if we'd had the earlier slot we would have had more canapes and lawn games etc to pass the time).

I think it depends on a few factors. Are the same guests there for the whole day? If you are having a separate evening do then it isn't as bad as you will have two separate components. Personally I think 11 is crazily early, I have been at weddings before that have started at 1 and the whole "canapes on the lawn" can drag if you don't have enough food, drink and entertainment. Just thinking about getting ready in the morning, hair and makeup and guests coming long distances. For those of you that have no choice, just make sure you have enough to keep everyone fed, watered and entertained for that time, and if you are hosting the whole thing in one place and guests are staying over then maybe have a break of an hour or so before the evening bit starts? give people a chance to chill out/freshen up?