no evening reception

Yes......and it was awful. A real downer at the end of the event. But, that was because they hadn't made it clear there wouldn't be anything after they took off in their helicopter to Heathrow...guests were just left in limbo. No food, no nothing. We ended up trying to find a fish and chip shop. Not fun after we'd travelled 250 miles to be with them. So whatever you decide, just make sure your guests know.

Can I ask why you don't want an evening do? EVen having a casino suggests you're thinking of hacing something carry on after the breakfast. Most guests will expect something.

eta - sorry that was very rude of me - I didn't even say congrats and welcome - so congrats and welcome lol - good luck with your planning xx

I can't say that I have, but I see no reason why this wouldn't work. I've been to loads of 'balls' with this sort of timetable, the only difference here is that you'll be getting married at the beginning of the evening. Would you have a band or a DJ there as well?

I have. It was a bit of a surprise, the bride and groom left for their hotel at around 7PM and that was that - wedding over. I was so miffed I invited everyone back to my house for a knees up. The old man weren't too impressed but I had a great time.

I suppose we're doing that but we don't intend to disappear early. We're getting married abroad and only have 25 guests plus some children. We're getting married at 4.30 and then its over to a restaurant for a meal for about 6.30. We said on our invites "the ceremony will be followed by an evening of food & drink at a local restaurant" So I hope no one is expecting a party. I should imagine people will start heading home fairly early

Does the venue allow you to stay on ? If it does then that will be fine, people that want to stay can just mingle and have fun.

It always used to be that the Bride and Groom would head off a bit after the meal to go on their honeymoon...and they'd leave all the guests enjoying the party :-)

As long as people are aware that's what's happening it shouldn't be an issue...it's your wedding do it how you want.

I've been to plenty of weddings that have no official evening 'do', people that want to stay and chat do..the rest can go.

We've shot a wedding with no evening celebration before. As long as guests know in advance, you should be fine- but as someone else suggested, do try to make it clear what your plans are.

Confusion can mean people end up hanging around, not sure whether to stay or go and in turn this can be frustrating for venue staff if they're expecting the area to be clear by a certain time.

We did also shoot a wedding where the couple left at around 7pmish and their guests stayed to continue the party (there was world cup football on too, which acted as entertainment after they left) I think they all knew this was the plan from the beginning though, so again as long as people know what to expect, you should be fine.

Have you considered having your ceremony around 5-6pm, all lit romantically with candles. All your guests would then be fed at 7-8pm with no need to do a seperate meal.

Im doing a few of those this year for couples and it's a great way to cut costs. you could have a hog roast or vintage tea party style dinner instead of the traditional meal.

I considered doing something like this to cut costs down but a lot of the venues we've looked at have the packages that include the three course meal and expect you to include their evening buffet. The OH wouldn't have any of it either, hated the idea of not having a three course sit-down meal.

I agree that as long as people are aware that that is what's happening it should be fine but am also curious if there's a reason you don't want the celebration to continue later?