what time do you put on the invitation?

Ours is 3pm and we put 2pm on the invite.

Civil ceremony regsitrars wait for no-one, so we wanted to ensure people would be there on time! x

Personally I would put 2 if your ceremony is at 2. I think most people understand that you need to arrive early for a wedding and will be there before 2. If I received an invite that had a the wedding time of 1.30 I would arrive between 1 and 1.15, so then having to wait until 2 would be a little annoying!

Our ceremony starts at 1.30 so we have put 1.30.

Most people would turn up half an hour or so before the time on the invite anyway, I know I would be annoyed turning up half n hour before the time on the invite just to wait around for an hour n half. Our registrar has also said she will not be late and start bang on 1.30, my thoughts are that as long as me and OH are there on time, anyone who turns up late will miss out and look like a ninny.

I've said before that I would be extremely annoyed if it said 1.30 on the invitation as I (along with most people with common sense) would turn up in plenty of time for 1.30. If I then had to wait another half hour, I'd be annoyed.

If you really must, you could put something like "ceremony starts at 2, please ensure that you are seated by 1.45" or "there is limited parking at the ceremony venue, please ensure that you leave enough time to find a parking space".

EWKneesS. I would turn up half an hour before the time stated on the invitation too, unless told otherwise and I think I would find it a little patronising if the B&G assumed that I wouldn't turn up early enough. And would be a tiny bit annoyed that i had to wait around for an hour for the ceremony to start. If you know that some of your guests run late for things then I think the 'ceremony starts at 2, please be seated by 1.45' sounds better and avoids any confusion.

Wow, I would be pissed off if you did that to me. I, and many other guests, would be sitting around for an hour and a half, wondering if you had done a runner, if the groom was ill, if we had got the time wrong...but then oh no, it's just because you don't trust us.

I put the actual time on my invitations, and then in the information sheet put "please be in your seats by 1.15 for a 1.30 start" or something like that. Apparently almost everyone was there with 20 mins to go. There were four people who arrived about 2 mins before the due start time (by which time I was waiting outside) because their train had been seriously delayed. If anyone had arrived later than that, well, they just wouldn't be able to come in. Their loss.

I think it is generally expected that you put the start time for the ceremony; if you are concerned about lateness put "please arrive at 2:30pm for a 3pm ceremony" - that way everyone is clear what the time stated relates to. I personally would arrive about a half hour before the stated time, so would be sitting around for 90 minutes if I received your invite.

For our evening invites we have put 6:30pm, as I think that people generally run late for the evening. However, on our website it is stated that evening guests begin to arrive at 6:30pm, cake cutting at 7pm, and first dance shortly after. That way, if people aren't too fussed about the cake cutting and dance they can turn up later; however, if they arrive around 6:30pm they can enjoy a quick drink and a mingle before the party really kicks off.

People know the ceremony is actually at 3pm. We're having a late winter wedding, with a 2pm arrival they will have opportunity to warm up with a drink and catch up with friends before the ceremony. I don't think anyone will be 'pissed off' .

OK, maybe I misunderstood your first post - I thought you were telling people the ceremony was at 2 in order to make sure they were there by 3, which I don't think is on. As long as that bit's clear then I guess it doesn't hurt to invite people to arrive early for a drink or whatever, though not all venues will have that option.

Exactly. If it appeared from the invitation that the ceremony was at 2, I'd turn up at 1.30, so it'd be an awful lot of hanging around until 3.

WTS. I'd also be turning up at 1.30 for a 2pm wedding otherwise!

Out of interest, is anyone else's venue serving drinks before the ceremony? Ours have tried to tell us it's not allowed and registrars can refuse to conduct the ceremony on the basis of this which I think is ridiculous, and I went to a wedding recently where they served alcohol in the next room immediately prior to the civil

Thanks ladies. What a way to make a girl panic 10 weeks to the day of her wedding!!?