Which would you prefer?

[NuggetBrain]

Friday wedding next May. Which of these timelines would you prefer and why?

Option 1: Ceremony starts at 4:30, followed by a cocktail hour with apps from 5:30 to 6:30. Ballroom doors open at 6:30, dinner starts at 7. Dancing 8 to midnight.

Option 2: Ceremony starts at 6, followed by dinner at 7. Dancing 8 to midnight, with apps set out at 10:30 for late night snacks.


Option 3: Ceremony starts at 5:30, followed by dinner at 7. Dancing 8 to midnight, with apps set out at 10:30 for late night snacks.


My thoughts for each - option one starts rather early for a Friday wedding. Option two starts at a decent time, but I''m afraid it will take people longer than 30 minutes to get between both places (ie to get to their cars at the ceremony, drive to reception 15 minutes away, get car valet parked). I like option three the best - it gives them a bit of time to get between one and the other, but I''m still hesitant about the 5:30 start time. Our ceremony is in a park and shouldn''t last longer than 30 minutes tops. Thoughts? Any other ideas of how we can make this work?

 

[meresal]

I think you are right and #3 would be best. I would go ahead and plan as if your ceremony could possibly start late.

 

[Prana]

Even though it is a Friday, I would do option 1. It just seems like a better, more cohesive flow. My brother had a 4:30 Friday wedding and Nearly everybody (350 PEOPLE!!!!) were there. I really don''t think that it would be that big of an issue. People might complain a little to themselves, but it all ends up being OK.

 

[Prana]

Also, is the ceremony in the same place as the reception? Because Friday traffic could be pretty bad...

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 7/17/2009 2:32:54 PM
Author: meresal
I think you are right and #3 would be best. I would go ahead and plan as if your ceremony could possibly start late.

+1. Weddings always start late.

 

[NuggetBrain]

Wedding is not at the same location as the reception (unless it rains.)

FI is enamored of a cocktail hour with apps, but since we are doing all of our pictures before the wedding I just don't see the point in having apps for 45 minutes, then feeding people. As a guest, I always liked when they had some kind of munchie put out around 10:30 or 11 to snack on, and we can't afford to do both. Plus, our favor is going to be my favorite popcorn at each one of their tables so I guess if they were hungry they could snack on that.

And yeah, the other reason we want to start as late as possible is to avoid rush hour traffic. We live in Minnesota and the drive would be between St. Paul and Minneapolis, highway driving almost the entire time.

 

[lilylover]

I like either option 2 or 3. If you need the extra time, though, definitly option 3.

I love the idea of putting snacks out at 10:30! Great idea.

 

[ms.halo]

Since it''s a Friday, I''d try to have a cocktail hour. Maybe start dinner at 7:30 instead of 7?