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Newbie May 2026 Ontario

Acceptable Gap between Ceremony and Cocktail Hour

Selena, on July 5, 2025 at 16:24 Posted in Plan a wedding 2 2

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Hi everyone! I'm getting started on making a wedding timeline and I have a question. The ceremony, cocktail and reception is in the same place but my fiancé and I don't want to do a first look or take the pictures before the ceremony, since we're both religious. I currently have the ceremony slotted from 2-2:45 (based on our officiant's timeline) and Cocktail Hour at 4:45PM, since I want to do family & wedding party photos first for them to go back to the hall to open up Cocktail Hour. Is this too large of a gap? If so, what would be the best solution to bring it up to earlier? Please give me your advice and thank you!

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Latest activity by Joshua, on November 15, 2025 at 12:08

Super August 2022 Ontario
Kate · On October 27, 2025 at 10:16
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Hi Selena,
I do think it is too long of a gap and in my experience, it kind of ruins the momentum of the day as a guest but I am always willing to suck it up if the couple need that time for photos and/or travel time to venue. I just think it's always ideal to keep the drinks and snacks flowing! It helps!
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Newbie July 2025 Ontario
Leah · On July 11, 2025 at 00:18
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Hey Selena! I think what you're saying is have cocktail hour start at 4:45? What will your guests be doing during that time? Are they expected to leave the venue and come back? I'll tell you what my husband and I did and hopefully that will help.
Ceremony was from 4-4:30 immediately followed by cocktail hour. We didn't do a first look either, so we sent our wedding party to go enjoy while we did family photos. Then they came back for wedding party photos, our family went to cocktail hour, and then we did couple photos on our own. We were done all of this by 5:45 when we went to cocktail hour to join our guests briefly before they began to take their seats for dinner starting at 6. Mind you, we stayed mostly in one location, and we moved fairly quickly through the couple photos (it was extremely hot that day), so we managed a shorter timeline. I could see how people could easily spend 2 hours on photos. In short, we had our cocktail hour going on while we were taking pictures. On one hand it sucks because you don't really get to enjoy it with your guests, but on the other hand, your guests can enjoy food and drinks while they wait for you. Either way, I would recommend having fun things for your guests to do while they wait (we had cornhole and I had printed out copies of a personal crossword puzzle I had made about us). And if you decide to have cocktail hour during photos, make sure your caterer sets aside a plate of your hors for you and your partner to enjoy!
Best of luck!
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