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Elizabeth
Frequent user August 2022 Alberta

Wedding reception timeline worries

Elizabeth, on August 23, 2020 at 22:36 Posted in Wedding reception 0 6
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Hey Everyone! I’ve only been planning my wedding timeline for a hot minute now, (been engaged for only a month), and I’ve always imagined having a later ceremony/reception, but I was met with a lot of pushback from my family over it because of the time of dinner!


My thought was to have the ceremony at 4:30pm, pictures from 5-7, and dinner at 7:30! Reason is to catch the sunset at the right time (we’re getting married in the mountains and my wedding colours are sunset inspired). Personally, most of the weddings I’ve been to have been set at this time and so I didn’t think much about it being an evening dinner!
So my question for all you ladies is: Do you think 7:30 is too late for dinner? And if so what is/was your wedding timeline?

6 Comments

Latest activity by Vinod, on August 26, 2020 at 21:32
  • Vinod
    Top August 2017 Ontario
    Vinod ·
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    I personally feel that is a late time to eat and pictures don't take that long unless your planning on having guests line up.

    The way our timeline went was:

    4:30 Ceremony

    5:00 - 5:30 Group and family photos

    6:00 - 6:30 Cocktail hour

    6:30 Reception

    7:00 Dinner served

    The list for the photographer was provided plus for myself to ensure everyone at the ceremony was aware of the pictures taken after the wedding. My eldest brother took care of getting groups into place ready and the family to the last since we had both side together and then my side only.

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  • Geneviève
    VIP September 2020 Ontario
    Geneviève ·
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    Honestly, that’s my exact timeline for the same reasons Smiley xd
    You have to make the choice that’s best for you and what you want. Your guests can have a snack before the ceremony, they’re not going to die.
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  • Michelle
    Expert October 2021 Nova Scotia
    Michelle ·
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    Do what you want for the photos! You definitely won't regret getting those beautiful shots.

    My only suggestion is to have lots of food available during cocktail hour if you're having a late dinner. I went to a wedding on Saturday where there was no food at a two hour long cocktail hour (combined with open bar... ouch) and the bride and groom were late getting back for dinner so everyone was starving (and drunk) by the time we ate.

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  • Caitlyn
    Super January 2020 Ontario
    Caitlyn ·
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    I don’t think that’s too late for dinner. Pretty much all the weddings I’ve been to dinner was served around that time.


    For our wedding, our ceremony was at 5:30 and then cocktail hour from 6-7:15 while we did photos then we had our first dance and dinner at about 7:30 ish.
    As the other posters suggested, if you serve some snacks during the time when you’re getting photos done it will help it so that guests won’t be hungry waiting for dinner
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  • Amelia
    Master October 2020 New Brunswick
    Amelia ·
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    I don't think that's too late for dinner. Do you plan on serving appetizers during the photo window of 5-7? If so there is no issue with having a later meal.


    Also is there something for guests to do for 2 hours? I would be more concerned about keeping people entertained for 2 hours while you're doing photos.
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  • Alyssa
    Curious April 2021 Manitoba
    Alyssa ·
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    Hello!


    I totally understand because I was wanting to do a daytime wedding, so I wanted a ceremony in the morning so that I could do a lunch as my reception.Personally, I think you should do whatever you want! One idea is to let people know on invitations or a wedding website what the timeline of your day is going to look like so they don’t go hungry in the mean time. Another idea is to have a sort of cocktail hour during your photo time slot. The last wedding I was at did that- they served punch, cheese, crackers, meat, fruit, veggies, etc so that guests who weren’t in the photos as much wouldn’t get bored, and nobody went hungry!
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