What time of day to get married?

I got married at a similar time of year, had church and separate reception venue (about 20 mins apart) and loads of kids so kicked things off at noon. Felt quite early when we were planning stuff and we bought 'end' to 10.30/11ish to compensate for the long day.

I would suggest 1pm would be ok. So long as you did not have a long journey time to the venue or perhaps if you are even getting ready there. What was the concerns/ thoughts on the sunset time.

Photography wise it should not have any impact as with a civil ceremony at 1.00 you should be mingling with a drink in your hand no later than 1.30. Normally I would expect to have 1.5 hours from 1.30 to 3.00 for mingling- chatting and the main body of photography to be done before everyone is then invited to eat. But inviting people to eat at 3 would translate to actually starting to eat at 3.30 by the time people have had a last cigarette/ gone to the loo/bar then seated then food service starting.

Depending on how many guests you have and the nature of the food and its service 3 hours should cover this, which brings us to 6/6.30. Just in time for a few extra sunset shots of the two of you.

And if you are having extra evening guests then you could tell them to arrive for 7.00pm with a view to have a first dance at 8.00pm then 1 hour of dance floor action and an evening buffet at 9-9.30. PARTY till midnight.

A vote for 2pm here.

2pm ceremony

2.30 finish

90 minutes reception time

4pm dinner

7pm onward evening guests / dancing.

You could go for 1pm but that makes for an early dinner at 3pm unless you go for a 2.5 hour reception and there'll likely be some dead time in your day or an added cost to you to keep your guests full of food and drink.

It also means a much longer day for you and your guests, meaning they will start to flag an hour earlier and put a dampner on the evening as they take up your time saying their goodbyes because that's what happens even if you want to be on the floor doing electric slides.

You don't say if / why the sunset times are important but if you're thinking photos a 6:32 sunset time means 7.04 twilight, (absolute darkness). However, that's based on a clear sky day. If it's overcast and cloud filled usable light will be available until 5:30/45. Even on a clear day, usable light (of any quality) will be gone earlier aaaaaand that's if you have a flat horizon, surrounded by hills? Take an hour off!

Going back to the long day thing. Depending on what's going down you may not get enough zzzz's the night before so will start the day excited, but a little tired. An early ceremony means an earlier start and / or more of a rush to get ready so consider your overall experience of the day as the bride because while the day goes by fast you need to enjoy it too!

We are getting married in just under 3 weeks now and our ceremony is at 12.30pn. I’ve been to weddings where the ceremony is at 11am and I’ll be honest the day was way too long especially when having to sort out childcare etc. At one of the weddings I was a bridesmaid and I left home at 7am to travel to the brides house and eventually made my way home 1am the following morning.... not ideal when my baby was only 5 months old at the time (although he was invitied to the whole day we decided just to have him there for the evening).

it’s completely up to you but my personal opinion for the day to follow better anything from 12 until 1.30ish for the ceremony would work with your timings.

We have also booked Saturday 3rd October 2020! Congratulations wedding twin ? We have booked our registrar for 12.30pm and they did try to push me to 1.00pm however as a wedding coordinator for a 4 star hotel I know days always run slightly later and I want to make the most of our special day. I would recommend anytime between 12.30pm - 2.00pm for your ceremony so you can have a relaxed day and not be rushing around. Evening guests then can arrive from about 6pm for an evening reception start of 7pm. Also take into account your finish time for the evening (ours is midnight) so you can make the most of that too.

Best of luck planning! xx

Hi! I’m getting married on the 4th October at 12.30 but this year (!!!). Could you share with me the timings you’re planning on? My mum is stressing me out saying it’s way too early. Our ceremony and reception are at the same venue. Are you doing both at the hotel?

I think it's really up to you, everyone's different! The majority of weddings I've been to have been a 2pm ceremony which I think works well. Personally any earlier than 1pm I find a little unnecessary, but it's personal preference.

We might be in the minority as we've decided to have ours at 3:30! It saves us a chunk of money, allowing part of our venue to open for lunch beforehand and then shut down exclusively to us from 3pm. I like the idea of having a more relaxed start to the day for all involved, it's an autumn wedding and we want to create quite a chilled out/laid-back feel. Plus we have the option to extend the party till 1am if need be. So our times will be -

Ceremony 3.30pm followed by photos/drinks

Wedding breakfast 5:15pm

Speeches 6.45/7pm

Evening guests arrive from 7:45/8pm

Cake cutting and first dance 8.30pm

Evening food served 9/9.30pm

It's a case of each to their own really and how you want your day to go.

Hi, I'm a midday ceremony, with ceremony and reception at the same venue. I figured our cost of hire was the same whether we got married at 12 or 4, so wanted to make the most of our day. This is my rough timetable:

12:00 - Ceremony

13:00 - Photos and drinks

15:00 - Meal

16:30 - Speeches

17:00 - Garden games, mill tours, ice cream!

19:00 - Evening Guests Arrive

19:30 - Cake cutting & First Dance

19:45 - Band starts

20:30 - Evening food

23:30 - The End

Thank you so much for that, really appreciate it and good luck with your wedding ??

Hi,

Congratulations! I get married this August and we booked a 2pm reigstrar so we can have 90 min drinks reception then sit down for speeches at 4ish then food at 4.15 ish. We went to a wedding last September at 1pm and we were seated for food really early, around 3pm and it made the afternoon VERY long as there were long gaps between food too. 2pm means you don't have to get up stupid early to get ready (unless you are having loads of bridesmaids) and your guests don't need to arrive until 1.30