mine is at 2pm thats the time that my venue recommended and weirdly enough that was the only time left that the registrar had left so worked out well but whats wrong with 11.30pm hun? that means you get to enjoy your day for longer! my meals don't start until 4ish thats like half the day gone and my big day. i would be happier with 11.30am

xx

Actually yes a longer day would be nice but well the ceremony would be over by say quarter past 12, would I not then be expected to provided guests with lunch & stuff before then the evening party & buffet ? Lady at the registry suggested sending the guest away to do their own thing then telling everyone to come to the evening venue at say 4ish but I'm worried half my guest would get bored or drunk by then n not turn up :S


Xx

If you finish the ceremony at 12.15pm at the registry office, people and you will need to have photos taken there then travel to your reception venue. Don't know how far away it is from the registry office. However by the time you all arrive at the reception venue its likely to be approximately 1pm. You can then do arrival drinks and canapés whilst you're having more photos taken and had time to mingle with your guests which will take you to approximately 2.30pm to 3pm. Receiving line is approximately 20 mins, At that point you can have the wedding breakfast which will last approx 2 hours followed by speeches and cake cutting which takes you to approximately 6pm, then you can have evening guests arrive from 6.30pm, then first dance around 7pm at which point the party starts with evening buffet around 8pm.

Definitely ensure guests have a good breakfast. TBh Every wedding I go to I ensure I eat a good big brekkie. Canapés is always good, our guests loved ours, went down really well, they nibbles don't have to be fancy, we had really amazing ones that had a oriental theme but you can do it on a budget with say olives, crisps, nuts, bread sticks with dip and pastries.

Thanks Nikkie, & InDreamland great idea about pastries n I do like croissants lol. X

Just remember, weddings tend to run late. For a start I was 20 minutes late to the church! Then everything else the 2 events managers we had kept having to keep us on track with the days timings as we kept running over time on photos, mingling, receiving line, eating the wedding breakfast etc. So my point is 11.30am is actually a nice time.

When we booked our ceremony, the priest said the earliest he can do is 1.30pm because he does an earlier mass for the parishioners on Saturday's. Suited me fine because I'm not a morning person and knew I'd struggle to get up and ready for an earlier ceremony when we had an hour drive to the church. Hubby desperately wanted an earlier time to make the wedding day longer so was disappointed with the time but it worked out well for us in the end.

Think the earlier time gives you more flexibility for the day x

Will also give you and your new husband more time alone together on the journey there x

Reception venue is only 10-15 minutes away from registry office. The lady at the registry office has pencilled me in for both dates and I've to confirm before next Saturday :) x

Yeah ur definitely right there.

xx

Ditto for taking 11.30 as an additional bonus it gives you more time for photos with regards to the weather! It might be dry at 1pm yet raining later for example! You could also consider sone giant garden games to keep guests amused or even arrange a balloon release for example to make use of the time :-)
Love the croissants and jam idea as mentioned above!

Church weddings are very different to civil weddings just remember... You can't be twenty minutes late as they wont marry you because they'll be needed for the next wedding which if it isn't at the registry office they will have to travel for, therefore you'd have to rearrange your wedding. I'd been told by my registrar that if I was 10 mins late there would be a very high possibility we wouldn't be getting married as they were fully booked that day!
I think the 11.30 one is the best one and if you're budget conscious and aren't planning on a wedding meal and just having an evening reception,I don't think ppl will go out all day and get drunk xx

Wrote that sounds really early to me, as mine is at 2 pm only 15 mins down the read and still need to start hair and make up at 9 to get everyone done in good time. If it was any earlier than that It would be really really early and/or a mad rush to get everyone ready. Aswell add being really exhausted by the long day.

I think 11.30 sounds like a good time. Ours is at 2 but part of me wishes we'd gone for an earlier time!! Xxx

Whovian: I think it depends what you're having done hair and make-up wise. For us, the bridesmaids all did their own hair and make-up (bar one who wanted hers doing), so it was just me and my mum and we had two people (one doing hair and the other make-up). We got up at about 7.45,I shaved, had a leisurely room service breakfast and was ready and waiting by 9am.

Obviously if you have a big bridal party and they're all having hair and make-up done professionally it could be trickier, but there are ways around it eg having them do their own, or hiring more people (eg 4 instead of 2). I don't think you'd need to get up mega early, maybe about 6.30?

Also as far as being tired goes, I was up at 7.45 and went to sleep at 6.30 am lol; surprising how much the adrenaline gets you through! And we're probably unusual staying up quite so late, average seems to be 2am tops.