Wedding schedule

mtrenteseau said:

It's still several volumes away, but I'm planning a wedding.

Right now I've got an afternoon wedding and an evening reception with a sit-down dinner in a hotel ballroom. It's very formal, so the dress code is different for each event - suits or morning coats for the ceremony, black tie for the reception.

How long after the ceremony should I schedule the reception? The church is two blocks from the hotel. There would be people travelling from all over the world for the event, but also a lot of people who live in the area.

(The next task will be to determine enough of a seating chart to describe the scene properly, given that some of the guests will be ambassadors and minor royalty.)

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You'll need time for the wedding party photos to be taken, if they all weren't done before and during the ceremony. And time for the guests to get changed. The local guests will have to have time to drive home, get changed, and drive back.

I would probably plan the reception four hours after the ceremony with the situation you've described. That will give people plenty of time for photos, driving and changing.

Good luck with your project.
DL

Usually it's two to three hours between wedding and reception. As DL said the photographers need time for pictures, often the married couple does something special, horse-drawn carriage through the park or the like. Sometimes the venue opens early so guests don't have to wander aimlessly about while waiting, but the official reception isn't until the bride and groom make their entrance.

If it's being thrown by a wealthy couple/family/whatever, they would probably arrange an optional dinner/tea at the hotel or the church, a quaint restaurant, etc, too.

Never make your guests have to buy their own food between your events on the same day.

A friend could host this, or a restaurant, etc, and the couple doesn't have to be there, but someone's going to jump in and host something (optional) to eat for lunch

Wowza!! That's tension

A hospitality suite would be great. We'd call this 'meal' tea (in this case), but we're Southern. That probably doesn't translate well to the rest of the country. Refeshments? I have no clue, lol

mtrenteseau said:

It's still several volumes away, but I'm planning a wedding.

Right now I've got an afternoon wedding and an evening reception with a sit-down dinner in a hotel ballroom. It's very formal, so the dress code is different for each event - suits or morning coats for the ceremony, black tie for the reception.

How long after the ceremony should I schedule the reception? The church is two blocks from the hotel. There would be people travelling from all over the world for the event, but also a lot of people who live in the area.

(The next task will be to determine enough of a seating chart to describe the scene properly, given that some of the guests will be ambassadors and minor royalty.)

Click to expand...

#

Ok, you have several issues here, if it's an afternoon wedding then morning suits are bad form, especially if it;'s a formal affair, black tie would be appropriate for afternoon.

Plus, for people going to the whole thing, they will need time to change etc, which can disrupt the day.

You will need to allow time for photographs etc. the best option would be to have the reception scheduled to take place or to be available to take place from about half way through the ceremony. this means that guest who arrive too late for the ceremony, or who leave early or who aren't for whatever reason in teh photographs, can head over early. in this instance you should have an ante room or similar available for drinks and a gathering area. they should not have access to the main room until the bridal party arrive.

If you are havign a meal then at least two hours after the end of the ceremony, possibly even three. it sounds like a lot, but by the time the photo's and chat etc are done, it's a very short time really.

mtrenteseau said:

I am going to stick with the "morning coats," though - I don't think tuxedos are appropriate before 6pm.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_dress

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tie