How long was your wedding?

[Amzizzle]

We are deciding wether to extend it or not by a half an hour or hour. From start of ceremony to end of reception how long was yours?

 

[yssie]

Most weddings I've gone to recently have been 5-6hrs total.. I don't think it's so much how long it is as what time it is, as a guest I'm dead on my feet by midnight whether it's a morning ceremony and evening reception w/ the afternoon free or an entirely evening affair, or something totally different.

 

[trillionaire]

I think receptions are usually booked for about 4 hours. Ours was from 12-4 or 4:30. Mingling and light refreshments until about 1pm, them formal meal, some toasts, first dances and partying. The older crowd left around 4, the young folks stayed until we got kicked out. I thought the lenght was ideal.

You would know how long your ceremony will be, as well as proximity to the reception location... hope that helps!

 

[vc10um]

Our ceremony will be about a half hour, then there's a 2.5 hour break to get to the reception venue and for the wee ones to get in a nap, then the reception is a short 3.5 hours (including munchies, buffet meal, cake, and all the dancing we can squeeze in)...our wedding is on a Sunday and while we could have gotten the venue for longer, we figured ending things at 9 PM was a good idea to allow everyone with decent drives to get home and get sleep before work on Monday.

 

[sillyberry]

Our ceremony will start at 6 and we have to be out of the building by 11 (park rules). All one location.

 

[Autumnovember]

Ceremony will start at 6 and the reception will end at midnight. We'll probably stay up late with most of the younger guests at the hotel for a while after

 

[CurlySue]

Ceremony was from 5:30 to 6.
Cocktail hour was 6 to 7.
Our contract said the reception would go from 7-12, but they didn't kick us out until 12:30.

 

[lulu66]

our ceremony was an hour 11-12 (full Catholic Mass)
then a huge break--we did all photos during this time & got in a little downtime
reception was from 5-11


the break wasn't ideal but we wanted a dinner reception & the latest Mass time was at 11am, so we made due. plus, all of our guest had flown in, so all had a hotel room to go back to. total length 7 hours. there was lots of dancing at the reception, if you don't expect to dance that much you could shave at least 2 hours off the total reception time.

 

[lucyandroger]

Our ceremony will be from 3-3:30 pm

Our reception will be from 5-10 pm

 

[MagsyMay]

Ceremony 6:00 p.m., cocktail hour, seated dinner, and dancing immediately following and lasting until 12 midnight. The venue rental originally was only from 6-11 so we paid the extra $1,000 to have one more hour, and even with it, it went soooooooo fast!!

 

[mrscushion]

10 hours! Ceremony started at 5:30pm and the last couple of tables went to bed at around 3:30am. We had a destination wedding, though, where the whole venue was ours to do whatever we wanted with, so there was no issue of being kicked out. In general, I think weddings outside of North America last till longer into the night.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Five hours total. Our ceremony and reception were at the same location. It started at 6 and we went right to the cocktail hour. The last dance was at 11. Everyone had to be out of the venue by 11:30.

Our hotel was about a 2 miles a way, so many of the guests continued the party there at the bar.

 

[stepcutgirl]

6.5 hours. Wedding will be at 6:30, reception 7:30pm to 1am. Its New Years Eve so we wanted to ring in the new year with guests.

 

[Blackpaw]

Weddings in Aus tend to be similar to North America - ceremony about 5, reception from around then until midnight...

I just went to my first Irish wedding! Synopsis as follows: Drinks before ceremony at 2 (ceremony/reception same venue). Ceremony at 3, finished at 3.30. Then drinking until 6 when dinner started. Dinner finished around 10. Band started at 11ish. Sandwiches/snacks at midnight. Band finished at 2.30. DJ finished at 3.30 or so. Drinking in bar until 6. I lasted til 3.30 with a nap in between one hell of a party though

 

[megumic]

Ceremony was at 4:30, everything was over and everyone was out by 11. Some guests left around 10 or even earlier. We were running a bit over and it normally would have ended at 10, but we were late to the ceremony!

 

[Autumnovember]

10 hours! Ceremony started at 5:30pm and the last couple of tables went to bed at around 3:30am. We had a destination wedding, though, where the whole venue was ours to do whatever we wanted with, so there was no issue of being kicked out. In general, I think weddings outside of North America last till longer into the night.

Sounds like my kinda wedding! If it were up to me, I'd have my wedding till 2 AM. Most Russian weddings last till very late in the night (3 AM also) so I'm a little sad that ours is only till 12 but we're thinking of doing an after party too

 

[Autumnovember]

Weddings in Aus tend to be similar to North America - ceremony about 5, reception from around then until midnight...

I just went to my first Irish wedding! Synopsis as follows: Drinks before ceremony at 2 (ceremony/reception same venue). Ceremony at 3, finished at 3.30. Then drinking until 6 when dinner started. Dinner finished around 10. Band started at 11ish. Sandwiches/snacks at midnight. Band finished at 2.30. DJ finished at 3.30 or so. Drinking in bar until 6. I lasted til 3.30 with a nap in between one hell of a party though

I want this kinda wedding!!

 

[stephbolt]

We went through this same dilemma! Our wedding was scheduled from 6-10:30 (including ceremony). We were worried about it being too short and opted to extend it an hour. We didn't want to risk regretting not having enough time with our friends/family and feeling rushed out of the venue on one of the most important days of our life.

What we liked: Some of our favorite moments were toward the end of the evening, some of the guests had left and we got to spend more time with our closest friends and family who stuck around, as well as steal some time for ourselves.

What we didn't: We were honestly exhausted! Neither of us slept much the night before and we would have happily gone to bed an hour earlier. A lot of guests left well before the 11:30 end time, probably in part because it was a Friday night wedding so many people had been up and at work first thing.

 

[elrohwen]

From start to end it was 6.5hrs - from 5 to 11:30. Technically it ended up half an hour shorter because the judge was late (accident and lots of traffic). Longer was definitely better! I was also glad we had an extended cocktail hour for 1.5hrs. We took our pictures before and got to participate in the whole thing, but it still felt super short.

 

[IceExplorer]

Great question!
4:30 - 5pm - ceremony.
5-5:30 - Cocktails for the guests - photos for the wedding party.
5:30- 6:30 - meal
6:30 - 8 - reception.

We are considering paying the extra for an hour longer.
Rotten thieves charge for EVERYTHING!

We are having a destination wedding.

 

[zoebartlett]

Our ceremony began at 11:00 and it was only about 15 minutes. We had a receiving line immediately after, then cocktail hour/pictures. Our reception was approx. 4 hours I think. I know we had to be out of there by 4:30 so the venue, a restaurant, could get ready for their usual dinner guests.

 

[Blackpaw]

Weddings in Aus tend to be similar to North America - ceremony about 5, reception from around then until midnight...

I just went to my first Irish wedding! Synopsis as follows: Drinks before ceremony at 2 (ceremony/reception same venue). Ceremony at 3, finished at 3.30. Then drinking until 6 when dinner started. Dinner finished around 10. Band started at 11ish. Sandwiches/snacks at midnight. Band finished at 2.30. DJ finished at 3.30 or so. Drinking in bar until 6. I lasted til 3.30 with a nap in between one hell of a party though

I want this kinda wedding!!

Id like something in between! it was a long innings this wedding, but id say a lot of the weddings described here sound very short to me...