AIBU to ask what time of day is the best time to get married?

[Dorisdaydream2]

Just that really! Asking for a friend

I got married at 5pm, everyone in black tie. Champagne, canapés and a jazz band in the grounds of the reception venue, before a 4 course meal at around 7pm. Fireworks at 11pm to end the evening. We didn’t have evening guests, we wanted everyone to be there for the whole thing and I wanted a fantastic dinner more than a disco.

As late in the day as possible.

I also got married at 5pm. Was great we went straight into food and dancing, no evening guests, no waiting around and was a fun informal evening. It was winter too so dark which i loved as we had candles. It worked for what we wanted. My sister got married at 2pm in June. Not my thing but a lovely day. Go with what you want. No time is better than another.

Much prefer weddings 4pm onwards.
As a guest I find earlier weddings make for a very long day and an otherwise lovely occasion can become tiresome.

We once went to a wedding that started at 12:30 we had to be seated by 12pm we left home at 11am, food was not served until 5:30pm! We had gone from breakfast at 8am until dinner was served at 5:30pm everyone was starving! The gap between each course took so long and the 3 courses were tiny - my 6 year old would eat more...everyone was hot (summer wedding) and fed up. We left at 9pm and got a McDonald’s drive thru on the way home! We saw many other guests in the drive thru as well

I would say 2pm earliest.

It really depends on the time between the ceremony and the food. I’ve been to several weddings at around 11am, when the food wasn’t served till 4pm. By this time we were all starving and plastered on Pimms and champagne. Any time is fine as long as you don’t make your guests go hours and hours without food!

@SarahBellam

That said, one of the loveliest weddings I went to took place at 11am, we had lunch about 1pm and it was all done and dusted by about 5pm when the bride and groom went to their hotel before setting off on an extended honeymoon. There were only about 30 of us and most of us went home, got showered and changed and went out for dinner and a nightclub (this was in the ‘80s when weddings didn’t feel like the huge thing they are now).

Our wedding finished at 1am. DH and I went to our hotel for the night, but our ushers went clubbing in their wedding gear!

We got married at 1, which was nice. People stayed until about 12 then all went home except for the odd few who came back to my mums house and carried on partying

3 pm onwards. Gives yourself time to get ready. Fix any things that need to be sorted out. Gives time for you to breath and not feel rushed.

I got married at 5pm which meant I could have a lie in in the morning, a gorgeous outdoor brunch with my three 'bridesmaids' before retreating upstairs at about 3pm to get ready. Wedding straight into cocktails/dinner, dancing til early hours. Very relaxing and fun day.

Got married at1500. Worked for us

Similar to Gosh - signing/ unveiling at 3.30 - reception at 4.30 and then dinner/dance from 6ish. Food served throughout. Any earlier and we find that the reception drags on a bit....

Ceremony began at 4:15 (on the dot) - plenty of time for travel, lunch, prep, choir rehearsal
photos in the churchyard about 5pm (it was mid-July so still quite bright but we weren't squinting, and the rain had stopped)
over the road to the hall, can't remember when we started to eat but probably about 6pm which is a good time for tea
party from about 7 or 7:30 till midnight

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer BUT going from weddings I've been too I would say do not get married before 1 ideally! Then you have enough time to get everyone ready, guests have enough time to get ready, have decent breakfast (so no drinking in empty stomachs!) and get to venue without rushing. You also don't have a massive gap between wedding breakfast and evening do.

A friend of mine got married at 11 am and it was a nightmare! Had to be up mega early to be able to get ready and get to venue in time and then the gap between ceremony and meal was silly then there was another gap between meal and evening do! The only saving grace was that the weather was nice but drinks were expensive so it was a VERY long day!!!

We had so many comments about how people loved the time of our (intimate - 48 total) wedding.

Central London so people were able to tube / bus / taxi without hassle.
5pm ceremony
Champagne and nibbles whilst we had the quickest photo session on record (30 mins start to finish)
Dinner
Dancing
Finished 12.30

Why people liked was that it didn’t dominate the day. They were able to gym, chores, sports activities, kids stuff etc
But then still attend
Lovely

Depends what you want from the day obviously but I like mid-afternoon weddings. Guests who don't live locally can travel in the morning (so only need accommodation for 1 night), wedding party have the morning to get ready in their own time, everyone can get their own lunch before the wedding (so no-one should be starving waiting for food to be served).

Worst time (in my view) is around 1pm- with travel/getting ready etc it's likely that no-one will have eaten at lunch time but by the time the wedding ceremony has taken place it's too early to serve lunch to so likely that everyone will be secretly starving waiting for the evening meal. Cue lots of daytime drinking on empty stomachs = messy evening for some.

[Yes, I am slightly obsessed with food atm]

We got married in Florida. Had a beautiful early morning ceremony followed by breakfast then went to Epcot. Went back Xmas 2018 with DS for our silver wedding anniversary. Wouldn't have changed a single thing. It's the marriage that's important not the wedding.