Wait between ceremony and wedding breakfast/party

[Chunkymonkey79]

I am intending to have my wedding at a hotel, ceremony, meal and evening party.

A few weddings i have been to recently with a similar set up in a hotel have had a lot of standing around time between each part of the wedding.

The worst being 3 hours from end of ceremony to start of wedding breakfast! Then a further 2 hours until the disco! We had to stay in a small bar area with 1 sofa and a stool during that time, with approx 100 guests! There were canopies but it was hard to juggle bag/drink/food while stood in a cramped room haha!

Although we suffered it for the bride and groom, we don't want our guests having to do that.

I understand that rooms need setting up etc, but surely 3 hours in a small bar area with hardly any seating is not on?!

What causes this waiting?What can i do to ensure waiting around is down to an absolute minimum? And make it comfortable for guests?

Thanks!

Usually it's about endless permutations of photos so keep those to a minimum and make sure there are plenty of drinks and snacks for your guest

We have a 2 hour break between the dinner and evening , we have planned for a magician to entertain our guests at this point . my brother had it at his wedding and it was lovely , for all ages

I assist my hubby who is a wedding photographer yes photos are taken after the ceremony and before the meal he normally takes an hour. You can discuss what shots you really want with your photographer if you keep the list short especially for group/family shots (these take time as people need to be rounded up) then it helps keep that time to a minimum.
Drinks and snacks help keep guests entertained during this period, some couples hire a magician. Guests especially family members use this time to chat and catch up with each other.
If there is a gap between day and evening you will find that some guests pop home or to their hotel room to change ready for the evening.

Hi

Congratulations! We have just recently got married and I must say the venue and space on offer makes a huge difference to the layouts the day. We saw some venues that were stunning, but would of meant hanging around outside the only room for ceremony, meal and evening. We didn't want that either! We wanted a venue we could do everything under one roof, but have space to breath.

Our timings worked well, which I will share in the hope it might give you some ideas x

Ceremony 1-1:30.
Canapés, photos, drinks 1:30-3:00
3-5 ish, back in room for speeches and three course meal.
5-8:30 drinks, entertainment in side area of casinos etc and garden games outside. People could choose to get involved or relax as lots of different area's.
Evening guests arrived at 7.
Then we all went down to the ballroom where we had a band and music until 1am.

It flowed really well.

It goes so quickly and it's impossible to spend time with every guest. Everyone loved it and so did we.I think the breaks and offers of entertainment suits everyone as they can all mingle and come and go as they please.

Good luck x

I hate those waiting around bits - they can be OK if lots of food and drink, plenty of space to mingle and loads of seating, but mostly you are hungry, crammed and hurty of feet.

I have also had to chaperone the elderly and infirm at a wedding, and the hanging around bits were really hard to manage. They just wanted a cup of tea (not available) and to stay sat once we had got them chairs. So please, if you have anyone elderly take all your photos with them in in one go so they can then be installed somewhere. Or get chairs provided where the photos are being taken.

And remember people with children - adults may enjoy chatting and getting pished, but those with kids may just be chasing them round as they melt down as they won't eat the canapes and are now starving.