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Original poster

Late afternoon wedding and evening party - rude?

37 replies

MarriedAtLastLight · 24/02/2022 16:17

Wondering about having a late wedding ?4pm onwards then hiring a big hall for buffet and ceilidh into the evening.

We have a small child who would be fine with this but if most kids go to bed at 7pm is this just going to create annoyed parents?

For context there may be a few guests travelling a long way and would obviously invite their kids.

I was thinking start the evening party nice and early, lots of food and maybe some kids entertainment early on?

OP posts:

Kite22 · 24/02/2022 18:15

@SmugOldBag

Sounds fine but why do so many people now have Ceilidhs? I can't bear them and I find about 50% of guests can't either. We went to a wedding recently and stood outside chatting with some friends while the shouting and unpleasant folk music happened waiting for the 'disco' to start. It never did. Shit wedding.

Has it occurred to you that people have different tastes ?

Personally, I like both, but you do know there are plenty of people that really don't like dance music, don't you?

nancybotwinbloom · 24/02/2022 18:15

When we started planning our wedding this was exactly what we intended to do. I think it's a great idea. It just seemed so much more relaxed to me without much to go wrong or stress over. No family politics of who to invite etc etc. who sits where and so on, just ceremony, photos then straight into the party.

We ended up going abroad which was great - no stress at all.

Good luck with your plans.

nancybotwinbloom · 24/02/2022 18:17

Sorry forgot to say I did the same thing abroad. We had the ceremony at four I think maybe five I can't remember and then straight into the party and we had a bbq on a boat for our buffet.

Wouldn't recommended this as a lot of us felt seasick.

BendingSpoons · 24/02/2022 18:20

This wouldn't work well for my kids. Sadly they have never been the type to drop off in the corner and will still be awake at 6.30 the next day regardless, leading to a grumpy day the next day! I'd happily not bring them though, especially if we only needed one night away. Would be trickier if it was a family wedding where they wanted them there, but would obviously do our best as I would want the couple to have the day they wanted.

IggyAce · 24/02/2022 18:32

We got married a 4pm and just had evening buffet & disco everyone loved it and a few years later a friend did the same because they had enjoyed ours so much.

Feeellostindirection · 24/02/2022 18:46

Went to a wedding once when I had a 2 and 5 year old where we attended the wedding around lunch time followed by the wedding sit down meal straight after, then had an interlude of about 2/3 hours where we had to go home before going to the evening party in a separate location. To say it was a long day was an understatement, my DD was bridesmaid so had no choice but to partake in it all either. I think a late wedding with reception straight after is the best way forward for any wedding and have been the best weddings we have been to, especially ones that have everything all in one place.

Philandbill · 24/02/2022 18:50

We got married at 3pm. People had lunch before they came and didn't need to stay for two nights as they could travel in the morning. We also had a sit down meal and a barn dance. I'd say almost everyone danced, though my 83 year old granny sat it out... It was a really good mixer and got people talking and laughing. We had a caller so that people had some idea of what direction to go in Had cake and coffee later in the evening. I hope people were happy with it all.

MsHampton · 24/02/2022 18:57

I've been to evening weddings, evening reception only, ceremony only and the whole thing and I'm good with all of these.

The awkward bloody wedding that sticks in my mind was a midday service, close family only at a meal and then an evening do.

The poor fuckers who had travelled for the wedding had nothing to do and my mate ended up having a waifs and strays party at his.
It was great and lots of us were so tempted to just stay there.

It would have been so much better to have a late ceremony and go for lunch with the family beforehand or the next day. It would have been really shit and disjointed if my friend hadn't stepped in.

DontBeMean · 24/02/2022 18:59

I love weddings that start late afternoon. They are much better than the all day affairs. I've been to them with little kids and let the kids stay up.

Villanelle17 · 28/02/2022 10:43

Sounds perfect. This is what I'm planning. Ceremony at 3pm then an after do.

Avocadobacardi · 01/03/2022 10:59

Completely the norm where I am. Wedding at 4, reception at 5, dinner and dancing from 6 and all done by 11

mam0918 · 05/03/2022 11:00

My kids go to bed at 8 pm, we would either:

leave them with grandparents and have a night off or
just leave around 7 pm

While personally, I wouldn't do a 4 pm wedding (just personal taste we did a morning wedding as waiting around all day for something to start stresses me and drives me mad) I don't think it's 'rude'.

As long as you follow the basic etiquette of making sure guests are fed and comfortable (seating, warmth, shelter from rain/sun, etc...) you can do pretty much anything you want and people can make their own minds up on how to fit into it.

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