Worried about gap between service and reception!

[Confused19831983]

So - our wedding ceremony is at 4pm in a church.

We have been told that it’s likely to take around 45mins.

Our reception venue is opposite the church. The area is coastal and very scenic.

The problem is the reception venue won’t officially become available until 6.30pm. There is a terrace area which we should be able to access before then, but or course the weather could be terrible and I am not sure if it will be possible to serve drinks (need to check).

We are getting married in early June.

I am really worried guests will be bored, hungry, cold and want a drink in the interim.

I was thinking about getting a drinks van to the scene, but no idea of costs or if I would need it to get permission from council. There’s a huge car park and grassy area close to the church.

Just wondered what other people have done, or would you be pissed off at this if you were a guest?

I am also arranging for drinks and snacks at a pub very close to the venue before the church service for those that want them.

Thank you so much lovely mumsnetters in advance. X

how long is the travel between the venues? Wouldn’t you have meet and greets and photos in the gap?

If it's directly opposite the church and they won't let you enter until 6.30 then I too would be concerned about the gap. Even if it's lovely and sunny and you have lots of photos taken it's a large gap to fill.

I would check if drinks are available asap and discuss with the venue what others usually do? If they won't budge at all on the timing could you push the ceremony slightly later to reduce the gap?

This happened at a wedding I went to recently. It wasn't planned to be such a long gap and we were in marquee but the photos tound the church took ages and then there were speeches ( before the meal) and it was 7 amd we hadn't even eaten yet ( some nibbles did appear). I had to leave cause I had a small baby. I did feel a bit disappointed but bride and groom appeared happy 😊 which is all that matters. We went back to our air b&b and had beans on toast.
As long as guests are aware. Is there some sort of entertainment you could arrange, or garden games? Might be nice way for people to chat amd interact as well?

Yeah I agree that that is not great.
If the weather is nice and there are drinks/canapes then it’s not an issue at all. If it’s nice weather but no drinks and canapés then it’s not ideal but not awful.
If it’s a rainy chillier day and people are just standing around on a terrace for over an hour, I think you’ll have some pretty irritated guests.
If I couldn’t change the timings, I’d be having a serious rethink.

The problem is the reception venue won’t officially become available until 6.30pm.
Why on earth not!?

Find a different reception venue.

An hour and a half of standing outside with no drinks doesn't sound ideal. It might be a good idea to find a different venue if you can't hire a drinks van.

We got invited to a wedding a couple of hours from us at 11am, NOT the wedding breakfast or afternoon venue, but then we're invited to the reception at 6. So 6 hours to 'kill' all dressed up for a wedding ...

We decided to see them married and declined the reception invite.

Yours is not nearly as bad OP! Could you organise that the guests could go back to the 'tea and snacks before the wedding' pub once more - between wedding and reception ?

I’d be concerned too. Some older guests will appreciate taking shelter from heat. Toilets etc if the weather of good.

If it rains then it’ll be awful!

Have you asked the venue. Is the inflexibility because they are dressing venue after afternoon trade from public?

Can you reschedule the ceremony until later. Otherwise, gap is too long.

Thanks all. My OH has just said he thinks the terrace area will be available from 5.30pm, which won’t be as bad. Need to check.

The reception venue is open to the public during the day, hence time it becomes available.

Hood idea to go back to pub where people are having drinks if need be.

@Confused19831983 That just sounds like a restaurant and not a wedding venue. My DD is getting married and we will have the venue all day. Your wedding is quite short at 45 mins and everyone will expect pictures. However drinks and canapés should be available from around 30 mims after the wedding. Why won’t they do drinks snd canapés earlier? Have they not cleared out lunch guests? You sound like an added extra, not the focus of the venue. Is there no one else?

I’d skip the drinks/nibbles at the pub before, which really isn’t necessary (also don’t know how sensible your mates are but do you really want people drinking before the ceremony) and do that afterwards instead. You can’t have people hanging around outside for 1.5 hours. Even if you manage to put on a drinks van you would still need a back plan in case of bad weather and somewhere guests can go to the loo…

Agree with this

you can’t leave people hanging about for an hour and a half

Can you push the wedding ceremony to start at 5pm, so that it definitely finishes after the terrace becomes available? Does the terrace have big umbrellas if the weather isn't great? What would you do if you get really unlucky and it's chucking it down?

If this were me I'd use the pub for drinks and nibbles for the gap between the ceremony and the reception. i.e. invite people straight to the ceremony at 4pm. It's really annoying as a wedding guest to go to a service and then literally have nowhere to go while you're waiting for the bride and groom to have photos done.

Just find a different reception venue.

Could you hire some deckchairs and an ice cream van

Can you get married later would be the obvious thought for me?!

Sorry - nowhere else.

I think even that may be too late. If the ceremony finishes at 4.45 what will people do between then? What if it’s raining? People will need a drink and some snacks. I’d find a different reception venue.

And are you going to have a 3 course dinner? Starting the reception at 6.30pm might be a bit late, people will want a drink first, then say dinner at 7pm won’t finish until 9pm, then speeches, cut cake, first dance.

Can you ask the church to use the church h hall for the interim bit?

They will be making alot of money from you. They should curtail their afternoon trade to accommodate a good private booking.

If not find elsewhere.

If the pub isn't too far I would recommend getting rid of the pre-ceremony pub but then having 45 mins to an hour at the pub between the ceremony and reception.

Could use it for an hour for the fizz and some nibbles. May not be needed - if the weather is nice, people will probably spill out. But it’s a backup option and gives a place to sit down for the older guests. Then across to the reception venue for dinner?