Wedding Times: What time of the day is best for my wedding?

How to decide on your wedding timings…

You want your wedding day to go on for as long as possible because realistically it’s going to whizz by all too quickly! But, when should you start things off and when should you plan to finish by? To help you decide we’ve compiled a list of pros and cons to make your wedding timing choices a little bit easier…

An Afternoon Wedding

This is a highly debated topic and time and is totally dependent on the time of year. You don't want a 2pm wedding in Columbia, SC in July. Your guests would hate you for it! Your time is going to be limited. If your ceremony is scheduled for 2pm and you then host a wedding reception afterwards, before leaving to go on your honeymoon at about 6pm, that only gives you four hours to fit everything in. If you want a small, intimate wedding then that’s absolutely fine, but if you’ve dreamed of a big event you might find it all a bit of a rush.

If you have young children whom you want to be part of your big day, then they’ll be at their best during the afternoon rather than the evening when they might become bored, tired and grumpy.

Tight wedding budget? After your ceremony you could simply hold an afternoon tea. Apart from some fizz for the toasts, you can get away with serving cups of tea and coffee and soft drinks. A vintage theme works really well with an afternoon tea and don’t forget you can hire some really pretty china to add to the effect.

An afternoon wedding can open up your venue choices, too – you can hold an elegant affair in the conservatory of a stately home or country house hotel and maybe have a string quartet playing as people arrive in the mellow afternoon light.

An evening wedding

Due to a recent relaxation in the laws about the time you can get married, you can now hold your ceremony during the evening and then throw a party immediately afterwards. If you fancy holding your event in a stately home or National Trust property, which is open to the public during the day, this may allow that you have the place all to yourself during the evening hours. Just talk to your venue about what’s possible. Don’t feel you have to have a formal sit-down dinner if you’re hosting an evening celebration. If you’d rather your guests mingled then consider serving a buffet. You can still have a table plan if you’re planning on seating your guests and also you could also treat your guests to a sweetie table instead of serving dessert.

If you’re having an evening wedding then you’re probably going to be having a DJ or live band to entertain your guests. If that’s the case, don’t forget to have some sort of chill-out room for your guests who would rather sit, chat and catch up on gossip, instead of dance. They’re going to need to be able to hear each other rather than have music drowning out the conversation! Also if you’re having to clear tables away from the front to accommodate the dancing then think about where those guests are going to be sitting – particularly the oldies. You don’t want people to leave before time because they’re uncomfortable.

Depending on the type of catering you decide on, an evening wedding may work out to be more expensive than an afternoon wedding because you’re likely to be inviting more people and catering for them all.

If young children are attending, you may need to think about a quiet room where they can sit and watch a DVD quietly or have a sleep.

From a photographer standpoint, evening weddings, especially 7:00PM weddings are amung the preferred. The reason for this is at this particular time the outside lighting could not be any better! You get a ready made canvas of clouds and colors! In most cases you get to test your skills out with off camera flash! Which if done correctly, can really add character to your images.

An all-day event

Your big day will go on for longer, which is lovely for you but you’ll need to think carefully about your guests’ wants and needs if you’re entertaining them from lunchtime through to midnight.

Firstly, consider your budget. If you’re holding your ceremony at 2pm then you’ll need to offer your guests refreshments immediately afterwards, either a drinks reception or an afternoon tea. For the evening event you’re going to need to do the same again, greet your evening guests with drinks and canapés before an evening meal, whether it’s a buffet, formal sit-down or something informal like a hog roast.

You’re going to need to send out two different sorts of invitations – an invitation to both the afternoon and evening event for some guests and an evening-only invite to others. Don’t make your evening guests feel second-best. Greet them warmly, they’re making the effort to attend your wedding, they’ve probably given you a present and you want them to have a good time.

If you can have a short break between the afternoon and evening event it gives everyone a chance to catch their breath – and it also gives you chance to redo your hair and make-up. If you’re holding your evening do in a different venue, people can go back to where they’re staying to get changed, freshen up and return invigorated for the evening ahead. Children can be bathed and put to bed in the care of a babysitter so parents can enjoy an evening unencumbered.

What time of day will you have yourceremony and reception?