Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

:) Need your opinions,,,

I am thinking of a sat afternoon due to decreased cost, church wedding... what time does it usually end? We are looking at places with grounds so it would be nice to take pictures in the day...if you had a afternoon wedding did it not have the party atms? Thanks! :) Christina

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

sent u a note in 09 boards

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I was orig. going to have a sat. afternoon wedding. It was set to start at 12:00pm and ended at 5 pm. Not a big deal if ur ok w. having the ceremony at the RH. But I knew I wanted a church and that got really tricky. Sat. afternoon is a pain as far as getting ready, taking pictures. I would have had to wake up at 5 am to get my hair / make up done. The mass would have started at 9:30am. That would give me about an hour and a half for pics. Its def. do able.... but I was def. going to be rushing.

I think that it's a great idea if you and FH see each other "before" the ceremony to get the pics out of the way and have the ceremony in the RH. It helps everything flow smoothly and is less rushed.

I ended up switching to a sat. night b.c the price p. person only went up by 10 bucks. so I figured it wasnt that bad. Wats your opinion?

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I am having an afternoon wedding too. My ceremony is at 11am at a church and our cocktail hour starts at 1:30 and the reception ends it at 6:30pm. If you're looking for a nice place to take pictures at the reception hall - check out Swan Club and Westbury Manor.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I am not a morning person, so I wouldn't do a Sat. afternoon. They usually go from 12-5. I am Jewish, and had to get married on Sunday, so I am doing Sunday night from 6:30-Midnight. I know some may think that is late for a Sunday, but my family and friends are mostly night owls. If yours are too, I would recommend doing this as a way to save $ -- Sunday night prices were pretty similar to Saturday afternoon prices at all the places I looked at. You probably could start earlier too -- 6-11 if you are not having the ceremony there.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

We got married on a Sunday afternoon. We had the same hesitation regarding the atmosphere, but it was great! People were dancing and it really was a lot of fun. The cost was so much better than an evening wedding and we really didn't have any issues except for one. We had to wake up very early to get ready. But that was ok. FM me if you have any more questions.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

you might want to consider a sunday evening reception on a holiday wkend if you are open to changing your date??? some places don't change the price on holiday wkends altho I think alot do treat them like Sat.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I'm not a huge fan of afternoon weddings. I mean if you were doing a Sunday afternoon wedding - that'd make sense cause most people have work the next day, so it'd work out that people could get home at a reasonable hour.

I was part of friend's wedding which was a Saturday afternoon wedding, and we had to be ready and dressed by 8am. Our hair places weren't open, so we all had to do our hair ourselves cause we didn't want to pay the high cost of having someone come to the house and do our hair. And the wedding was over by about 5/5:30, and we were so exhausted at that point. We were kind of like what do we do now? So the whole rest of our night was pretty much gone.

Also, I'm not much of a morning person and usually don't get out of bed til noon on the weekends considering I get up early during the week. So that's why I'm not much of a fan of early weddings.

But you have to do what you can afford and what you want. I do think it's important to think about the guests and wanting to make sure people are comfortable and enjoy themselves. So maybe consider other options, like a Friday night wedding, or a Sunday night wedding during a holiday weekend possibly. But if you like the whole Saturday afternoon wedding, then do what you want.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I had a Sat. afternoon wedding and it was great. The ceremony was at 11 and the reception started at 12:30. The reception was at Lands End so we had the beach for great scenery and pictures. Our reception ended at 5:30 and we had an after party in our hotel bar which started at 8. Everyone had a great time.

I think that whatever you decide to do will be great it is ur wedding and you can do whatever you want.

Message edited 4/26/2008 9:42:19 PM.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I'm getting married at 11:30 and having a reception at 1:30. My hair and makeup person will come at 7. I think it'll be just fine.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

we're also having an after party at my hotel
so excited -- can't wait!!!!

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

nothing wrong with it my moh is having an afternoon wedding and I think its going to be amazing

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I'm having a Sat. afternoon wedding. The only issue we had was when to take pics, but we decided to break with tradition and just take them all before the ceremony.

My brother had a Sat. afternoon wedding and it was definitely a party atmosphere, there was also a small after-party afterwards.

I think it really depends on the people you are inviting to your wedding. I've been to Sat. night weddings were no one danced and afternoon weddings where everyone was up dancing.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I'm having a Saturday afternoon wedding. We're having the ceremony at 11am at a church very close to the reception....cocktail hour starts at 12:30pm so proximity was really important for us. Also, my family, my girls, and I are staying in a hotel about 10 mins away from the church....and this too cuts down on the stress of getting up so early and getting there in time, etc. I'm still waking up at like 5am, but that's because we have a cultural piece prior to the ceremony....so I have to be ready by 9am even though the limo is only picking us up at 10:30am.

The reception ends at 5:30pm....then we have another cultural piece....but we are having an after party around 7:30pm at the li sheraton.......very low key. They have a bar so a bunch of people will just gather there. They've booked rooms, FH & I are staying in a suite there that night, and we have 3 special drinks that the bartender will make for us (the same special drinks from our reception...to carry over the party).

It'll definitely be a very busy day, but this is what we could afford, and we can't get married on a Sunday, so we had to go with it.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

Im having an afternoon wedding! The church starts @ 11 am. Cocktail hour starts @ 1pm. I'm not worried cause the room I'm in they can dim the lights to make it seem as if its evening. I'm going to the salon at 530 am and pics are starting @9am. Honestly I've been in day time weddings. It's not a big deal. It's all preference. We chose it cause we are leaving on a cruise the next morning. Plus the price was a bit better.

HTH Good luck in your decision!

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

i'm doing an afternoon wedding; ceremony at 12 pm and cocktail hour at 12:30. Ends at 5:30. we are doing everything including pictures at the RH, so to me it was totally worth it though only about $5-10 cheaper which wasn't the deciding factor. I preferred a saturday afternoon to a friday night or sunday. If you are having a church ceremony you might want to look into your church times first before you decide. if you get married at the rh it's fine.

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

I've been to plenty of afternoon weddings, they all had the same party atmosphere as if it were an evening wedding. It is all about you preference of what you would like to have.

I am not a morning person, that is why i am having a saturday evening wedding

Re: Afternoon or Night reception, Sat

We're having an afternoon reception (11:30 ceremony/1PM CH) for a number of reasons. First of all the biggest is the cost. Also, we're having 3 flower girls who will be on the younger side (5, 6, 7). I want them to be wide awake to enjoy the wedding and not have their parents worrying they're tired or having to leave early for that reason.

I figure ending at 6PM always leaves time for an afterparty. And I dont mind waking up at 5AM to get ready that morning- I would probably be awake anyway!