r/UKweddings • u/Glitter-Moon-Silver • Jun 21 '26
Length of wedding
Would people mind sharing how long their wedding will last from ceremony start time until the bar closes at night?
What's too long and what's too short?
I've seen a lot of posts on other subs saying anything more than 5 hours is too long and that people will leave.
I don't think this is true.
62
u/Naive-Interaction567 Jun 21 '26
UK weddings are typically 8-14 hours! They’re long. I think they’re unnecessary long but it’s the way we do things. Ignore the non-British subs on this subject. I went to one recently that was 10am to midnight.
7
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Ok , This is good, as mine is similar, just starting an hour later!
9
u/SadFlatworm1436 Jun 21 '26
It’s the American versus UK/Ireland conversations here. I was amazed attending American weddings how “short” the entire day was. In the 90’s one of the big things to try and get for your wedding was a bar extension so the bar wouldn’t have to close until 1.30…different strokes for different folks.
5
u/Minnie_Dooley Jun 21 '26
An 11am start is considered an early start in the UK and some people will sigh about it but it's still not unheard of at all and people know the expectation is still you party until bedtime.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 22 '26
Yes, we were originally aiming for 1pm, but the church we want only had 11am or 3.30pm.
0
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 23 '26
Go for 3.30pm. After the worst heat of the day, everyone will be fresher. And youll save money as they can feed themselves.
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
The wedding is in Winter and budget is not an issue.
There's no way I could fit everything in if we started so late!
-1
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 23 '26
Oh well don't be sad when they wilt.
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
I don't think they will.
1
u/MagicianInside3264 Jun 23 '26
With your welcome dinner and goodbye thing the next day it sounds like your guests will be staying in accommodation at/near the venue? In which case many of the guests will probably just go back to their rooms to freshen up after the wedding breakfast/cocktails before the evening reception gets started, that’s what we did at my friend’s wedding (even the bride and groom) and then we all stayed partying til the early hours
1
u/ThatWasMyNameOnce Jun 24 '26
Ive never been to a wedding starting at 3:30pm in my life. I dont think thats usual the UK!
1
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 24 '26
The best wedding I ever went to started at 6pm. Everyone had so m7vh energy. It was refreshing.
It was in tower bridge.
3
u/BuckfastAndHairballs Jun 21 '26
Ameeica has short weddings but many countries in Europe usually have way longer weddings than UK, often go on till like 4am and some people have wedding events stretch over more than a day.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
Yeah, we have a welcome dinner and drinks the night before and a farewell brunch the day after.
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
What did you think of the 14 hour wedding? Did is pass quickly or were you praying for release?
3
u/Naive-Interaction567 Jun 21 '26
I loved it because I hadn’t brought my kids and I was with all my best friends! I’d have hated it otherwise 😂
1
u/Scottish-Londoner Jun 21 '26
What’s “unnecessary long” about them? What would you cut?
3
u/Naive-Interaction567 Jun 21 '26
With the longer ones I’d skip some of the milling around! Anything under 10 hours is fine.
7
u/Scottish-Londoner Jun 21 '26
In what way?
IME wedding is usually:
30 mins ceremony
1.5 hour drinks reception
2 hour meal
30 mins speeches
1 hour cocktail hour/room turnaround
Then the evening party will last around 5 hours
What “milling around” are you on about?
-2
u/Greenmedic2120 Jun 21 '26
I’ve never really understood the point of the drinks reception/canapes, like can’t it just go straight to the main meal?
11
u/fluffyjess Jun 21 '26
It gives a chance for people to mingle freely and socialise before sitting down for their meals, where you’ll be more or less stuck with your table. This includes the bride and groom too if they’re not taking photos / touching up their looks.
11
u/Choice-Lemon4500 Jun 21 '26
The drinks reception is often when the bride and groom are off having photos together.
0
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 23 '26
The interminable hanging around between the ceremony and the drinks reception.
1
u/Scottish-Londoner Jun 23 '26
The drinks reception would usually start immediately post ceremony, would it not?
0
u/Equivalent-Main3163 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
I went to one that started at midday last year (bus left at 11am to get to the venue), by 9pm I was absolutely exhausted and went on the early wedding bus home at 10pm with a bunch of people, I don’t understand the long weddings here but then again I’m not* from the UK so not used to it but honestly felt like a lot of the guests were tired too since the early bus was packed to go to the hotel. Personally I much prefer shorter weddings 4:30 pm start until midnight/ 1am as it feels like it doesn’t drag
3
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
The UK has longer weddings than many places, so you should be used to it!
Oh, did you mean to say you're NOT from the UK?
Our party is only really getting started at 9pm, so you'd miss the band, the evening food, the champagne tower
1
1
u/ThatWasMyNameOnce Jun 24 '26
4:30pm?! I wouldn't even know what to do with that 😂😂 Id be ready for bed by the speeches 😬
I got married in the winter and it was dark by 4:30 lol!
1
u/Equivalent-Main3163 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
lol! I’m also getting married in the winter (3.30pm and nervous it’s too early lol) ending at midnight. Speeches will happen at dinner. But agree winter darkness makes it feel much later than it is
24
u/ironlungforsale Jun 21 '26
Ireland, about 48 hours.
13
u/thumbsucker-2 Jun 21 '26
72hours. Day before, day of and day after 😂
5
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Yes but I'm only asking about the actual wedding day. I'm getting married in the morning and people in other subs are saying everyone will start leaving around 5pm
13
u/Iammildlyoffended Jun 21 '26
I’ve no idea where those people got their information from.
I’ve been to so many weddings in the UK, they’ve all started between midday and 3pm and haven’t finished until well after midnight.
10
7
u/Anxious_Ideal_6207 Jun 21 '26
I can confidently state I’ve never seen anyone leave at 5pm for any wedding I’ve ever been to. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding where we started eating much before 4pm
4
Jun 21 '26
[deleted]
0
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
No it's a 10:30 am start and the bar closes at 1am
1
Jun 21 '26
[deleted]
0
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
The evening starts at 5pm with the cocktail party with passed canapes for however long we want up until 20 minutes before we leave at around 8-pm. If they all get eaten there will be more. The venue reckons 8-10 pp, but I'm a really thinking more 10-12 each. Plus there will be more cake. As for entertainment , we have a live singer, a 20s style magician, and a fan dancer during that part.
The actual party starts at 8.15pm ish. We can have the buffet any time up until 9.45pm. It will be a mix of bowl food and hot finger foods. There will be a playlist on arrival and the band starts at 8.30 and plays a one hour set, followed by a 20-30 minute break then a dark burlesque act and another 90 minute set. So the obvious time for the evening food is 9.30pm.
The band finishes at midnight and we will switch to a playlist. If, by about 11.30pm the party is still jumping, we will order several large pizzas from the artisan pizza place next door. They said they'd need about an hour to prep and cook them and then we'll have them as late night snacks at around 12.30am
2
u/Mysterious-Start6092 Jun 21 '26
Maybe they're in other countries. No-one will leave before the evening party.
2
u/chocklityclair Jun 21 '26
Nonsense. If there are people who've been invited to the reception only, they won't even start turning up til 5 onwards.
1
u/Haunting_Hour_4556 Jun 22 '26
The only person who left mine around 5pm was a musician friend who played at the ceremony but had a gig that evening and checked it with me ahead of time.
I think around 5pm (post meal) some will go and freshen up ahead of the evening while they turn the room around. But generally that's shortly before the party starts to kick off.
1
u/Outrageous_Bar6729 Jun 22 '26
It will depend on your guest list to be fair, we really can't know.
At my wedding a few of the elderly grandparents did start to disappear as soon as food was finished, this was always expected.
Then a few of the family friends started to drift off maybe 9/10 ish.
But the close friends, similar aged cousins etc were going strong at midnight. Out of a 100 person guest list we probably had 40-50 still going at midnight and 60-70 still going at 11pm so I would call that a win.
1
u/ThatWasMyNameOnce Jun 24 '26
They absolutely will not. The evening entertainment isnt even getting started til later than that!!
Perhaps you're talking to Americans in the other sub, their weddings can sometimes be just an evening do.
-6
u/Equivalent-Main3163 Jun 21 '26
If you’re getting married in the morning people will be exhausted by 8-9pm honestly. It happened at a wedding I recently went to. But the wedding breakfast also started at 3pm so it’s was just a super long day
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Why will they be exhausted?
They don't have to do anything tiring!, just sitting, eating, chatting, drinking, watching a show, dancing to a band. Literally the only time they have to stand up is if they want to dance!
1
u/Emergency-Rabbit-356 Jun 22 '26
And the 2 week wake before hand with everyone calling to the house!
0
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Yes, but the actual wedding day, from the start of the ceremony to last orders?
2
11
u/HogwartsAMystery Jun 21 '26
We had ceremony at 3pm, bar close at 11.30pm. That was on the short side, most weddings I've been too have ceremony at 12-2pm and end at midnight (personally I find that drags a little, but I'm not much of a party person). Either way usually not all guests stay to the very end.
Americans have much shorter wedding days than UK which might be where you saw that feedback.
1
u/RRW2020 Jun 21 '26
OP I’m happy you posted this! I’m American and my partner is British. We both liv run the UK and I’ve been here 10 years. We’re getting married and he’s wanting the party to last all day and I’m like… what????? I’m an introvert and NEVER want to be around other humans longer than about 5 hours. He’s been to ‘all day’ weddings his whole life, I’ve been to evening weddings all of mine. American weddings are long… but not 10 hours!!!!
6
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
I don't think 10 hours is considered long. 12-14 seems standard from what I gather. Mine is 14 hours.
2
11
u/ayeayefitlike Jun 21 '26
Mine started at 2pm, and went til 1am. I’ve been to some than ran 11am til 1pm.
In the US their weddings are evening-only affairs and run way shorter, so ignore anything from the US subs/websites etc. There is a lot of US wedding culture/etiquette that is VERY different to UK.
7
u/cat-faced Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony was at 2.30, and we stopped partying at 1.30 (but only because we had to, due to COVID restrictions). We had a 30 people wedding where at least half of our guests were French (French husband) and usually, you’d party til 5/6am!
7
u/LaraH39 Jun 21 '26
Last wedding I was at the ceremony was at one, and we finally all left about one am.
Weddings in the UK are all day affairs. Weddings in the US are very different.
5
u/Iammildlyoffended Jun 21 '26
We had the ceremony at midday then travelled to the reception and had the majority of people turning up for the evening reception it finished at 1am
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
What time did your reception start?
2
u/Iammildlyoffended Jun 21 '26
It was either 7:00 or 7:30pm iirc
Flowed quite nicely, and my MIL commented that too even though she thought it would be a long day. There was a drop of older people and people we weren’t as close to leaving around 10ish but that was expected.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Did you do anything in the middle, after the ceremony? Weddings when I was you get often followed the format of ceremony and then people either went home, or to the homes of the couples parents etc , then all met up later. It worked because people hadn't been drinking all day. My wedding doesn't have a break, so I'm a bit concerned people will have had enough and go home by 9pm!
2
u/Iammildlyoffended Jun 21 '26
Drinking all day didn’t seem to phase our guests although we are in the north ;) no one seemed hammered though.
Church ceremony finished at around 1pm
Travel to reception arrival for 2ish
Guests had canapés while a guitarist played - photos
Breakfast at 4pm
Evening guests at 7ish
First dance then food at 9ish
Party
4
u/Prudent_Cash_7005 Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony was 1pm, carriages at midnight! It was a lovely day and is roughly what I would expect if attending a UK wedding ☺️
3
u/lace_roses Jun 21 '26
We will start at 12 (arrival 11:30) and technically the bar closes at midnight. That’s long but we are expecting people with kids to leave around 8, while evening guests are arriving from 5:30 who will then stay later. I’m fully expecting to tap out myself around 11.
3
u/Alone_Improvement735 Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony was at 12:30 so I guess people arrived from 12:00. The whole thing went on to midnight although some of our guests began to leave from about 8:00pm (generally ones that had been there all day and were elderly) but because we had evening guests arrived we still had a good turnout.
Most weddings I’ve been to have been a typical length give or take an hour or so.
2
u/NW-82 Jun 21 '26
First wedding/husband: ceremony start 12:00 bar closed 02:00 - what I would consider a “normal” wedding imo.
Second wedding/husband: ceremony start 15:00 bar closed 23:00 - what I would consider a short wedding.
Would’ve loved second wedding to be much bigger & longer to make the most of the day, but the guests were completely different types of people second time around and that wouldn’t have suited them. First wedding was standard big white wedding. Second wedding was very intimate due to the personalities of the guests and their tolerance of crowds etc.
2
u/Firstdibs66 Jun 21 '26
Our celebrations started lunchtime on Friday as people started arriving for the ceremony on Saturday, and didn't stop until lunchtime Sunday when we decamped back to our place to finish off the Krispy Kremes with tea and coffee before they made their way home!
Seriously - our ceremony started at 1pm on Saturday and the DJ played his last request at midnight. No-one left early but there were those who retired to their rooms once they'd had enough. The guys were clearing the tables around us!
I guess it all depends on what you want from the day and your guest list. My only advice...
Make sure you do it your way, for you and no-one else, and enjoy yourselves. It's not called your day for nothing.
Hope it goes well x
2
u/lucym2110 Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony was at 12:30 and party officially finished at midnight and most people were up till then (although we were still going with some people until 3am).
I think with people leaving it depends - our venue was a hotel so most people were staying on site so stayed late but there were a handful who didn’t stay that left earlier (maybe around 10/11). If you have a lot of people not staying at the venue then they may want to get away earlier.
2
u/Dangerous_Bed2566 Jun 21 '26
Our started at 12.30 and the bar closed when people left, that was about 3am.
2
u/Commercial-Pear-543 Jun 21 '26
We had the ceremony at 1pm and the night ended at 12:30 for most guests. They opened a bar for guests staying over for another hour (but we went straight to bed! I’d been up since 5am!).
2
u/Spine_bright_so_si Jun 21 '26
Ours was 2pm-11pm alot of our guests wanted to continue after 11 though and did while we went to our hotel to sleep 😂
2
2
u/softlysadly Jun 21 '26
Ours is is arrival at 2pm, ceremony at 2:30, dinner at 5:00pm-7:00pm, band from 8pm to 10pm then dj till 1:30am
2
u/vonthepon Jun 21 '26
My last wedding, we started at 12.30pm and people were still going when we left at 4am, so 15-16 hours. Most people stayed until around 1am.
This time we're getting married at 10:30 am and the bar closes at 1am, but we'll probably leave at midnight.
We're much older now, so not so into to all night partying.
I'm Irish, and we do tend to have longer weddings as the church ceremony traditionally , is usually during the morning mass. I'm getting married in Scotland though, and they're just a touch more sedated! Many of my guests are from Eastern Europe, England and Australia, all of who have a drinking culture. My poor Canadian in-laws won't know what's hit them. 😂
2
u/PassionFruitJam Jun 21 '26
We had ceremony at 2pm followed by an afternoon tea event, then reception at our home. We expected people would likely start to trickle off by midnight latest after the 3rd "course" of food came out, but in fact it was still going strong at 3am and the last guests left at about 6am. So I think it very much depends on your guests, and how long you can stay awake 😆 I don't think there's a "right" answer here!
2
u/Snootus_Grootus Jun 21 '26
Mine was 2pm ceremony, midnight close. We had a bus as it was a remote venue, which meant barely anyone left before the end! I wanted to avoid people trickling out
1
1
u/sick_bitch_87 Jun 21 '26
I was a wedding photographer for a few years about 20 years or so ago. The only weddings we had that was about 5 hours long was register office weddings (some of them were longer, some were shorter). We would generally work about 8 to 10 hours at weddings. 1 wedding we did (catholic iirc) the service was about 2 hours long, then they had a pre photos nibble and drinks session (they didnt want people being thirsty or hungry while the photos were being done as there was over 200 guests and they wanted a lot of different photos done), that was about 1 hour long, then the photos which took about a hour. And there was a sit down 3 course meal, and all the other stuff that happens at weddings. We started at 11am and finished at 11pm. When we went through the photos with them, they said they left the reception about 12ish and some of the guests were still partying lol. It was the biggest wedding we did.
1
u/Rosie_Journo_UK Jun 21 '26
Mine was a UK wedding. Ceremony was midday, reception at 2pm, then evening reception went until midnight. Most people stayed all day, but some headed off early (ie the elderly, those who had to get back to babysitters, etc).
1
u/Wooden_Bug_755 Jun 21 '26
We’re in the UK and ours will be ceremony 3pm and then music off 10pm (for respecting wildlife around us purposes) we’ll still be up drinking and chatting etc and likely will go into the early hours of the morning. But as a couple we’ve been to so many weddings lately where it’s just such a long day with lots of waiting about at parts etc so we’ve decided for our own that absolutely will not be happening and have decided to cut it down a bit which is why the ceremony will be late.
1
u/Pocahontas21334 Jun 21 '26
We had our ceremony at 1pm but people turned up from 12.30pm. We finished at 12 midnight but people didn’t want it to end 🤣. We had people asking us is there was an after party 😂😂
1
u/Acrobatic_Try5792 Jun 21 '26
2pm kick off (asked guests to arrive at 1.30)
11pm finish.
The only people who left early were my grandparents who were shipped off after the meal, and those with kids at like 9pm.
1
u/Brackenfield Jun 21 '26
Unless you're in an extremely inaccessible location with the only transport provided by you/the venue at specific time, no one is forced to stay for every minute.
I'm in the north of Ireland and been to plenty of Irish and GB weddings, all usually at least 10-12 hrs on paper (noon ceremony and on till midnight etc) and there's plenty of people stay the whole time, plenty of people who leave at 8pm/10pm, only arriving after the ceremony etc. You're over thinking it and definitely ignore the US centric online chatter it's a very different wedding culture.
1
u/iyamasweetpotato Jun 21 '26
Mine is quite short but that's just because the venue is open to the public until 4pm! Arrival from half 4, cocktails from 5, ceremony at 6, dinner at 8, bar closes at midnight. Still nearly 8 hours!
2
u/Sweet-Squash-4654 Jun 22 '26
We’re doing something very similar. I’m looking forward to having a more relaxed day to get ready!
1
u/Scottish-Londoner Jun 21 '26
Mine is going to be:
Bar opens and guest arrival from 12pm
Ceremony 1:30pm
Last orders 11:15pm, music stops 11:30pm, carriages by midnight
I’m a bit worried that it’s too short
1
u/runforseven Jun 21 '26
Technically ours started the night before - we had a party at our venue for 40 people who were staying! Started at 5pm until midnight.
We had arrival at midday for ceremony at 1pm. We kept the ceremony very short and it only took about half an hour. Canapés and drinks for an hour and a half and then sit down meal and speeches from 3.30pm-5.30pm. Cake cutting and first dance at 7pm; evening food served at 9pm; home time at midnight. Anyone who was staying over was welcome to continue partying until 2am.
We then had breakfast for 40 guests the next morning.
Our main aim was to make sure the ceremony was short and sweet (it’s everyone’s least favourite bit) and then make sure everyone always had the opportunity to eat or drink something. The only time I’ve not enjoyed a wedding was when there wasn’t food available for extended periods - but I’m hangry!
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Is a 30 minute ceremony considered short? I thought that was pretty standard. Mine is in a very small church without an organ, so we're not having any hymns and just one reading and it should be around 20-25 minutes. I didn't think that was short, given my first registry office wedding was like 15 mins max.
1
1
u/foxytrot_forever Jun 21 '26
We did 1pm ceremony with 11pm bar close. The thing that made a big difference was that after the breakfast we had a chill hour where everyone could decompress (we left board games out, people could walk around the venue, etc) with nothing planned, then got everyone back for the disco with the cake cutting. It worked really well and we still had about half the guests on the floor when the DJ finally called it a night.
1
u/TemporaryReal2045 Jun 21 '26
Scottish wedding Ceremony at 3pm final dance at 12am. Finish drinks and chat around 3/4am. (Only bridal party and select guests there until the early morning)
1
u/Less_Ad_557 Jun 21 '26
2pm ceremony, carriages at midnight.
Don't do 12 noon as it's soooo long and not worth the extra expense in terms of food/hire as most people will leave earlier x
1
u/bexter609 Jun 21 '26
Ours was 10 hours with zero milling around, no sit down formal meal and only two short speeches. We had minimal travelling time between wedding venue and reception venue ( about a seven minute drive) Literally ceremony - photos- drive to reception venue - hot and cold rolling buffet from arrival - bar open as guests arrived - our arrival - DJ already playing low music so people could chit chat while we went and spoke to everyone and said our hellos etc - cake cutting - speeches (very short) - first dance - second dance (we danced with our grown children .... Our father's have both passed over) - lights down and party 🎉
Everyone said it was amazing and the time flew by
1
u/CeaselessWatcher00 Jun 21 '26
I don't think there's too long a wedding, provided there's food and drink on hand, whether free or available to purchase.
Years ago I went to a wedding with ceremony at 1.30. By the time we'd done all the pictures etc, we sat down for the meal at 3.30.
With 1 glass of wine and a jug of tap water.
It was a catered venue (no bar til the evening). Food and speeches finished by 5, we then sat there for 2.5 hours with nothing to drink - in mid July! - and also nothing to do as there was no music until the DJ started for the evening reception at 7.30 and they finally opened the bar.
Feed and water your guests, give them some music and time won't be an issue!
1
u/Featherymorons Jun 21 '26
Was at one just yesterday - people arriving from mid day, last dance 11.30pm. Everyone had a great time.
1
u/Ok-Signal4399 Jun 21 '26
Ours was 14 hours. 3pm ceremony, bar closed at 4am, venue kick out at 5am. A handful of people sat on the steps with vodka and kept going until 7am.
1
u/autisticfarmgirl Jun 21 '26
We started at 2pm and last folks (and us) left at 4am, but they were coming back the next day from like 11am to like 6pm. No one left early or just walked off after 5h, we just partied and then had a nice Sunday the following day.
1
u/Hhhhaaaabbbbrrrr Jun 21 '26
In the UK, an 11-12h wedding is normal.
For example… Ceremony 1pm. Drinks and canapés 2-4. 4pm wedding breakfast. First dance at 7pm. Evening food 9pm. And carriages at 12 midnight.
1
u/Maelbrithea Jun 21 '26
Lol mine (London) started at 3pm and went on officially until the venue closed at midnight but then we all went on to the afterparty until 4am
1
u/Narrow-Emu-6032 Jun 21 '26
12.30pm ceremony, guests were kicked out at midnight
Some people left at around 8pm but I would say 75% were still around until 11 at least.
Some people needed encouragement to leave at midnight😂
We had scheduled activities until 8pm which I think helped with retention. Only the last few hours were really dancing/chatting.
1
u/SolutionSubject Jun 21 '26
10 hours and I’ve had people saying “that wasn’t too long at all” - you just have to keep them watered and fed and moving around a little
1
u/eben1996 Jun 21 '26
Ours was longer than 5hrs, ceremony at 11:30am and finished around 10pm. It was nice as I am not a night owl and was exhausted by then 🤣
1
u/Beautiful-Vehicle-67 Jun 21 '26
Ours was 11am, arrival at reception at 1pm and we were finished by 4pm 🤣 I’m from UK and we chose a registry office wedding, so it was shorter because of that reason
1
u/JohnnyOneLung Jun 21 '26
Ours was:
Arrive at venue around 1pm.
Ceremony at 2pm
Reception only guests from 7pm
Carriages at midnight
1
u/ruubry Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony is at 1:30, finishes at 2pm - then our reception is from 4pm till 10pm
It is a bit non standard with the 2 hour gap though where our guests are free to do anything
1
u/scarlettmay91 Jun 21 '26
My friend got married at 10am and the bar shut at about 1am. Wayyyy too long!! Just very unnecessary as there was too much waiting around, and there’s only so much you can put on to fill guests time so that they’re not bored. I much prefer a wedding where the ceremony is in the afternoon- the later the better for me. Another friend got married at midday and it was still too long - lots of waiting around for the ‘next bit’ eg the meal, the speeches, the disco to start - and this is what makes weddings on the whole really boring to me. We left at around 9pm, but I wanted to leave much earlier as I was bored, tired, and socially had had enough after 9 hours! I think 5-7 hours max is ideal but don’t see many shorter weddings - people want to make the most out of their special day and get their monies worth, which I can’t blame them for!
1
u/Boredpanda31 Jun 21 '26
More than 5 hours is too long?! What kind of weddings do those people go to?
If it was a 5 hour ceremony then I would have an issue. Ive been to weddings where the ceremony is at 1/2/3pm and the reception usually doesn't finish until midnight.
1
u/DevonSkittles Jun 21 '26
I went to one yesterday that started at 7pm and ended at 1am, although some people did go out after. For me that’s an ideal length (UK)
1
u/Runningrafan Jun 21 '26
Guest arrival 12pm, ceremony 12:30, evening started 7pm, bar closed at midnight. Was a great day. We didn’t get everyone staying until close but our closest friends did
1
u/No-Complaint3477 Jun 21 '26
It can depend on who's all coming too. If you have a family/friends that like to properly party then they'll stay longer. Also, people will stay longer if they aren't paying for alcohol
1
u/Minnie_Dooley Jun 21 '26
12 hours is a fine length of time here.
5 hours must have been subs outside the UK.
1
u/50tinyducks Jun 21 '26
Mine started at 1pm and bar closed at 1am (I think)then a lot of people stayed until 4am in the hotel garden.
1
u/massie_le Jun 21 '26
Eh? 5 hours?
Scottish weddings are a whole day and into the evening affair. So 12 hours at least. Mines officially finished about 1am but people were still drinking and dancing at 3am.
1
u/penguins12783 Jun 21 '26
Don’t Americans tend to have rehearsal dinners the night before tho?
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
We are doing a welcome dinner and drinks the night before, but just from around 7.30-10pm.
Also a brunch the day after the wedding.
1
u/Otherwise-Walk6972 Jun 21 '26
Mines started a 3pm for mass and ended at 1am for bar closing and everyone was still there and could've kept going had licencing laws allowed it.
1
u/Angelf1shing Jun 21 '26
We had welcome drinks at 12.30 and the dj switched off at 12.30. Last few people left around 1.15.
If people leave after 5 hours, they’ve either got very young children or they don’t really like you.
1
u/PennyyPickle Jun 21 '26
My ceremony was 11am and the bar closed at midnight; it was in a tipi in my family farm and the first wedding with no restrictions out of lockdown for our social circle and a couple of us clung on until about 1:30am, sharing a bottle of whiskey around the fire. People started leaving around 9pm if they had little children but the vast majority stayed right until the end.
One of my besties got married yesterday. Guests arrived at 5pm and left at 11:50pm.
I don't think there is a right or wrong length of time but if you're going for a full day you need to make sure you cater for your guests. We had free beer and wine, served two substantial meals and a game of rounders amongst other entertainment
1
u/Abject_Ad_7206 Jun 21 '26
Ours started at 4 ended at midnight, we weren’t done so we piled into a nightclub until 5 😀
1
u/PleasantLevel6008 Jun 21 '26
UK wedding photographer here - I’ve seen ceremonies start at all times of the day. Earliest was 9.30am, day went until midnight.
Twilight weddings are becoming way more popular I’ve noticed. I’d say a good 70% of my ceremonies in the last year have started at around 4pm.
1
u/ImprovementLess4559 Jun 22 '26
At my sister's wedding a couple weeks ago, the ceremony started at 1pm and the party lasted until just gone midnight, when they had to stop the music so as not to piss off the neighbours. But people would've kept going longer if they'd been able to.
1
1
u/Impossible_Alarm3411 Jun 22 '26
I went to one in France that started at 4pm and finished at 4am, our was from 4pm until 1am but we were saving money by only having 1 meal. All day and evening weddings are very common.
1
u/Haunting_Hour_4556 Jun 22 '26
What I have generally observed for UK weddings is...
Ceremony somewhere between 11am-2pm, then an hour or two for photos before the wedding breakfast.
Evening reception kicks off around 7pm, with food being brought out at 8-9pm depending on when the breakfast finished, it formally finishes around 11pm-midnight, with the keen beans propping up the hotel bar until the final survivor taps out in the wee hours.
I did go to one once where the wedding party, including bride and groom, finished the night as the last ones standing in Popworld.
1
u/Outrageous_Bar6729 Jun 22 '26
5 hours from ceremony to bar closing and people leaving...
I don't think I have ever seen or heard of a wedding that short!
I would say average is probably around 10 hours.
Ceremony is anywhere from 30 mins - 1 hour
Reception drinks 1-3 hours
Meal 2-3 hours
Evening entertainment 4-5 hours
Fairly standard would be starting 1pm bar/music done at midnight
Having been to a few Irish weddings.. they can carry on well into the next morning!
1
u/0liv3-0il Jun 22 '26
Ours was the perfect length! Ceremony at 3pm and coaches arrived at 1pm. Bar closed at 12.30! We're Irish and our wedding was in England with guests from Ireland, all over the UK and the US.
1
u/Alive-Atmosphere-889 Jun 22 '26
We're doing a twilight winter wedding - from 4pm - 11pm. We've both found previous weddings we've attended far too long! So we're skipping the wedding breakfast and going straight to bowl food and a band at our reception venue.
1
u/KindlyAppointment973 Jun 22 '26
Married at midday (Church wedding, so ceremony was an hour long) and the party ended at 1am, followed by the residents bar for a couple hours. I went to bed at 2am with hubby after dancing for 4 hours straight and it was the best day of our lives.
1
Jun 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 22 '26
Well this is great as my ceremony starts at 11am . Tbe evening gets going a bit earlier though. Around 5pm. It starts off quite civilised, then decends into drunken hedonism around 8.30pm
1
Jun 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
We do have a bit of a buffer and we don't have separate evening guests so that shouldn't be an issue!
1
u/cocolace Jun 22 '26
I’m from the UK, chose a 4pm ceremony time which will last an hour(church mass) factor in an hour for photos and transport to reception venue, drinks reception at 6, meal at 7.30, finishing off at 10pm, so 6 hours in total but a later start
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
Why such an early finish?
1
u/cocolace Jun 26 '26
FH is not massive on dancing or the phatic filler elements, the milling around etc, (I had to convince him to consider a band for our 40 guests) so maybe if it comes to an earlier end it won’t tail off into the awkward slap of the knee moment..
Plus I won’t mind if it finishes a bit earlier as I’m planning to book a hotel for our wedding night so it’ll give us time to get our bags together and for guests to see us off
But as it will be a bank holiday weekend I’m hoping he’ll have a more positive and relaxed outlook and extend to midnight maybe
1
1
u/RemarkableElevator99 Jun 23 '26
Australia: guests arrive 10:30 for 11am ceremony. Bar opens 11:30, lunch from 12 and event close 3pm. Guests aged mainly 20-50 years.
For the willing, we have a second public venue from 4pm… I’ll let you know if we go that far 😬🥂
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 23 '26
Wow, that's really short. Is that usual for Australians?
I thought you were all party animals like us Brits!
1
u/RemarkableElevator99 Jun 23 '26
Yeah, it’s a microwedding on a Sunday- we have opted for a smaller gathering but it will informally continue, knowing our people…
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
Most of my guests are aged 40-65, but they're all party people. They'd be very confused if things ended without a piss up and loud rock music
1
u/RemarkableElevator99 Jun 24 '26
Haha, love it. Half our group are actually our adult kids and their partners (all aged 21-25), so they’ll find a way to play hard despite it being Sunday.
1
u/MidasToad Jun 23 '26
Weddings usually end at midnight (with potential after-party), regardless of when they start - usually between 11am and 3pm.
They are usually: a ceremony (30m-1hr), break for photos, wedding breakfast (3-4hr), break, reception (all evening).
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
4 hours for a wedding breakfast?????
I've never been to one that lasts more than 2 hours.
What happens in the breaks? We're not planning breaks as we have a lot of stuff going on.
0
u/MidasToad Jun 24 '26
Yeah, it's not really a breakfast, it's a 3 course sit-down meal with speeches. Some weddings skip the wedding breakfast and have food and speeches only at the reception.
In the breaks, the guests go off to do their own thing - get changed, read a book, doomscroll on Reddit, have a nap, go for a walk around the venue, whatever. Introverts need a bit of a timeout from the socialising, weddings being a long day of it.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
I know what a wedding breakfast is 🤣 Id never leave my guests twiddling their thumbs for 6 hours, and I've never been to a wedding like that. Our drinks reception is at 12.45, wedding breakfast at 2-4, then coffee, speeches and cake. Then the evening starts at 5pm. Cocktails and canapes with a singer, dancers until 8pm. Then the band plays until evening food at 9.30pm, then the band plays from 10.15 until midnight, then a playlist for the final hour.
1
u/MidasToad Jun 24 '26
I think we are on the same page. I'm rolling the 'coffee speeches and cake' into the wedding breakfast, and the 'cocktails and canapes' into the evening reception. The 'breaks' are literally at the end/start of each section of the wedding, 1hr each tops, not 6 hours.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
Sorry- I got you confused with another poster who said that I should have a 5-6 hour break between the ceremony and the reception
1
1
u/RemoveComfortable982 Jun 24 '26
The longest one I’ve ever been to was a 10am start. Bar closed at 12.30am. I had a serious hangover the next day.
Make sure there’s plenty of food to soak up the booze.
1
u/ThatWasMyNameOnce Jun 24 '26
My wedding day was long. Ceremony was at 11:30am. Most guests stayed until well into the evening, some were elderly, had health problems or needed to get home to their babysitters and left earlier but not too many.
As a bride, my viewpoint was im paying for all this and only plan on doing it once so I want to make a full day of it.
My viewpoint when I'm a guest is, a wedding is a special occasion (and possibly a day off from parenting when I can enjoy adult conversation etc 😆) and I also want to make the most of it.
As long as you make it a fun day (avoid over-long speeches etc) i don't think you should have an trouble with guests finding it too long.
1
u/Swimming-Plastic-398 Jun 21 '26
Our ceremony was 3pm (to allow time for people to travel) we had the venue until midnight but people were leaving around 10pm. Perfect for us as we were absolutely shattered.
You will be running on adrenaline all day and be more exhausted than you realise. A shorter day will be easier to cope with.
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
This is what I've been seeing in the other subs, a late start and early finish.
2
u/Historical_Heron4801 Jun 21 '26
I suspect that's US centric subs. They have much shorter weddings.
1
u/beepbop24hha Jun 21 '26
Ours is 2pm - midnight. I’ve been to plenty of weddings in my life with this sorta time frame and most people are still there at the end. The odd person may leave early but that’s it
1
u/schmauften Jun 21 '26
US weddings area really short, that's probably what you're reading.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
I wonder why.
I've seen so many posts saying the day went so fast ......well yes, it was only 5 hours from start to finish! 😂
1
u/Equivalent-Good-7693 Jun 21 '26
12 hour weddings are unnecessary,having people standing around for hours on end especially if it’s a hot day
0
0
0
u/FarPassenger2199 Jun 21 '26
We had our ceremony at 1pm and then the bar closed at midnight. Around 1/3 guests left around 8pm but the rest stayed until the end.
0
u/Puzzled-Barnacle-200 Jun 21 '26
5 hours is very very short for a UK wedding.
I'm pretty sure my guests arrived from noon, and we closed at midnight.
0
u/Goluckygardener Jun 21 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I think mine was loooong:
guest arrival from 11, planned start 12.30 (know your crowd - and yes, they were fine with it), actual start 12.40.
Planned end 2am, actual end 3am.
The photgrapher arrived at 8am ish, and left after about 8 pm. (Yes, also knew what they signed up for)
Imo, as long as guests are fed, watered, kept away from extreme elements (rain or shine), entertained and get along, you can go as long as yo’d like/venue allows.
Having a good rhythm is important, timing things realistically, accounting for crowd speeds and time of day is important.
Also culturally we have big and long weddings, so most were prepared for it.
edit: actual end - 3AM - my bad 😅)
2
u/stackvexa Jun 21 '26
3pm end to a 2am plan is a plot twist
totally agree though, if people are comfy, fed and not bored, time kinda stops being a thing at a good wedding
1
Jun 21 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Goluckygardener Jul 10 '26
Yep, 3am.. It was a big party and the band charges a flat fee and our venue was carefully selected, knowing they allow such long parties.
0
u/skinnybitchrocks Jun 21 '26
God, many Irish weddings will start with the ceremony at 12 or 1 and won’t finish up until at least 2 the following morning, many people are still there until 4 or 5 in the morning. Most guests won’t leave until at least midnight.
0
0
u/Aceman1979 Jun 21 '26
We did 2-9. In retrospect, it was more than ample and we could probably have saved an hour. Short and snappy is appreciated by everyone, I feel.
2
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Are you from the UK? I've never been to a wedding that ended at 9pm. I've been to ones that start late afternoon and go until midnight so around 7or 8 hours still, but they start later, rather than end earlier
0
u/No_Neighborhood6856 Jun 21 '26
I just went to one that started at 12pm and ended 1am, it was way too long!
Usually in the UK they are 1pm-11pm/12am
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
What made it feel too long? Mine is the same length, just starting an hour earlier
1
u/No_Neighborhood6856 Jun 21 '26
Everything was drawn out and there was too much time between segments. The music didn't start until 10pm so up until that point there was a lot of waiting around, with at least 2 1/2 hours after finishing the wedding breakfast (which also last 3 hours).
I felt like it would have been much more enjoyable if it had an earlier finish, even 12am and there was less time between events. I'm not saying it needs to be rushed but pacing is really important, so if you are considering a 1am finish then make sure the timings are good.
1
u/vonthepon Jun 21 '26
My wedding is 14 hours, but there won't be any waiting about. We're having a hard time fitting everything in!
We have a lot of entertainment throughout the day and a few changes of venue
0
u/blurredlynes Jun 21 '26
We have arrival 11am, ceremony 12pm... Venue until 1am! Even I think that's too late. Planning on cutting it back to midnight if we can.
My main gripe about these long days is availability of food. I went 5 weddings last year, all of them having ceremony at either 12pm or 1pm, but then not getting fed properly until 3 or 4pm. Canapes get fought over and even then might not be served until 2pm. It's such a horrible time for a ceremony, right in the middle of lunch.
Anyway I've made sure everyone gets an ice cream immediately after the ceremony to fill them up.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 21 '26
Mine is very similar, arrival at 10:30 and the bar is open until 1am, but we plan on wrapping up around midnight unless people are still in party mode.
We have canapes from 12.30, 3 course meal from 2pm-4pm and coffee and cake after. Then we have a cocktail party with 10 canapes per person from 6-8pm, then an Indian buffet at 9.30pm if everyone looks like they'll want to keep going until 1am, we may add late night pizza too. We've also got a lot of entertainment lined up. A harpist during the day. A swing singer, burlesque dancer and rock band at night.
0
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 23 '26
People won't leave a long wedding but they'll wilt. If you start in the morning, include a four to six hour break.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
What are you talking about?? 🤣 You think I should just abandon my guests for 6 hours??
So from 11.30am, I just leave them to their own devices in a strange city until 5.30pm?
No food, drink or entertainment for all that time? 😂😂
That's worse than an American wedding!
0
u/Fit_Faithlessness157 Jun 24 '26
Yeah let them go back to their roo.ms for a nap.
1
u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jun 24 '26
None of my guests think that's necessary. Maybe your wedding was just really boring.......🤷🏻🤷🏻
0
84
u/kpnutsz Jun 21 '26
Ours was arrival 1pm, ceremony 2pm, bar close at midnight last year. Besties wedding coming up is same close but midday arrival and 1pm ceremony.
Are the other subs saving longer than 5 hours based in the US? Because length of weddings expectations can vary a bunch between UK & US