Church wedding & just a night do - ideas??

miss_pixie_2

Hi
my fiance and i are planning our wedding, will be a cheap budget wedding simply because we dont want a big wedding anyway but we cant justify spending loads of money when we are saving up for a house as well (temp on hold atm til after wedding! lol)

So we had planned for this:

Church wedding in the village where all my family, cousins, grandparents aunties uncles etc all live, i was born there, christened in church, , cost of £321 (legal fees) as we are not having flowers,church bells,choir etc....we could have a registry office, but i think this is one area i dont want to change because i have had my heart set on gettin married in this church since i was a child

Planning to have an hour of some photos around the church and village as theres some lovely picturesque spots in the village that would look lovely, summer wedding so should be ok for daylight photos, not getting dark etc

So my question is, if we get married late as possible, is it rude to ask guests to go home and join us later in about 2/3hrs for an evening do at the local civic hall?? We are inviting about 60 people to wedding and a further 60 for night do

Does anyone know whats the latest time you can get married in c of e church? Ideally as hall can only be hired from 7pm, we would like to get married at 4.30pm ish

Ive not heard of people having a gap between wedding and night do. But i just cant afford to spend money on wedding breakfast for 60 people and then a buffet for 120 at night

I feel awkward about putting on invites turn up at such and such a time and come back to civic hall at such and such a time. Most of the guests are from within 30mins of where the church and wedding is, but about 15 people from OH's family are from north wales, about an hour away so its those im worried about

any ideas or suggestions or has anyone expereinced this type of wedding>?

hungrynurse_2

what about a pinic after the wedding (BYO)? or book a local restaurant & guests each pay for themselves? friends will understand what ever you do though

mummyroysof3

we got married at 4pm then went to local hall for buffet and disco etc

it worked well and we didnt have a big gap by time we had photos and got there everyone had a drink, did informal speaches then we opened the buffet...but held some back untill the evening guests came

Maysie

Is there a local pub? If people have travelled its not ideal to leave them stranded as it were. We are having an afternoon tea in the afternoon (didn't fancy a wedding breakfast and we are all fussy) then a pig in a bag roast in the evening (half the cost of a pig roast!).

Does anyone have a big garden in the village? Could you have a garden party with tea and coffee and scones to start you off? Has anyone got a gazebo or can you borrow a few in case of bad weather?

RainbowDrops

As Maysie said, as long as there is somewhere for the guests to go inbetween the ceremony and the reception, then I'm sure your guests would be understanding.
You need to cover for all eventualities, eg if it starts to rain, where can the guests take cover.

Is it possible to ask the hall if guests can get there a bit earlier?

Bluespirit

I'd agree with what others have said so far - it would be best if they had somewhere to go. Is there a local pub with a function suite, or that would let you book an area - as it's just for the afternoon they may do this for free as it will be bringing in trade.

Jenny1979x

We are doing exactly that.
We get married at 12, then have an hour or so having photos, then we have to go home, get change, as we have to make all our food for our evening reception and also decorate the room.
I have informed people already of what we are doing and they are fine with it.
Some very good friends are coming from miles away, but i will be arranging a pub where they can go and have a meal and their children can play.

I know this is not the norm, but it's what we can afford.

LEJC

I have a feeling that the current law says you must be married by 5pm but I think that it is changing to allow some venues later although I think the standard church service will continue and the new law covers places like Blackpool I remember a few weeks ago there was something about "vegas style weddings" in the news...

If it were me I think I would be tempted to bring your ceremony earlier into the afternoon so that there is a clear distinction that everyone will need to occupy themselves between the service and the evening....if you have a 4.30 ceremony followed by photos then it may be that there is "an awkward hour" but if you have the service at 2pm...then everyone is in no doubt that there is a little free time after the service and before the reception...you will also hopefully feel that the day lasts longer for you that way too.
It gives you longer to feel a bride and also guests the option to change from formal church clothes to party clothes for the evening if they wish....I would have no problem attending a wedding like that...

Guests are incredibly resiliant and resorceful and will do what they are told or accomodate your plans because they want to share your day with you...if you tell them that there is a 3 hour delay between church and meal they will accept that and plan accoringly...when we got married there was a 3 hour delay between the daytime ending and the night starting...ive no idea what the majority of them did between the 2 functions but they and more turned up again in the evening to celebrate our day with us....you may get a few who decline your invite because theres nothing to do in between the service and meal but those who truly want to celebrate with you will respect the type of wedding you want and fall in with your plans.

In fact I cant think of anything nicer than having a lovely wedding service then going off with your new husband for something like a secluded picnic...taking the immediate bridal party if you absolutley have to and then joining up with the guests in the evening.

Kittendreich

Why not send invites to everyone to the evening 'do' and on it say that they are welcome to join you at the church for the service. That might help people realise that they should not expect to be there and catered for all day. As long as you tell those who have to travel where they can 'hang out' it isn't a big gap...

miss_pixie_2

Hi, I like the idea of having an earlier ceremony, then we have time to set up the room for evening do. We are getting a family friend to cater so all we have to do is set tables up and decorate tables, the room doesnt need much decoratiing as such. It sounds a much better idea i hadnt considered that.

alyssa_liss

this is what we are hopeing to do ...
get married in church about 3 - 3.30 then photos then an afterdo in a hall with a buffet.

i didnt even thinking about having it with an obvious break in the middle. that sounds like a good idea actually