With being a part of over 200 weddings and events with our wedding mini golf and wedding games hire, as well as planning our own wedding, we have know a thing or two about weddings. This latest post is for the people out there thinking, how long is a wedding day? We will give you a full break down, based on some of the questions we get asked.
Most wedding schedules are put together by the venue, they are experts in what works with their venue and should always be consulted when working out a wedding timeline. They will know things that you don’t, for example, maybe the chef doesn’t start work until 13:00, so having a 13:30 wedding breakfast is near on impossible. Putting together a plan that is a reflection of how you want your wedding day but also what is practically possible, reduces disappointment and makes the day run much smoother.
How long your ceremony is, is based on the type of ceremony. A standard ceremony will last between 15-30 minutes, this is normally the time we are setting up, so we often hear the clapping and cheering at the end of a ceremony, it is the best part!
Religious ceremonies will take longer. Church weddings will take up to 1 hour and a half, depending on which church. Islamic wedding ceremonies are shorter, being up to an hour but often much quicker, Jewish wedding ceremonies are similar between 30-45 minutes. Hindu and Sikh wedding ceremonies are generally between 2-3 hours.
This doesn’t take into account any cultural traditions, you will want to add time for these two.
Normally before the wedding breakfast there is a time gap, sometimes for Canapes, photos. This is often the time that our couples hire the wedding crazy golf as it can be around 2 and a half hours and the gold package fits perfectly with this.
The wedding breakfast normally takes between 2-3 hours, this will depend on the type of food and how many guests you have. As well as speeches. If you only have 20 guests and having a BBQ, this will be much quicker than 100 guests with a 3 course meal.
Another time gap…
Between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception, there is normally another time gap, this is also a popular time for our couples to hire the wedding mini golf as it gives guests a bit of fun. If you have a shorter time gap before the wedding breakfast, this one is likely to be longer and vice versa.
Receptions generally start around 19:30, this gives the evening guests time to get ready. We actually started our evening reception at 18:30, but we got married outside of the UK, so didn’t have the issues of a day timeline.
First dances are normally around 8:30 and cake cutting will be just before or after. The evening will go on until around 23:30 (or until the bar licence ends). Which gives you plenty of time to dance, sing and have the best time!
So how long is a wedding?
As you can see, a wedding day can be extremely long, up to 12 hours and that’s not taking into account the getting ready stages and travelling to venues. Our one piece of advice is to make sure you enjoy it, make sure the day is filled with little things that YOU enjoy!
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