Is 7:45 PM too late to start dinner service at a wedding?
Hi everyone! I’m trying to finalize our wedding timeline and would love opinions on whether this sounds too late from a guest perspective.
We’re having a church ceremony from 1:00–2:00 PM in a town about 45 minutes away from our reception venue, which is downtown in the city. Because of the distance, traffic, and the fact that we’re not doing a first look, the timeline has been a bit tricky to plan.
After the ceremony, we’ll be heading to the reception venue for photos. Our photographer said that 3:30–5:30 PM should work well for couple portraits, wedding party photos, family photos, room detail shots, and room reveal, with a bit of buffer.
Right now, we’re considering this timeline:
1:00–2:00 PM — Church ceremony
2:00–3:30 PM — Travel / buffer / arrive at venue
3:30–5:30 PM — Photos at reception venue
6:00–7:00 PM — Cocktail hour
7:00–7:30 PM — Entrances / guests seated
7:45 PM — Dinner service begins
There will be passed canapés during cocktail hour, so guests won’t be completely without food, but I’m still worried that starting dinner service at 7:45 PM might feel too late.
The alternative would be starting cocktail hour at 5:45 PM or shortening cocktail hour to 45 minutes, but I also don’t want the afternoon to feel rushed, especially with photos and wanting a few minutes to touch up before guests arrive.
Does this timeline sound reasonable, or would you find dinner at 7:45 PM too late as a guest?