HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR CEREMONY START TIME
Seems like a simple task, right?
Then sunset comes into play.
And venue access time.
And, wait, I don’t have my photographer for all day.
Hold up, there are LAWS around this kind of thing?
Have no fear, Hawthorne House is here! Like anything revolving around wedding planning, determining your ceremony start time can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be!
Begin by looking into sunset. You can literally google your wedding date and “sunset time” if you want to get reeeeeally technical. Then, think about if you want to have a first look or not. If you don’t want a first look you will want to start your ceremony at least two hours before sunset. This should allow for enough time to host your ceremony and take photos, but always check with your photographer before printing invitations to ensure they don’t have a different plan in mind. If you do want to have a first look, you are solid to start your ceremony about one hour before sunset as long as you have an indoor cocktail hour option or lights around the outdoor area. At Hawthorne House, we have the option for an indoor cocktail hour and have lights lining our porch so you’re all set!
Once you feel comfortable your estimated ceremony start time, now is the time to break down your venue allocated time. At Hawthorne House, couples who choose to have a ceremony and reception onsite have access to the property for 12 hours. Those hours are allocated as follows: six hours for access, five and a half hours for ceremony and reception and 30 minutes for tear down. The most popular timeline at our estate is:
Photo by: Heather Rose Photography
11:30am access
5:30pm ceremony start time
6:00-7:00pm cocktail hour
11:00pm party end time
11:30pm décor/vendor out time
In the Midwest, this timeline works wonderfully for most months out of the year. If you are looking at a November-March wedding you may need to move things up by one hour in order to have enough sunlight for the photos you desire.
Photo by: Heather Rose Photography
NEXT, you’ll want to chat with your photographer to be sure your contracted hours work with this timeline. If you have your photographer for eight hours, then they would more than likely be with you from 1:30-9:30pm. They would be able to snag some getting ready photos at the tail end (pssssst- a little secret? Most people actually fake these photos, ask your photographer how!), wedding party shots and portraits before the ceremony. They would capture cocktail hour, speeches, dances and all of the important “planned” actives throughout the night. With a party end time of 11pm and the photographer departing at 9:30pm this would even allow for dancing photos to be captured!
FINALLY, be sure to communicate the timing you will need your entertainment vendor to be playing music. If you are contracting them to be in charge of the ceremony, you’ll want them to start music at 5:00pm since guests will arrive early. They should play until 11:00pm which mean you would need a contract that lasts six hours. If you are using a live musician or separate vendor for the ceremony, your reception entertainment vendor doesn’t need to start until cocktail hour, which means a five and a half hour contract would suffice!
Photo by: Heather Rose Photography
The key? Communication! Remember, no question is a silly question when planning a wedding, so as you start brainstorming your timeline, get it okayed by the venue, photographer and entertainment vendor ahead of time so there aren’t any last minute surprises.
Happy planning from Hawthorne House!