Why are wedding receptions here not held immediately right after the wedding?

Question

i was just wondering why are wedding receptions not held immediately after the wedding?

Answer 1

here where

everyone i know has the reception right

after the wedding.

Answer 2

I remember when I was a child many weddings were much earlier than the reception. One reason for this is the time the church could be booked and when the time reception hall could be booked. Some churches had two or three weddings on  a Saturday. Or the church wouldn't allow weddings late in the day.

Answer 3

My reception will be right after my wedding at the same location. My friend, however, had her wedding at a lake during the day and then the reception was at a friends house that night where they had a crawfish boil and a bunch of beer drinking. Not really my style, but whatever works for you. I guess it's just something you gotta decide.

Answer 4

I don't know where you are but here in Australia they are held after the wedding ceremony.  I have been to a muslim wedding where it is held after the ceremony...I think a month after...

Answer 5

I'm not sure what you mean by "here", but there is customarily a small gap in time between the ceremony and reception (30 - 60mins is normal) to allow for travel time from the ceremony site to the reception and to also give the bride & groom a bit of time for photos before the reception starts up.

Answer 6

sometimes you have to book the church at a specific time because there is no availability.Then couples go and take pictures, waste time until the time of the reception.  

Answer 7

Because some couples really enjoy inconveniencing their guests and they want the WHOLE day to be ALL about them. Sorry, but it's true. There are so many questions on here about people having their wedding at 2 p.m. and their receptions at 8.

Answer 8

I don't know where "here" is ...but the wedding receptions I've been to in California were immediately after the wedding.

Answer 9

I personally have my reception 4 hours later. That is because My church ceremony is at 1:00 and then at 2:00 it ends. Then we will be taking family pictures until about 2:30. From 2:30 the wedding party will be driving around the city in a limo taking pictures and then going to the hotel to freshen up until 5:00. At 5:30 we are getting dropped off at the reception site to make sure everything is being set up correctly. At 6:30 the reception begins. I feel bad that the gap is so long...but my reception is on a boat and that is the only time they said for private parties. So I just have to deal with it. But my guests don't mind because it is in a city and there are TONS of things to see and do.

Answer 10

My guess is that either the wedding ceremonies are private affairs with just a few friends and family, and then there is a larger more serious reception afterwards.  Or the reception is in a different location than the ceremony and people have to drive from one to the other so you get a bit of a break in between the two..

Answer 11

Normally there is like an hour or two break in between so the couple and their immediate family and bridal party can go do pictures.  A lot of couples have an "off site" special place (a garden or something) that they book for pictures to be taken, and they must leave for an hour or two do have those done.

Then the guests have that time to make their way to the reception site and have the cocktail hour/reception while they wait for the newlyweds to return from pictures.

My wedding ceremony/reception and pictures will all be done at one location, but in different rooms.  So after the ceremony the guests will be ushered to a different room in the building for 1.5 hours of cocktail reception while we do pictures outside at the location.  Then they will be taken to the reception room once we are finished.

Is that the break you are refer to?

Answer 12

Mines not immediately after because we have pictures after and our reception is dinner, which cant really be served at 3-4pm. Also our reception room hire and DJ hire is for 5 hours so starting it at 7pm makes it end at 12. Our ceremony is at 2pm than we have pictures, pre dinner drinks at 6.30pm than the reception. Our reception place has a bar, people can book a room for the night etc so there's plenty for them to do for a few hours. Also makes the day go that little bit longer.

Oh also just reading the person below me, my reception is in a different location to my ceremony. being a city it will probably be  a 40 minute drive.

Answer 13

You have to say where "here" is, dear. All of the questions in English from around the world - California, Texas, Australia, Canada, the UK - go into the list, even if you click on "YA UK" or "YA India".

Sometimes it is a difference between when the church was available and when people are hungry. If you have a wedding at 2 and a dinner reception, you don't want to start serving the prime rib at 3 pm.

Many people take wedding pictures after the ceremony, as it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony. That can take an hour or two, depending on how big the party is and how many combinations they want. ("Now all the grandparents! Now all the parents! Now just the Bride's family! Now just the groom's family!")

(Wait - Uncle Elmer had his eyes closed!")

Answer 14

Depends on how the day is scheduled.  If the reception site is separate from the ceremony site, the reception could be immediately following or could be several hours later.  That's determined by the policies of the reception site. The place where I'm having my reception only does one reception a weekend, so I have the entire venue to myself and can start my reception right after the ceremony gets done.  I've looked at other places that have set times for when they start receptions, and may do more than one reception in a day.

Answer 15

Where I'm from, and amongst family and friends, the ceremony is usually held early afternoon, say 2 p.m., with cocktails at 5, dinner at 6, then the dance following.

The reception isn't held right after the ceremony because the couple and wedding party usually go to a photography studio to have portraits done, which may take two hours.

Then, when photos are done, they go to the reception.