Anonymous wrote:Anybody who tells you they had a daytime wedding and the guests enjoyed themselves have a bunch of family members and friends who are afraid to tell them the truth.

People do not let loose at daytime weddings. Nobody wants to drink a signature cocktail at 11 AM and then be forced onto a sunlit dance floor or into a photo booth at noon.

I feel like guests commit to a nighttime wedding. ..

Locals who drive to the wedding might be fine with the Sunday brunch type wedding if they are old, watching some young kids at the event, or don't want to drink + dance + make merry. Don't attempt to turn it into ceremony, cocktail hour, reception dinner and dancing. 4 hour+ wedding format. Stick to about 2 hours - ceremony, 30 minutes general chat, and the meal with some music throughout.

No one knows the OP guest count or where the guests are based. It's not like Saturday evening and they can stay in a room block, have somewhere to be until heading to airport/Amtrak on Sunday.

Anybody who tells you they had a daytime wedding and the guests enjoyed themselves have a bunch of family members and friends who are afraid to tell them the truth.

People do not let loose at daytime weddings. Nobody wants to drink a signature cocktail at 11 AM and then be forced onto a sunlit dance floor or into a photo booth at noon.

I feel like guests commit to a nighttime wedding. They enjoy the cocktail hour and a leisurely dinner, they are on the dance floor enjoying the music, they are getting drinks and planning the after party. They are committed to enjoying the wedding and festivities for the night because that is what is on their agenda. Now, a daytime wedding? No matter how nice a brunch is, I can guarantee your guests will not be totally focused on the bride and groom and the event. They will be thinking about how much time they will have when they leave your wedding to get to ikea or take the kids to the pool or what to make for dinner. Your wedding is not their main focus.

If on a Sunday, lunch to allow people to travel. Do not expect dancing or lots of drinking. Make it more of a brunch.

Anonymous wrote:I’ll be the outlier and also blunt. I have been to a dozen lunchtime weddings over the years and not one of them have been fun. Most have been in a different state. It feels wrong to be drinking wine at 11am and worse to find yourself back in your hotel room after the festivities are over at 2pm.

+1 just doesn't have the same festive party feel

I went to a lunch wedding and the party lasted until 8 am the next morning. It can happen, just depends on the crowd.

I really wanted a Sunday brunch wedding. My mother refused and insisted on a Saturday night dinner. It was great and people had a great time but I think a Sunday brunch sounds lovely. I agree that you shouldn't try to make it into a night wedding during the day though. I would do a jazz band or something like that. Not all weddings need to be about getting trashed and dance floors.

I’ve been to one daytime wedding with lunch reception and it was not fun. They tried to do lunch followed by dancing, like you would at an evening wedding and it just didn’t work.

Lunch on a Sunday

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer not to go to a wedding on a Sunday but if I had to pick I’d choose lunch.

Why a Sunday? Sunday is typically for religious services. Saturdays are for weddings and celebrating with parties with family and friends.

Not OP but we had our wedding on a Sunday evening because we are Jewish.

part of the timing of wedding is due to the amount if time it takes to get everyone/everything ready. most saturday weddings, the bridal party arrives at roughly 8 am to get everyone ready for a 4:00 wedding. having all the vendors arrive and get their parts set up takes a while.

so, even a sunday wedding won't likely be at noon.

daytime weddings are not that fun.

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer not to go to a wedding on a Sunday but if I had to pick I’d choose lunch.

Why a Sunday? Sunday is typically for religious services. Saturdays are for weddings and celebrating with parties with family and friends.

For Sunday, do it on the early side, not dinner.

I had a Sunday brunch wedding. No one's going to remember it as the party of a lifetime or the best wedding they went to, and I'm fine with that. The vibe was more of a family get-together than a big party. As long as you lean into the early time and don't try to shoehorn in the vibe of a Saturday evening wedding, you'll be fine.

Brunch, no question. Definitely not dinner, unless you just want a lot of big checks and no guests.

I’m only saying brunch because it’s a Sunday. Sunday evening if you secretly want a lot of guests to decline.

I would prefer not to go to a wedding on a Sunday but if I had to pick I’d choose lunch.