Morning wedding with brunch?

[BadgerGirl84]

I've never been to a morning/brunch wedding and reception and I don't know anyone who has had one.

It would strike me as odd if I were invited to a wedding like that...not bad necessarily, but different.

Is the only reason why you and your friend are considering this because the reception sites you want for those two days are booked for the evenings? If it were me, I'd look for a different reception site.

I loved my 2pm ceremony and dinner reception followed by an evening of dancing, drinks and fun. I think my "big day" would have been a let down for me if it was all done and everyone was home by the early afternoon.

That said, a wedding reception is no big deal to some brides and grooms and I think the brunch reception would be great if the bride and groom weren't interested in the traditional dinner reception.

 

[castmemberb4]

Is the 11 or 1 time the start time for the reception or ceremony?
If you can start the reception at 11 I think brunch would be good.
Otherwise the reception will end up being at 12 or 2 and people will have
eaten breakfast hours earlier. I think your breakfast items will go to waste.
I'm sure your caterer will be able to help with this decision.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

My sister had an 11am wedding and I've been to a few morning ceremonies. One thing to keep in mind, at all of these weddings, even though there was great music, not many people danced. I guess it was just the time of day. It seems like these weddings are quieter.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

My sister had an 11am wedding and I've been to a few morning ceremonies. One thing to keep in mind, at all of these weddings, even though there was great music, not many people danced. I guess it was just the time of day. It seems like these weddings are quieter.

What a great point. Yes, make sure the bride and groom think about the type of wedding they want to have. If they want to have the crowd on the dance floor or anything close to a "party" atmosphere, that will not likely be happening for a brunch reception.

A brunch reception would be quiet and would be focused on visiting with the guests, eating, cutting the cake, and going home.

My DH and I are not people who "party" or go out to the bars much anymore...but gosh was it fun to be out on the dance floor with all my friends and to see everyone having such a fun time. Even the guests who did not dance were enjoying some drinks in the bar area of the hall and enjoyed the photo booth.

I realize that not everyone wants a "party" atmosphere, but many do and you will not have that with a brunch reception.

 

[PinballFamily]

10:30 a.m. Saturday wedding here - with the reception immediately following in a lovely room just down the garden path from the church. (This was 26 years ago and friends and family STILL talk about how fun and elegant our wedding and brunch reception were!)

Paying for everything ourselves, we loved that our $$$ went A LOT farther with the caterer than it would had it been another time of day. We had a 5 piece jazz/big band orchestra and there was a lot of dancing among our 100 guests! We also had beer, wine, mimosas, and soda/juice. This also saved a fortune on the bar tab! A perfect day, in our opinion.

 

[Styx Fan]

I was in a morning wedding several years ago. It was about a year after my own wedding....and the differences were very noticeable. No bad by any means, just different.

The differences began the night before. Around here there is usually a rehearsal and dinner the night before the wedding. Since the wedding was the next morning, there was no hanging out at the dinner. Everyone had to get home to get to bed.

The next morning, the groom and friends went golfing (for some reason this was a big deal to him, and he was only a sometimes golfer...I think it was his way of being a part of things since the brides family took over everything). They had to go really, really early to get in 9. They actually got there before sunrise and hit the first tee as the sun was coming up. This made for tired guys all wedding day. Plus hurried to be dressed and ready on time for the wedding.

The bridesmaids were provided with a hotel room the night before the wedding near the brides house. We had to leave before dawn to get to the salon for our hair. Getting ready was rushed. Ladies were tired.

The wedding was lovely, the reception at a country club on a lake. Very pretty with nice pics. Food was good...it was a luncheon. There was no dancing or live music. There was an open bar. But no one really drank too much which was nice. After the cutting of the cake, the photographer staged a flower toss (can't spell that other word today) and a garter toss. Then it was all over. People did not really linger.

The brides family hosted family and close friends back to their house later on for some light dinner and to watch the couple open gifts.

It was a very nice wedding, but as others have said, lacking in a party atmosphere. And really that was fine for this couple. They were not party people. It did seem a little anti-climatic to basically eat and leave. But maybe that was just the dynamics of this group. I don't remember if we had to get out of the hall as quickly as we did.

In case you can't tell, as a member of the wedding party, I wasn't thrilled with the crazy early hours. At that time, many of the folks in the wedding (including the bride and groom) worked jobs that took them into the night and were not used to those hours. There was a complicated family situation and the payment and I think this was decided on as it was cheaper and to the liking of the brides family.

If the bride and groom are OK with the morning/afternoon timing, go for it! Just know as everyone else has said it will be a different atmosphere. And that is fine if you want that.

 

[NotUrsula]

my cousin has a 9am wedding at a winery about an hour outside of town this summer-- as a guest i am not looking forward to it. I am sure it will be beautiful, and a nice setting and cooler in the morning than St Louis on a mid summer afternoon ...but like the pp said, there are no hotels near the venue, no kids allowed (who wants to babysit at 7am) and i am lazy and dont want to get up at 5 on a saturday -- here anyway most weddings are around 2 in the afternoon, with receptions starting about 5 and partying till the break of dawn! (well really about 11or 12)

I hear you on getting up at 5. Usually the best thing to do in a situation like that is to try to arrange a sleepover for the kids and go stay in a b&b if you can. If it's Augusta or Hermann, there are a lot of b&b's around.