How long is your ceremony?

Mine should be no longer than 45 minutes, if that! Over an hour is too long for me.

same here

mine will probably be 30-45 min; we are having the the blended family ceremony and a memorial tribute to his mom/my son otherwise I would say by 6:00 we should be getting our eat on and by 6:45 cha-cha sliding! (wedding starts at 5 p.m.)

hmmm-now that I think about it, my ceremony migh go 1 hr also because I have alot of music too-
Prelude-Lord's prayer
Seating of Mother (mine) G/mom-You Are So Beautiful (FH will walk in at the end of the song and lay a rose in the pew for his mom)
Wedding Party- So Amazing
My Entrance-Never Would Have Made It (suprise for FH-he thinks it is going to be Inseperable)
Unity Candle-I Trust God
Recessional-Ribbon In The Sky

Excellent choices! I still haven't decided what soons to use. (I keep changing my mind). I still haven't downloaded my songs for my CD's.

My ceremony was about 45-60 minutes because I had three songs and on two of them, the singers really got into it so it seemed like they lasted forever.

Once things got started I would say it was about 35 - 40 minutes.

[quote="pamcrow"]on two of them, the singers really got into it so it seemed like they lasted forever.[/quote]

A bunch of rolls, riffs, and adlibs Pam?

well I am only doing it this way because I know FH will already be very emotional that day (missing his mom) and I didn't think it was fair for him to stand the whole time and watch my gmom/mom walk in and be seated. your order is fine though-I just did mine this way for this reason.

[quote="Turiya"]Ok cool ...another question ...

Should my FH stand with his rose for his dad until the parents are seated then lay the rose down as the last parent?

Our parents/special folk are not getting a corsage, then will get a single rose as they enter ...
[/quote]
If he is going to walk in before the parents, maybe you should have him lay his down then

I believe that his mom would be escorted in and his dad would have been following his mom (?) but hey your day, your way!! I know my order is not the standard etiquette but I am still going to do it my way! :)

[quote="Turiya"]His dad is deceased ...that's why he has a special chair, and his mom ...well she gave up on him a long time ago, that's why his dad is so special he raised him without her.
[/quote]
whoa that's deep! :( you may want to incorporate a special tribute to his dad in your ceremony

i think either way would be nice

My ceremony was about 45 minutes long.

Mine was about 30 minutes....anything more than 1 hour is too long....If everything goes well, and no delays within the progam occurs (once the wedding starts) it goes by in a blink.

PLUS......the only part you'll see is everything after you walk in. Everything before that, you have no control or influence...

Anyone been to a wedding where you WAITED more than 15-20 minutes for the wedding to start, only to have to sit another 45+ minutes in a long, drawn-out program with all the bells and whistles?

Is it true that Catholic weddings can be 2+ hours long? Anyone attended one of those?

Yup, my next door neighbor got married in a Catholic church and it was almost 2 hours

[quote="IvyPrincess"]Yup, my next door neighbor got married in a Catholic church and it was almost 2 hours
[/quote]

oh man.......

[quote="Bumblebeekee"]Anyone been to a wedding where you WAITED more than 15-20 minutes for the wedding to start, only to have to sit another 45+ minutes in a long, drawn-out program with all the bells and whistles?[/quote]

My cousin's wedding started 1-1/2 hours late because her now DH had to leave to get the marriage license he left. Then the ceremony was about an hour long. They had about 3 praise dances, plus all the usual stuff! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO YOUR GUESTS!

LOL!!!!

35-40 minutes, tops!

[quote="Bumblebeekee"]Anyone been to a wedding where you WAITED more than 15-20 minutes for the wedding to start, only to have to sit another 45+ minutes in a long, drawn-out program with all the bells and whistles?[/quote]

People down here can be so baaaad with time... I mean I have been to two separate weddings which started 4hrs & 7hrs late respectively! The former was supposed to start at 10am but the bride only pitched at 2pm. Had it not been 3hours away from home I tell you I would have left.

As for the latter, we had to be there at 9am but the bride only left her hotel room (everything took place at one venue) after 3pm - WHY??? Because she was struggling to fit in her dress as she gained weight (I'm sorry but she should have checked this a week earlier). They had to fetch the seamstress to come weave her magic while were sitting outside with nobody bothering to tell us why the wedding was delayed.

So yeah, what should have been a morning wedding ended up being an evening function.

Oh wow Dee, that's just trifling!

BTW, my same cousin stopped to take pictures in two different locations between the ceremony and reception! So we had to wait another 2 hours for them to get to the reception hall!

I can't even imagine. 7 hours late. Lawd today I can't imagine.

From the weddings that I've attended at my church it runs about 30-45 mins. My pastor is precise with time and he stresses that to the bride and groom.

Our timeline as of now is (our ceremony starts at 2pm)

Music Prelude: (1:45- Worship team sings-set the mood)

Seating of partents: (1:55)

Entrane of Bridal party: (2:00)-song sang

Entrance of Bride (2:10-2:15) brother singing me down aisle

Exchange of vows, rings prayer, communion (2:20)

We Married 2:30

Recessional: 2:35-2:40

Guest escorted out of sanctuary

Again, this is a rough draft..but this is what we are leaning towards.

[quote="djimonsmom"]
Exchange of vows, rings prayer, communion (2:20)

Don't you think it will take longer than 2 min. for this segment of the ceremony?

[quote="soon2bmsj"]
Exchange of vows, rings prayer, communion (2:20)

Don't you think it will take longer than 2 min. for this segment of the ceremony?
[/quote]

Like I stated before this is just a rough draft. I'm basing this timeline on weddings that I've seen my pastor officiate in the past. He doesn't do the traditional wedding vows and so forth, so if it is longer, it won't be by that much. A lady from my church got married on last saturday and it started at 12:30 and by 1:05 we were enjoying refreshments.

[quote="djimonsmom"]
Exchange of vows, rings prayer, communion (2:20)

Don't you think it will take longer than 2 min. for this segment of the ceremony?

Like I stated before this is just a rough draft. I'm basing this timeline on weddings that I've seen my pastor officiate in the past. He doesn't do the traditional wedding vows and so forth, so if it is longer, it won't be by that much. A lady from my church got married on last saturday and it started at 12:30 and by 1:05 we were enjoying refreshments.
[/quote]

Cool! I wish my Pastor was like that! :)

[quote="soon2bmsj"]
Exchange of vows, rings prayer, communion (2:20)

Don't you think it will take longer than 2 min. for this segment of the ceremony?
[/quote]

We did communion....We did the kneeling, praying over us, taking communion, and you'd be surprised...it can go that quick....No more than 5-6 minutes if the Pastor says something like words of wisdom or about knowing the bride and groom. But it goes fast so be prepared!

There's no doubt that a Catholic wedding is about 2 hours as they have to have mess in addition.

As for FH and I, we're having a very traditional Haitian Christian Wedding with all the bells and whistles. Which means that from the time FH, BM enters the church to the second tha we walk hand in hand in recessional, two hours would've gone by easily.

My reception will begin promptly at 8PM ~ remember the cocktail hour ladies?, which means that I have plenty of time to start the 9:00 PM entrance fanfare with my entire bridal party. In the meantime, I will have 2 bartenders in the Reception Hall that will serve my guests our signature Martini ~ The Rose Blossom, which FH wants to call "Boudreautini". The bartenders will also be serving "Bellinis, Sodas & Water. There will also be served french pastries along with their drinks. The ceremony will be over at 8:PM, then everyone will be streaming out of the church. The drive from the ceremony to the to the reception venue will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Now, after all that, the drinks will be more than welcomed. By the time I get there, everyone will be settled with their drinks and ready to eat, drink and Party until 1:00 AM!!!

Wow 2 hours? That seems long to me! If your guests are used to that though, go for it!

Within the Haitian community, it's customary for your wedding ceremony to take 2 hours. Everyone knows it and are prepared for it. I couldn't even begin to tell you about the tongue lashing if it's not. But that's something else entirely.

A Haitian wedding is so very beautiful~ especially a Haitian Christian wedding. It's different than anything you've every witnessed. The Processional is different, as instead of walking, we dance, albeit very slowly. Each one of your step, we slow it down to 4 steps and the dance is very beautiful. It's a whole production number. It's magnificent!!!

Ginoue that sounds so beautiful.

Thanks Rhony, it certainly is. I'm looking forward to my day!!! The Bride is the only member of the wedding party not involved in the dance if she doesn't want to. She just walks very slowly, but if she wants to, she can. I MOST CERTAINLY WILL BE!!! If she chooses to dance, then the Groom joins the dance as well. The bride will dance towards her Groom in the arm of her father. The Groom will dance towards his Bride alone, and will meet each other half way. The Groom will shake hands with the FOB, exchange hugs. The father will then be seated. Then, the goom will kiss his bride on both side of the cheeks and the exchange is made from the FOB to the Groom, whom in turn offer her his arm and together, they will slowly walk the rest of the way until they're standing in front of their respective seats.

It's a magnificent thing!!!

Sweetie, as a Wedding Planner, I couldn't begin to tell you how many vendors I have in my arsenal.

But seriously, I have all the information on hand because as a Planner, my database is extremely extensive as I don't restrict myself to the city that I live in. Currently, I cover MA, NY, MD, DC Metro, VA and FL. So I do business with a lot of vendors.

But this is my day sweetie, if I bring all the best of me to my clients, why not to myself and girl, you know that FH is returning to Boston on Sunday, so we've been talking about a lot of things this week and making plans for a lot of things. Most of those plans are on paper, but, when I finish developing my timeline, it will all fall into place. I'm extremely organized little sister and I've been in the business a very long time. A lot have already been decided so far between FH and I. I'm currently working on putting a Wedding book for us so we could keep all of our details in (Normally, this planner would go to my clients). I've made Event Planning easier for my company and now that I'm the one getting married, I'm pulling all the stops baby and enjoying the ride.

Thanks so much Turiya. You're so awesome yourself. You truly are a Super Diva!!!

[quote="Ginoue"]Thanks Rhony, it certainly is. I'm looking forward to my day!!! The Bride is the only member of the wedding party not involved in the dance if she doesn't want to. She just walks very slowly, but if she wants to, she can. I MOST CERTAINLY WILL BE!!! If she chooses to dance, then the Groom joins the dance as well. The bride will dance towards her Groom in the arm of her father. The Groom will dance towards his Bride alone, and will meet each other half way. The Groom will shake hands with the FOB, exchange hugs. The father will then be seated. Then, the goom will kiss his bride on both side of the cheeks and the exchange is made from the FOB to the Groom, whom in turn offer her his arm and together, they will slowly walk the rest of the way until they're standing in front of their respective seats.

It's a magnificent thing!!!
[/quote]
AND YOU ARE WORKING IT GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes she is!

All I can say Divas is "HALLELUIAH!!!" I'm so happy.

Turiya ~ 15 Days!!! Woohoo!!!

I was showing FH our sisterhood a little while ago and he was asking me for the meaning of (LMAO). I was like "are you serious?" and he looked at me so innocently and said "like a heart attack". He really did not know. When I finally told him, he laughed for a long time and said that he would never have gotten it if I'd asked him to guess.

I am so late on this post.

You all have provided some good detail and suggestions.

I know for a fact that I do not want to have to stand there at the alter for more than a hour. Actually I think a hour is wayyyy to long for my taste.
Im hoping that 30 minutes, 45min tops will be enough time.

[quote="2bmrspotts"]IIm hoping that 30 minutes, 45min tops will be enough time.
[/quote]
Me too!!

I agree!! I am working on the details of my ceremony now, and FH and I do not want our ceremony to last longer than 45 minutes, but we are really aiming for 30 minutes.