Event planner Jamie Wolfer describes a wedding where the invitation said 3:00 p.m. but the couple wanted 3:30 p.m. Sixty to seventy-five percent of guests showed up early and waited 45 minutes in Central California heat, furious and asking repeatedly when things would start.
Come to find out, they put on their invitation, I had not seen the invitation, 3 o'clock ceremony start time. Let's refer to my timeline once more. I have 3 o'clock guests arrive, 3:30 ceremony start time. This is why anytime that someone talks about putting an earlier start time on their invitation to trick people to getting there early and/or on time, I will think about the 60 to 75% of guests that were sitting in the blazing hot sun in Central California For 30 to 45 minutes waiting for this ceremony to start. And I would think of the looks on their faces and the frustration that they were expressing. Hey, do we know when this is starting? We thought it started at 3. Do we know what's going on? And asking me, and here I am in the midst of all of this insane setup that we are not equipped for, that we thought would be done. And I'm having to appease these guests by saying, we'll be starting the ceremony in just a little bit. The couple told me their preferred ceremony start time. Of 3:30. They did not tell me their invitation start time. So it's because this event that I now say like, tell me your invitation start time. Okay, we're gonna try to be as honoring of that as possible.
