Help me decide our gap between the ceremony and reception

Personally, as a guest, I'd prefer a shorter period of time in between the ceremony and reception. I would have planned on wearing the same attire to both the ceremony and reception, so I wouldn't feel the need to go change. 2-3 hours seems like a long break in between the two events.

The only time I’ve been to a wedding with a long break in between is when it’s a catholic ceremony because churches usually have specific times for weddings. Since it’s at a park I would say go the normal route of ceremony and reception back to back with just travel time between

Definitely the shorter period of time. Guests shouldn't have to plan for two outfits for one wedding. Also keep in mind when people think black tie, that normally means evening. So just make sure your ceremony is starting late enough (I would say no earlier than 4pm, but 5 or 6 is better) to follow the black tie "rules"

I would definitely prefer the shorter gap. When I go to a wedding, I'm dressed for the wedding. I'm not changing into a different outfit between the ceremony and reception.

I've never been to a black tie wedding before where the ceremony and reception were at two different venues (except one time when the ceremony was at a Catholic church), and I've been to around 35 black tie weddings. This was also the only black tie wedding I've been to with a gap in between ceremony and reception. That being said, I recall from prior posts that you're located in Australia, where customs might be different from here in the US. Here in the US, I'd find it very strange to be invited to a black tie wedding where the ceremony was located in an outdoor park. As a guest, I'd prefer the shorter gap because I wouldn't want to do an outfit change, but it's still not ideal because outdoor park ceremonies and black tie don't really go well together... Again, maybe different where you are, but I'm speaking from my experience here in the US.

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Our ceremony is currently booked to be in the same location as the reception but I'm not hugely fond of that because it wouldn't leave much room for people to stand near the aisle (we can only have 60 chairs) and people will need to shuffle around a little during cocktail hour while they move the room back.

There should never be a gap longer than it takes to travel from one location to the next.

Guests do not change clothes in between.. Nor do they nap, shop, sightsee or anything else in their formal clothes.

Even with Catholic weddings I have attended, there was no gap at all beyond travel time.

As a guest I would never choose to have a gap between ceremony and reception (and in this case cocktail hour counts as the start of the reception). A long gap is inconvenient, spoils the excitement of going right from witnessing vows to celebrating with the couple, and makes the entire day way too long.

That said, I'm with Hanna, that I would be a little confused as a guest to receive an invitation that specified black tie attire that started at a park. I think I would definitely wonder if my husband and I were supposed to wear tux and gown to a park. And high heels + grass are never a good idea. But I definitely don't care for outfit changes for a single event. I guess it would all depend on how close I lived to both venues if I would be willing to change between and/or accept a gap, or if I would just attend the reception.

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Hmm that's a difficult situation. You obviously need a seat for each person at the ceremony so I understand your reasoning for wanting to move the ceremony to a different location. On the other hand, if I received an invitation to a ceremony in an outdoor park I'd assume I should wear garden party or cocktail attire like a patterned sundress. Outdoor parks are not black tie appropriate, and I would be confused to receive an invitation to a black tie wedding outdoors. I honestly think your best bet would be to change your attire to black tie optional or cocktail attire because I don't think it's reasonable to ask guests to wear full on ballgowns and tuxes in an outdoor park on top of having to go somewhere else for the reception. High heels and grass is a big no-no. Or have the longer gap that allows people to change outfits. Yes it would be inconvenient and annoying for the guests, but IMO asking guests to wear full on black tie attire in an outdoor park is way worse than a long gap. So I'm going to go against the grain here and advise to either have the longer gap or change your attire to not black tie. You can still otherwise have a black tie style wedding without the most formal attire. But if you go the route of the longer gap, just be prepared that some guests may only attend the reception.

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What do you think if instead of the park we organised for the ceremony to take place in the (manicured) gardens in an Georgian estate manor? It would still be outdoors but a more sophisticated venue.

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What do you think if instead of the park we organised for the ceremony to take place in the (manicured) gardens in an Georgian estate manor? It would still be outdoors but a more sophisticated venue.

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As someone who has been to many black tie weddings I definitely want your input! Please

What do you think if instead of the park we organised for the ceremony to take place in the (manicured) gardens in an Georgian estate manor? It would still be outdoors but a more sophisticated venue.

The estate is a bit of a drive (about 45 minutes from home for most, 30 minutes to the reception). If we did the ceremony there, I would however impose a minimum of a one hour gap between the ceremony and cocktail hour because there can be some traffic on the road.

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I definitely think that would be better than a park! The key is to avoid guests having to walk on grass because black tie attire pretty much always means high heels and long dresses. I did attend one black-tie-optional ceremony outdoors where the couple provided high heel protectors to all of the women upon arrival, which helped a lot, so that might be something to consider. I definitely agree with the PP that it's much more important for each guest to have a chair for the ceremony than to not have a gap, so I definitely think the different ceremony venue is a good idea in your case if your reception venue wouldn't have enough ceremony seating. Instead of having a set time for the gap, I would have staff at your reception site ready to start serving drinks when the guests arrive. Assuming they will go straight from the ceremony to the reception, if the gap is an hour then they may arrive early and be waiting around. I don't really have much experience with black tie weddings where the ceremony and reception are at different locations (I'm from New York and nearly all I've attended have been in ballrooms) but I'm sure you can manage to pull it off!

Definitely as short as possible in between. I also have never heard of a black tie wedding with two venues unless it was a Catholic Church. It is not ideal to wear black tie attire all day or outside in the heat into the night.