Invitation and arrival time!

5:30

5:30. Adults know how to be on time.

Put 5:30.

ETA: I misread your post. I'd put 5:30 but put on your website that you would like people to plan to arrive by 5:15 so the ceremony can start on time.

Put the actual start time.

Generally, adults can figure out that if an event starts at 5:30, they need to be there prior to be able to be there for...the start of the event.

Our ceremony starts at 6 so we put 6- on our website, though, we put ceremony begins promptly at 6 pm.

Ceremony starts at 5:30, put 5:30. Most people arrive to weddings early. If you put 5:00 on your invite, and I got there at 4:45, I'd be pissed it if it didn't start till 5:30. Don't punish your responsible guests. If people are late, well then they miss the beginning. Their loss.

Put 5:30. Most guests will arrive 15-20 minutes early. I would be very annoyed if as a guest I had to wait an additional 15-30 minutes after I arrived early.

Agree with everyone above. Put 5:30 and if you want to specify further, do that on the website or via word of mouth.

Echoing everyone else....put 5:30.

Lol I had the complete opposite experience as everyone here. I put 5 pm on the invite expecting my wedding to start at 5:30. At 5:32 when I was preparing to walk down the aisle there were at least 20 people just walking in the door.

I say you should know your audience and respond accordingly.

Okay thanks for the advice everyone!!

@Eb probably because they didn't want to go to the ceremony. A lot of people do that.

As someone who put an earlier time for certain guests who are typically late, my advice would be to just put the correct time. It didn't make a difference for those who are terrible at being on time. DH's cousin was an hour late (or 2 hours according to the time I asked her to be there), missed the entire ceremony and her son was supposed to be our RB. Oh well. You can't change people.

@originalLaura I doubt that, my family is just notoriously late. It's super annoying and I guess I'm enabling them but they aren't changing at this point so I plan accordingly, lol.

Personally, I get a little offended when my yoga instructor tells me to arrive 15 minutes early. Just tell me what time it starts and I'll figure out the rest.

Sigh....one would like to think they'll arrive on time, right? They are so excited that they will figure out the traffic, parking.....blah blah blah and be comfortably seated in time for your walk down the aisle.

HA HA HA . Not in my experience. Most guests (at least in NY/NJ) do not arrive on time. They will blame traffic, humidity, snow. The shuttle will wait for the one person who is late and then 20 people are late. It doesn't matter; they didn't plan

Almost every venue we work in will tell you to invite a half hour early because 15 minutes fools no one.

So you have two choices.

1. You invite for a half hour ahead, serve sparkling water and wine and start a half hour later. This notion that the guests get to the venue and sit baking in their little chairs in the sun is fiction.

2. You invite for the time and START AT THAT TIME NO MATTER WHO IS THERE OR NOT.

But you won't. You'll wait for them, those people who couldn't pull it together to be there on time, and then your cocktail hour will be shortened because that time has to come from somewhere.

It's up to you, but starting late, waiting for the inevitable late comers, will cost you time and money.

My wedding was at 3:00. I put that on the invites. We started at 3 and everyone was on time. Please, OP, put the real time.

I think it depends on your family and friends i know my family so well its starts at 6 so im putting 5:30 because they always show up 30min. Late so that way they're on time haha