What time to put on wedding invitations?

I recommend putting the actual start time on your invitations. Most people know to arrive in plenty of time to park, find the place, and find a seat, so, if the start time is 6:00, many will arrive at 5:30. Are there some people who are late to everything? Yes. But you shouldn’t penalize everyone else because of a few rude people.

If you put 5:00, I would should up at 4:30 and then be REALLY irritated when your wedding didn't actually start until 90 minutes later.

Put the actually start time unless you have something before hand. My venue has a hospitality time for a half hour before the ceremony where they serve bloody Mary’s, mimosas, pastries, and coffee. Anyone that comes on time will get to snack and mingle. It gives some time for people to be up to a half hour late

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Same. Don't lie to your guests, that's incredibly rude.

Put the start time on there, if you have certain people you know are always running late let them know you won't hold the ceremony on their behalf.

If your immediate family are the people who run late, have them get ready with you or someone who does run on time and keep on them.

I'm perpetually early. If I'm not at least 10-15 minutes early, I stress, but if I found out you lied about your ceremony time I'd be furious.

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This, I'm one of those people who live by "early is on time, on time is late" If you put 5 oclock start time on your invite, I'd arrive at 4:30 to ensure I find the right place, can get a parking spot and what not, I'd be irked having to sit around for an hour and a half for your ceremony that you stated starts at 5 just because you're worried a handful of people aren't responsible enough to arrive on time.

Put 6pm because that’s when the wedding starts and guests typically arrive 15-20 minutes early. But definitely don’t penalize your entire guest list for the sake of those few who might be late. You certainly don’t want your guests arriving at 4:30 and waiting around for a wedding that really doesn’t start until 6pm. If they miss it, they miss it!

Every group has some matriarch (mom/grandma/aunt,etc) who has attended weddings before and knows proper etiquette that the guests arrive to be seated up to 30 minutes before the time on the invite. They will make sure anyone who isn't aware gets there on time. If you are walking down the aisle at 6, then 6 goes on the invite. Don't punish anyone for arriving late because it will only make you look bad.

Just here to agree with everyone lol put the actual start time 👍

Neither! You should put the actual start time. Guests know to arrive early for a wedding. If you put 5:00 or 5:30 then will arrive about 15 minutes prior to that time if not sooner. It would be very inconsiderate of you to force your guests to sit at the ceremony for over an hour waiting for it to start. I went to a wedding where they told us to be there 30 minutes early and it was awful. It was mid-summer and the ceremony took place in a barn with only two fans. It was so hot! Guests were not only warm, but very annoyed to be sitting there waiting for the ceremony to actually begin. You could definitely tell people were angry they were lied to.

I recommend you put 6:00. Responsible adults know to arrive before an appointment actually begins (i.e. doctor's appointments, concerts, dinner reservations, etc.). If you put start time as 5:00, I would arrive between 4:30-4:45, and I'd be incredibly annoyed sitting around for over an hour and begin wondering if the bride or groom got cold feet and didn't show up If you have people on your guest list who have a known history of punctuality problems, address them specifically in person and emphasize that the show begins at 6:00, with or without them.

Are you using a wedding website? Our wedding starts at 6pm as well. I'm putting the correct time on the invitations and letting them know on the website that they should arrive no later than 5:30pm in the FAQ questions section.

DO NOT put 5!! Even 5:30 is too early to me. Invitations typically state the ceremony start time as the time. People know this and arrive earlier. So if you put 5, you’d have people there already at 4:30 and they would likely NOT be pleased to be waiting around over an hour. If you feel you absolutely must put an earlier time, I wouldn’t go any earlier than 5:45. If you put as early as 5:30, I would provide some level of hosting for that pre-ceremony time , like champagne/tea/lemonade/water to keep them happy and entertained while they wait


Also bear in mind things to happen and ceremonies get delayed— so you wouldn’t want that to happen on top of them already sitting around for a while !

I think you could definitely get away with putting 5:45 if you want the ceremony to start at 6. Anything else seems too early to me.

I know I have friends that may show up late, although me and my FH are those two who are always late, but have always been ontime to weddings. If 6 is the time you plan on walking down the aisle, then I'd put something earlier. But if 6 is the time your FH is going to walk up to the "alter" and the music starts at 6 to signal everyone to take seats, then 6 on the invite.

Put 6 pm, then at the bottom in small print write " seating will start at 5:30 pm." It would be really unkind to all the people who always arrive 15-30 minute early to be stuck waiting 1.5 hours, because you put a fake earlier time for a few who always run late. Through the years, I have seen very few late-comers to weddings.

Put the actual start time. I would be so annoyed if you put 5 and I showed up 15-20 minutes early and then you made me sit there for over an hour. That's so rude. If people are late they slip in quietly. You literally will not even notice.

I put 30min earlier than the actual time. My family is notoriously late for EVERYTHING but his family is always on time. There will be champagne and some mini pastries served during that time.

If you are going to put an earlier time, out 5:30. But people might get annoyed if they are told the wrong time because most people try to get there a little early anyway

Put the actual time and put someone in charge of making sure your family arrives on time. I would be pissed if I was lied to and sat for an hour.

Typically you'd want to put the actual start time on your invitations. I would never put more than 30min early, since some people would still get there 30min early for that. We put 1:00 on our invitations and plan to start the ceremony at 1:15. Reason - my county basically runs on "Poly Time". Poly Time refers to the fact that the local university has their classes all start at 10min past the hour and most people who live here either attend that university now or previously did. Because of this, "on time" in our county is technically 10min late. The vast majority of our guests run on that time and the rest of them typically show up to events within 10min of the listed start time, but no earlier. We'll have beer/wine/chips & salsa available for those who do come early. If you do decide to put an earlier time on your invitations, make absolutely certain that you have something (snacks, drinks, entertainment, etc.) available for those who come earlier than you're actually starting.

Omg I'd be furious. If it says 5pm I'd get there at 4:45, maybe even 4:30. If I get there at 4:45 and it starts at 6 I'm grabbing my gift and leaving lmao.