Deciding on the Time of Day

To be valid in law, the exchange of vows and rings and signing the Marriage Register must happen between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The civil and religious elements can, however, be separated. It is uncommon for legalities to be separated from the religious aspects of Anglican or Catholic ceremonies but not so unusual in other faiths and religions.

As a rough guide, a marriage service in church generally takes between 40 minutes and an hour, depending on the length and number of hymns and the duration of the minister's address. If communion is included, an extra 10-20 minutes should be added, more if it is a large congregation.

A civil ceremony in a register office, satisfying the law, can be completed in 15-20 minutes.

When choosing a time for your wedding, take into account the guests travelling from a distance - opting for an 11am start may make it difficult for them to arrive refreshed and relaxed if they've had a four-hour journey beforehand.

However, think carefully before choosing a time too late on in the day - most people will tell you that your wedding day will rush by in a blur, and choosing a late afternoon wedding will reduce the time you actually get to spend enjoying the day.

The time of the wedding may also have an effect on your budget. For example, if the wedding takes place in the morning, and the reception is planned to go through into the evening, guests will need to be fed twice - lunch (the wedding breakfast) and an evening buffet. For a wedding in the afternoon, however, it would be acceptable to assume that guests had already had lunch before the ceremony and so you would only need to cater for only one meal in late afternoon or early evening.

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