Is It Tacky To Have A Day-Time Wedding?

I agree with Mika, do what you want.. It`s YOUR day!
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I agree with everyone so far, it is your day. Do whatever you and your FH feel comfortable with. However if your inlaws are making a large financial contribution for your wedding, her opinion carries a lille bit more weight.
Some might not dance, some will. Maybe have the Dj play more upbeat, dancing type songs and have a few family members or friends playing designated dancers, going around and get the reluctant people up out of the chairs. If the general mood is light and people are laughing and such, people will dance if they want to.
More people will drink alcoholic drinks later in the evening than early afternoon and it will save you a bundle. But I disagree that alcohol makes for a better time. We`ve all been to weddings in the evening that were completely dry. Did it make a difference? It didn`t for me.
A friend of mine is getting married in a few months. To take advantage of the natural light, they are getting married at 2:30 pm with the reception immedietly following, a large appetizer display, a few desserts, and salads, beer&wine, and one signature alcoholic drink. It is saving them 50% of what a full meal and bar would have cost. And I doubt anyone will leave hungry, but if they do, the average 4 hour reception will end by 7. Plenty of time for people to get together after or have a meal. And plenty of time for the newly married couple to finally be able to relax and reflect on their day.

I`m actually having a daytime wedding. Church is @ 11 am and 4 hour reception follows. I was planning to do this before I knew things were a little cheaper...my outlook was that I would probably sit around being a nervous wreck for the whole day if I had a night wedding, so I went with the day. No one in my family thinks it`s tacky at all, I havent` heard anything negative and I come from a family where they would say something if they thought it. We are actually having a small gathering at our house later that night as well for my immediate family that is traveling from out of state. We`ll be offering a catered dinner there on top of the food @ the reception. It will be very relaxed and casual though and it`s not manadory for everyone to come.

Recently I was talking to my future mother in law and she was asking me what time of day we wanted to have our wedding (next july). She commented that when her stepdaughter got married they had the wedding early in the day and everything was over by like 4, she said it was so strange b/c she had gone to a wedding and still had a whole day ahead of her and still had to get dinner, they all ended up having dinner at the bride`s mother`s house and the whole thing was nice, but she said it just felt strange, everything was over and there was still so much of the day left and it was kind of like, now what? I`ve never been to a daytime wedding myself and personally see nothing wrong with it, really you should do whatever works best for you, but I just thought that I would offer one take on it. Best of luck on whatever you decide.

I went to a daytime wedding (1 pm) this past weekend, and it was beautiful. The couple was older and it was the second wedding for both of them, so I don`t know if that makes the time more "acceptable", but regardless, I thought it was lovely. The service was short and sweet, and then the reception was catered barbecue sandwiches and chicken with all kinds of salads and fresh fruit, and the traditional wedding cake. No alcohol or music, but everyone seemed to be having a good time, even the younger people. People seem to forget that a wedding is for bringing two people together, surrounded by their loved ones, not just a big party.

Last fall I was MOH in a Wedding that was held during the day. Church service was 10:30 AM. We then went to a hotel for Brunch. It started with Mimosa`s and chocolate covered strawberries as everyone arrived. Then there was a Champagne toast, with a brunch buffet following. The open bar opened after we ate. The DJ was great, someone was always on the floor. I think that more depends on your guests rather than time of day. If they dance at night, they`ll dance during the day. The room was beautiful. The hotel has acres of beautifully landscaped grounds and is set on a pond. The room had three walls of floor to ceiling windows. I thought at the time what a waste that view would be at night. As for saving money, I know they paid $58.00 a plate (which is about average in our area for an evening wedding) but no where near the $96.00 a plate that the room costs for a Saturday evening wedding. The only problem I can see is trying to get ready in time. The Bride had a regular beautician that opened her shop at 6:30 AM for us, and her church let us get dress there to save time. It was a beautiful wedding and I say if that is what you want go for it!

Is it tacky to have a daytime wedding? Heck no! Most weddings when our parents got married were daytime affairs. It`s only in the past 30 years that they`ve become more of a party. I`m getting married in three weeks at noon and having a luncheon reception immediately following. We make our exit at 4pm and it`s over. It`s way cheaper to do it this way. People might not dance as much as they would a nighttime wedding, but a few might. We`re borrowing one of our friends PA`s and loading songs onto our friend`s laptop. Our best man will emcee. No money spent on a DJ! We`re serving wine with lunch, maybe having a champagne toast and that`s it. If our guests want to drink beer or liquor, they`ll pay for it. I`m not too thrilled about doing a cash bar but we can`t afford it and also I`m just from the school of thought that drinking in the middle of the afternoon (unless you`re at a football or baseball game!) isn`t all that appropriate. This coming from a bartender who is marrying another bartender! We also get to make an exit at 4pm....too often you see guests filter out after the first dance or even right after dinner and the bride and groom never get to make that "exit." This way it`s guaranteed everyone will still be there.

I think your future in-laws should take all that into consideration, not to mention the huge savings. Even if they are contributing to the wedding, it`s YOUR day, do it how you want to. It`s not about drinking and dancing, it`s about you two. People will have fun because it`s different than what everyone else does. It`ll be classy and elegant to do it that way too (not that nighttime gig`s aren`t!). I always wanted to do an afternoon thing. My fiance wanted the nighttime gig. We went back to my way because it`s a third of the cost of what we would spend if we did it at night.

Go for the daytime affair. Best of luck!