Wedding question Wednesday

In an attempt to plan a wedding, not let the wedding plan me.... I'm going to TRY and not post wedding talk all the time. The same way I TRY and not talk about it every single day. It's a work in progress. I figured a Wedding Wednesday is the best way to go about that! So guaranteed every Wednesday... I'm going to talk about our wedding in one way or another. All the other days... well, I can't guarantee anything, but I will find something to talk about :)

For today's Wedding Wednesday we're going to talk about receptions. Or, I'm going to talk and you're going to save me. Ok? Sgt. and I are paying for about 85% of our wedding. So of course we're trying to figure out ways to make it what we want, not go crazy, still have a beautiful wedding, and most importantly have FUN. We want to have fun, we want to celebrate, and we want to treat our guests to a fun, tasty, twirly time! Whooo hooo!

We've been TOTALLY blessed to get our reception venue at no cost because I just happen to have been blessed with working at the best place on earth (not Disney World) not long ago. They are my family away from family... and that place happens to be a gorgeous rolling hill landscape right on the river. It's awesome. And I'm so thankful!

The Ceremony is supposed to take place at The Church. The Church only holds weddings at 2:00. Yep, 2:00 in the afternoon. Now, for someone who wants to have a fun, tasty, twirly reception... this poses an issue.

By the time the Ceremony is over and everyone gets out of the church and out to the reception it'll be about 3:00. I've spoken with the caterer and we're supposed to have a cocktail hour and appetizers (ok, I'll be honest, I tried to spell the H word and couldn't) until about 4:30 at which point I'm hoping people will take their sweet time finding their seats and then we can start dinner at 5. Dinner over at 6 and dancing until 9.

Except it just seems so LONG to me. Mostly because the caterer is (fairly) charging me a little extra because she's got to stay there from 3-9. If I could figure out a way to cut some of the time down we would be golden.

First option is have the ceremony somewhere else.... like at the reception venue, starting later in the evening. But the church is important to us, so for now, I'd like to not do that.

Second option is to do our own appetizers and cocktails. Have signature drink, beer, wine, and snacks out from 3 - 4:30 and then have the caterer show up at 5 to do dinner. This would reduce the time they're there...

Third option is to have ceremony and then not start the cocktail hour until 5... and just give guests a list of things to do around town until then. What I worry about here is that 1. Wedding momentum will be lost and people won't be as eager to have fun since they just had to wait all that time for the next portion. 2. The people who do not have a hotel in town will really have to find something to do. Most people are coming from out of town but not everyone... I thought about asking the camp (reception venue) if maybe we could set up some fun laid back activities like horseshoes, washers, the putting green, etc... so people could do that while waiting. (an hour or two) But then I feel like it will be an extension of the wedding and I should at least have drinks or something out there for them to enjoy. 3. What about my hair? And Makeup? And do I stay in my dress for two hours hanging out... or do I change... which would mean two dresses.

The wedding isn't formal - the theme we're working with now is "Upscale-Down Home" so it's sort of an Americana feel to it... (please God, no one show up in cutoffs) Semi-formal with a laid back vibe.

This has just got me stuck! I don't know what to do. I think either way it seems like dinner is too early, or there was too much wait time. So, please, help me. What would you do? or better yet, what would you ENJOY as a guest? What wouldn't you enjoy? Why? Am I crazy? Do you have any other options for me other than the ones listed? Any and all help is appreciated! Especially from Sgt... if I ask him this question anymore I think he'll blindfold me and kidnap me to Mexico so we can elope.