in a Catholic church. Usually the Catholic churches have smaller time windows for weddings, a lot will start between 10am and noon. I don't think I've ever been to a Catholic wedding that started later than that.
The first Catholic wedding I went to, though, I wasn't expecting a gap - went to the church and then the reception wasn't for like 3 or 4 hours. I didn't know another soul there but I was sitting with some of the couple's friends from their time in the Peace Corp and ended up going back with them to their hotel and having drinks while we waited it out. It was fun but looking back I was very trusting, LOL.
The other two, one had an early reception down the street from the church and the reception ended by 8pm. The other, the wedding was in downtown Jersey City and the reception was like an hour's drive away and I mainly remember there being more food than I had ever seen in my life. The party went pretty late!
When I got married, we wanted an evening wedding but there was another couple who also wanted the same day. Luckily they changed their mind and took the early slot - the wedding was at a Catholic church and the groom didn't want a 6 hour gap. Good for us, they had the place from noon to 5 and we had it from 6 to 11!
