What do grooms do to fill time before the wedding?
Because grooms typically skip time-consuming grooming routines like hair and makeup, they are left with hours of downtime before the ceremony. This leaves them stuck sitting around feeling anxious with their wedding party, with no structured activities to fill the empty hours.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Taking getting ready photos
- 2Playing a board game
- 3Eating breakfast and mimosas
- 4Writing notes to each other
- 5Having the wedding party give toasts
- 6Going back to nearby hotels to nap, freshen up, or change clothes
- 7Hanging out downtown or visiting local hotel bars during the wait
- 8Renting out a separate bar or lounge space to host guests in the interim
- 9Skipping the ceremony portion entirely to avoid the inconvenience
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’m weirdly nervous about the getting ready process. We‘re both grooms and dont have super crazy outfits to put on and I have curly hair that always looks nice and my fiancé has a buzz cut so there’s no need to really have hair, there’s no makeup, so what are we supposed to do during that time besides be excited anxious together with our wedding party?”source ↗
“Extremely irritating. I would just get a venue that allows you to have a normal gap.”source ↗
“From a guest's perspective, this sounds annoying. I would not want to get ready for the wedding then just hang out in my wedding attire.”source ↗
“I can tell you right now your guests will likely be far too annoyed with the gap to make the venue change worth it.”source ↗
“i’ve been to many catholic church ceremonies where there’s a few hour gap. i’m not gonna lie, it’s a pain the ass and many people skip the ceremony.”source ↗
“Anytime I’ve had a gap like this in activities, it always causes my energy levels to plummet.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 12Inviting people to pre-wedding events who aren't invited to the wedding
- 4Can you actually plan a wedding in just a few months?
- 2How to schedule a legal marriage before a destination wedding
- 6How to plan a post wedding brunch people actually attend
- 2Why does a long wedding engagement take so long?
- 11Wedding day timeline example with an early ceremony