Said It Here

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.

Overview
People affected8 accounts across 1 forum
Workarounds found12 items attempted
Community agreement18 total upvotes

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

12 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    Taking getting ready photos
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    Playing a board game
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  3. 3
    Eating breakfast and mimosas
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  4. 4
    Writing notes to each other
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  5. 5
    Having the wedding party give toasts
    Did this help you?
  6. 6
    Going back to nearby hotels to nap, freshen up, or change clothes
    Did this help you?
  7. 7
    Hanging out downtown or visiting local hotel bars during the wait
    Did this help you?
  8. 8
    Renting out a separate bar or lounge space to host guests in the interim
    Did this help you?
  9. 9
    Skipping the ceremony portion entirely to avoid the inconvenience
    Did this help you?
  10. 10
    Providing lists of local beer gardens, historical landmarks, and points of interest on the wedding website
    Did this help you?
  11. 11
    Organizing transportation between the venues
    Did this help you?
  12. 12
    Inviting guests to return to their accommodations to freshen up
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/weddingplanning8 people · September 2026

“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 ↗

Leather_Cry_4444 · r/weddingplanning · 12 upvotes

“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 ↗

Ora_Et_Pugna · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“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 ↗

loandlye · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“Anytime I’ve had a gap like this in activities, it always causes my energy levels to plummet.”source ↗

lems4ems · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“Speaking purely as a guest as I did not host a wedding like this, I would appreciate pointers on things to do in the meantime.”source ↗

Lurker4Lyfe21 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“The only reason I’d be annoyed by that is if I had to get super dressed up and be expected to wander around in heels and have to worry about hair n makeup being ruined.”source ↗

RealName135 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“If the former, probably just about doable, the latter, as a guest I'd be tempted not to bother 😅”source ↗

Brackenfield · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

“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 ↗

sim_cam · r/weddingplanning

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised