What to do between ceremony and reception?

This isn't unusual at all. The wedding party will go for photographs after the ceremony, which will take up to two hours, then they will have a chance for a bit of a break before going to the reception.

You don't have to plan anything for the guests - people know what to do! Most will go back to their hotel rooms or homes, if they live in the city - some have a rest, some will have their kids take a nap, some go shopping, etc.

That's terrible...

If it's a matter of getting the venues at certain times, you have 9 month to find another place. They've got to fix that, a 4 hr gap is unheard of. No one is going to wait around for four hours. Their reception will be dead. Start looking for another place, call the places they have already booked and ask if you can be notified if there are any cancellations, and see if you can move up the time of the reception.

ETA: It's good that you're trying to make the best of the situation, but we're telling you, it won't work. A wedding ceremony usually lasts 30 minutes. The reception is at most 4 hrs. You can't have 4 hours of entertainment, then a 4 hour reception.

A photo set up with the B&G may take 30 minutes to an hour. A band might play a 45 minute set, a show person could maybe do 45 minutes. That's almost three hours of...well torturing the guests....then another hour of them waiting. And they can't be fed during this time because then they won't eat at the reception.

They absolutely need to find another church. The most you can realistically expect your guest to wait is 60 minutes. 90 minutes and people will begin to talk, and not in a good way. 2 hrs and you'll officially have thrown one of the worst weddings they've been too. 4 hrs and they'll go home to get dinner and not come back.

Oh, dear, who planned this? This needs to be changed or people will be remembering this wedding for all the wrong reasons. The bride and groom really can't ask people to wait around like that for several hours, nor can they ask their guests to leave and then come back! It just isn't done!

Someone needs to talk sense into the bride and groom and have them change this, even if the invitations have gone out. If need be, call each guest, but they just can't do this.

EDIT: The longest amount of time between wedding and reception is no more than an hour. I don't think booking a band or other entertainment for the break will work. Four hours is a long time to listen to a band. People will leave, if that's the case. As for the photo set up you mentioned, without food, drink and places to sit down, people are still going to leave. You just need to convince your friend to find a different church.

I agree with most everyone else. A 4 hour gap is unacceptable. NOBODY is going to hang out for 4 hours (entertainment or not) and than stay for another 4 hour reception. This really is a disaster. The only thing I can think of to do is skip the church wedding. A building doesn't make it any more religious than having the ceremony anywhere else. Either that or change the date.

This kind of time gap is a serious issue. I can understand a 1 hour gap between the wedding and reception (you have a cocktail hour for the guests with entertainment in the foyer of the ballroom.) But a 4 hour gap is going to cause many of the guests to simply leave or skip the ceremony and only come to the reception. IMO, this entire wedding needs to be re-thought. Either have the ceremony somewhere else or have the reception somewhere else, but no 4 hour gap between the two.

She should worry, this is very bad planning. A four hour gap is really ridiculous and if there is anything she can do now to shorten this she needs to do it. People are not going to sit around for four hours and for most of them if they go home, they will stay there. This is really an imposition on the guests.

yikes, thats a really big gap.

im not sure of suggestions, but if I had to wait that long...I prob wouldnt go to the reception.

this will not be good, especially if some of the guests are out of town and have to find something to do for that amount of time.

that's kind of a disaster? does everyone live locally so that maybe everyone can shoot home and relax after church/between reception? I don't know that's a huge gap :(

A four hour gap is completely unacceptable. There is no way to fix this. Having interval entertainment would not help. People will be wanting the reception to start soon. She needs to find either a different place for the ceremony, or a different place for the reception. If all the churches are booked, consider a park or beach. I refuse to believe that all of those are booked 9 months in advance.