40: Is it normal for the Bride to arrive 'late' at the ceremony?

In our experience this is the easiest way to upset the Vicar or Registrar conducting the service.  We would always suggest your car arrives outside the ceremony venue about 5 minutes before you are due to go inside, as you are going to use up this time having arrival photographs both inside and outside of the car.  

In some cases, usually civil ceremonies you may need to arrive even earlier than this in order to meet the registrar in private before the ceremony starts.  We all know Bride’s wish to keep the Groom’s on their toes by arriving a little late but in reality planning to arrive late can have knock on effects throughout the day.  If you have left your collection address late and are then held up by unexpected traffic this may make you even later.  In some cases ceremonies have had to be cut short to bring everything back on schedule as there may be other couples getting married in the venue after yourself and timings for the vicar or registrar are therefore crucial.  It has been known for a Bride to be so late the ceremony had to be cancelled so as not to delay the following ceremony. 

We would always suggest you leave the collection address with plenty of time to spare so you can have a leisurely drive, it is better to arrive early and ask the chauffeur to pull up a little way from the ceremony venue to waste some time or even drive round the block than to run the risk of being late.  However this is your day and the chauffeurs will do as you wish but they must drive within the legal speed limits and the limits of the vehicle.