Wedding Etiquette: Baraats entering at midnight ? SO not cool!

I'm sure the title of this post would have already taken you back to SOME wedding where the Baarat entered at midnight, and by the time the bride was brought out it was already close to 1 am ! More than half of the guests would have left without seeing the bride or groom , and the bride would have probably been sitting ready inside her green room since 8 pm. The disturbing thing is- this is getting more and more common, especially in North India.

SO.NOT. COOL

There has been so much thought, effort and planning that's gone into this one day, our parents have spent lakhs of rupees  and for many brides that one moment when they enter the hall  and everyone stops to turn and look at them  is what the most memorable moment of the day is. Not only is these new trend of super delayed weddings rather rude (200 people just leaving without even seeing the couple ? What's the fun in that) it's also ridiculously inconvenient on so many levels. Besides, who wants to argue and fight on your wedding day (and honey if you are going to make a bride with a 10kg outfit on her wait for 5 hours, an argument is but inevitable). So what we want to know is:  

How late were your baaraats?

What tactics did you use to get them on time??

Or conversely, were you as a bride late to the wedding? (Just as bad!)