Is our reception long enough?

tcnoble

A little background info... The majority of our guests are OOT (wedding is in Vegas where we live, location is at an off-strip property) and therefore are staying overnight. Currently our ceremony is at 6:15, with buffet dinner beginning around 7/7:10. Our reception is slated to end at 11. Is this long enough?? We will be cutting the cake, doing first dance/father daughter after dinner.. No other traditional things taking place. Since we know most of our guests won't have the drive home or kids to return to, we are wondering if our reception is too short. It is Vegas, so there's plenty to do if people choose to continue their night. Thoughts???

JoanE2012

I think the timing is perfect.  The only thing I'd consider, if your budget allows, is to host breakfast the following morning since most of your guests are OOT and staying at least that one night.

JCbride2015

Yeah, this should be fine.  Lots of older people would start to leave before midnight anyway.  And you're right, the younger people can always go out somewhere nearby.

tcnoble

So you don't think we need an extra hour?

We did consider breakfast the next morning but we are expecting 150-200 guests, which would make breakfast quite the expense. We might be able to work something with our hotel to include a breakfast buffet voucher with each welcome bag/room that us booked... which would be a more feasible cost.

jacques27

It's fine.  And truthfully, I think most people will probably go out exploring on their own by then and be ready to wrap it up anyway. 

A friend got married at a casino/resort and most people started taking the shuttle back to the casino shortly after dinner was over.  I think when you hold weddings in places where there is a lot to entertainment available, people tend to gravitate to that more and not be as inclined to stick around dancing in a ballroom until midnight or later.

southernbelle0915

I think it's enough time - it's about 5 hours, a full meal, dancing and a bar. That's pretty much what I'd expect for a wedding. Plus, it's Vegas. If people still want to party after 11pm, they'll hit the strip. I also do not think you need to host breakfast. Nice, but not necessary.

slothiegal

That timing sounds absolutely perfect to me.

tcnoble

Thanks for the feedback!! It's nice knowing we are okay with the timing and don't have to re-do our budget to figure in an extra hour for everything.