Ceremony/Reception filler time

andreamichelle86

I've fallen in love with a church, but the only time they will do the ceremony is 2pm. The reception site is about 15 minutes from the church. We don't want to start the reception so early that the party is over by 8. Any suggestions as to how we can fill time in beween the ceremony and reception? We will have approximately 125-150 guests. We're considering a receiving line - any advice as to how long we can expect the receiving line to take?

aerinpegadrak

Have an after-party if you want to keep the party going.  Your receiving line will probably only take about 20 minutes, maybe 30.  Honestly, if your guests are getting there at 1:30pm or so, by 8:00 most of them are going to be more than ready to go home, no matter what happens in the intervening hours.  So take everyone who's still good to party out to a bar and call it good.  I've been to several weddings with this setup and they work great.

banana468

I'm going to ditto the after party.  It doesn't matter when the reception starts.  If your ceremony starts at 2 then by 8 or 9, people will want to leave.

andreamichelle86

Thanks for the feedback!  This definitely takes a little stress off me. Does this timeline sound realistic?
Catholic ceremony (without mass): 2-2:45
Receiving line: 2:45-3:15
Travel to reception venue (15 minutes away): 3-3:45
Cocktail hour: 4-5
Dinner/dancing/etc: 5-8

Any thoughts on this? Should I plan to begin the cocktail hour earlier?

Lisa50

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremonyreception-filler-time?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:f95fe447-1480-4e07-8aed-cf0dc72bc18fPost:1d41713a-5e90-4851-ba4f-e301f2473280">Re: Ceremony/Reception filler time</a>:
[QUOTE]Have an after-party if you want to keep the party going.  Your receiving line will probably only take about 20 minutes, maybe 30. <strong> Honestly, if your guests are getting there at 1:30pm or so, by 8:00 most of them are going to be more than ready to go home, no matter what happens in the intervening hours.</strong>  So take everyone who's still good to party out to a bar and call it good.  I've been to several weddings with this setup and they work great.
Posted by aerinpegadrak[/QUOTE]

Agreed.  If you have guests who are still up for a party after ther reception ends @ 8:00, they will be adept at finding the closest watering hole and keep it going.  You don't even have to plan anything formal.  It will all work out.

aerinpegadrak

3:30 would be a better start time for the cocktail hour.  You could start the reception with the spotlight dances to push dinner closer to 5:00.

TheKnittingJedi

I definitely vote for an after party! My uncle did that at his wedding a few years ago, after serving lunch at the reception and everybody had a great time!