We have found a reception site that we love and a caterer that is very willing to work with us, but we aren't sure if this date would be the best. The reception site that we want requires that everything be cleaned up by 1:00 am, even on NYE. The caterers said that they would be able to clean up in a half hour (strolling dinner) to 45 minutes (sit down dinner), but that still doesn't leave too much time for the guests to stay after midnight. Does that seem okay, or would be kind of a bummer to have to leave right after midnight? There are plenty of bars in the area for anyone who wants to keep on partying well into the night.
Also, given that it is on a weekday and not everyone will have the day off, what time would be a good start time? We are looking to have it at an art museum, so we want to give our guests enough time to browse the galleries. But at the same time, we don't want to start too early so that our guests won't have to take off work. We also are having a ceremony that will last around an hour and a half... Where is the balance?
We are also debating between a strolling dinner (heavy appetizers) or a family-style dinner. We like the idea of a strolling dinner because then dinner won't take a huge chunk of time, but we aren't sure if that would be enough food. On the other hand, I worry that with a seated dinner, people aren't going to spend time browsing the galleries in the museum, and then the money we are paying to rent out the museum would kind of go to waste.
I have no experience planning a wedding, so any input is appreciated!