I'm clueless about the reception

ShallowSeas · July 2014

FI and I have talked with the band and emcee that will be playing our reception about a timeline. They gave us several options that they've done at past weddings but we're not really sure what's best and what makes the most sense. What was your reception timeline like? Or what will it be like? I'm just confused about when to do the dances, cake cutting....and now FI wants to do the garter/bouquet toss so we gotta work that in there somewhere $:\$

buddysmom80 · July 2014

severmilli12 said:

FI and I have talked with the band and emcee that will be playing our reception about a timeline. They gave us several options that they've done at past weddings but we're not really sure what's best and what makes the most sense. What was your reception timeline like? Or what will it be like? I'm just confused about when to do the dances, cake cutting....and now FI wants to do the garter/bouquet toss so we gotta work that in there somewhere $:\$

QUOTING TO FOLLOW!!! I'm so confused too.

Blue & White · July 2014

Ours was a lot simpler than what you're looking for BUT
We did parent, wedding party, bride/groom intros;
First dance
Father/daughter
Son/mom
FOOD
Cake cutting
Dance the night away
Exit

ShallowSeas · July 2014

Here's the time line our DOC sent us. It can be tweaked. Does that sound right? The dances/tosses after dinner?

6:00 Guests arrive

6:30 Ceremony Starts

7:00 Ceremony ends/bar opens/apps out

7:30 Reception room ready. Re-enter ballroom

7:40 BP announced into room

7:45 Dinner starts

8:30 Dinner ends

8:40 Cake Cut/Toasts/Dances

11:30 Event ends

Blue & White · July 2014

@severmilli12 I've seen it done both ways. We wanted to get the dances out of the way early so we did, but our reception also started at 6 PM (if you do the dances before dinner, you're pushing dinner back by at least 15 minutes) With regards to when dinner starts, you want to talk to your venue coordinator too to make sure the kitchen can accomodate whatever you're thinking of (same with cake cutting)

speakeasy14 · July 2014

I'm a personal fan of getting all of the scheduled things done in the beginning of the reception. The wedding I was in last year had a schedule like this so that guests could spend the rest of the evening partying. This was their timeline:

Bridal party introductions

Bride & Groom introduction then first dance

First course brought out (it was a sit down dinner)

Father/Daughter dance

Mother/Son dance

Second course brought out

Mother of the Bride toast

Third course brought out

Maid of Honor speech

Best Man speech

Bride and Groom cut cake

Invited all couples to the dance floor (longest married couple got bride's bouquet instead of bouquet and garter toss)

Dance floor open for rest of night

ShallowSeas · July 2014

It makes more sense to me that the dances would be done soon after we are announced into the room, right before dinner, but I guess that would put dinner off for another 15 minutes $:\$

phira · July 2014

Tentative timeline for us:

Entrance followed by first dance

Toasts

Dinner

Mother son dance

Hora

Reception fun times

We're not cutting the cake (it'll be on display and then cut and served by staff), nor are we having any tosses. We still need to fit in thank-you toasts from me and J somewhere, but that's like ... not something we're worried about.

Peaseblossom55 · July 2014

This was our timeline

Cocktail hour 6-7

7ish Reception entrance parents, BP, flower girl, ring bearer and us

Dances ( first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, anniversary dance)

3 courses including dinner

Dancing

About an hour after dinner we did the cake cutting

Cake was cut, the dessert tables and cordials bar were opened, the regular open bar was open the whole evening

Dancing the rest of the night

[Deleted User] · July 2014

I think you can do whatever you want! You might also coordinate with your caterer, venue, photographer, etc. because they may need time for certain things. This was our order of events:

Ceremony

Happy Hour (we did family/wedding party photos and then H and I did couple photos during this time)

Reception Entrance/Couple Announced

Dinner (we were first served so once we were finished eating we walked around to see our guests. Dinner was also a buffet, so once people had their food they tore down the buffet so we could have our dance floor.)

Toasts

First Dance/Father Dance/Mother Dance

Cake Cutting

Party!

Peaseblossom55 · July 2014

We also had a coordinator for the evening we hired through the venue to keep everything on schedule too, so I didn't have to worry about anything running on time or not. She also kept getting me food, and drinks it was great to have that.

Swazzle · July 2014

My wedding was an endless cocktail hour so it's a bit different from a typical sit-down. Ours went something like this:

Parents introduced

Bridal party introduced

Bride and groom introduced

1st dance

Mother/son dance

Toast

Food starts being passed/stations open

Dance

Bouquet toss

Dance

Cake cutting (I might be lying and the bouquet toss may have been after cake, I forget)

Dance

Dance... dance.

doubleSS07 · July 2014

Our timeline was flipped where we did the dances after dinner.

5:00 guests arrive

5:30 Ceremony

6:00 Cocktail hour

7:00 B&G announced and dinner begins

7:30 Toasts

7:45 Cake cutting

8:00 (right at sunset) B&G first dance, father daughter dance, mother son dance

EVERYONE DANCE

11:00 you ain't got to go home but you can't stay here!

eilis1228 · July 2014

I haven't even come close to thinking about any of this for my own wedding, but from what I remember from recent-ish family and friend weddings, it's normally something like this:

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour

WP/Parents/Bride and Groom intro

All of the important dances

Dinner

Party for maybe a half hour or so

Cake Cutting

Party some more

Bouquet and Garter tosses

More partying!

B&G exit

I've seen people do the tosses before the cake cutting too... I think that also would ensure you'd have more people there to participate. I think a lot of guests who plan to leave the reception early try to stay through dinner and the cake cutting.

buddysmom80 · July 2014

Okay so this is what I'm thinking for a rough draft timeline:

6pm-6:20, 6:30pm: ceremony

6:30-7:30 cocktail hour

7:30 first course (salad) will be served. Parent's announced, WP, Bride and groom, BG first dance

7:50-ish? Pasta course, best man and FOB toast

8:10-ish main course

9pm: FOB/bride dance, MOG/groom dance

9:20-9:30ish cake cutting

9:30-11:30 DANCE AND DRINK

bethsmiles · July 2014

I don't have much of an opinion or advice except for this - I prefer for the the first dance and any other spotlight dances to be after dinner. I've actually never been to a wedding that's done it any other way and I really like getting food because I"m usually pretty hungry by the time the reception rolls around.

GoldenPenguin · July 2014

buddysmom80 said:

Okay so this is what I'm thinking for a rough draft timeline:
6pm-6:20, 6:30pm: ceremony
6:30-7:30 cocktail hour
7:30 first course (salad) will be served. Parent's announced, WP, Bride and groom, BG first dance
7:50-ish? Pasta course, best man and FOB toast
8:10-ish main course
9pm: FOB/bride dance, MOG/groom dance
9:20-9:30ish cake cutting
9:30-11:30 DANCE AND DRINK

I CANNOT WAIT FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN.

Dignity100 · July 2014

Ours is all messed up

2:30 Ceremony
3:00 cake cutting / first dances / pictures
4:00-5:00 more pictures (cutting my guests loose to go to the restaurant or wander; their choice; I'm providing transportation to the restaurant and will have left a CC so they can order appetizers and drinks if they wish)
5:15 - Dinner (cake will be served with dinner)
8:00 - Dessert Party

I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting.

GoldenPenguin · July 2014

Swazzle said:

My wedding was an endless cocktail hour so it's a bit different from a typical sit-down. Ours went something like this:

Parents introduced
Bridal party introduced
Bride and groom introduced
1st dance
Fathler/daughter dance
Mother/son dance
Toast/MOH/BM speeches
Food starts being passed/stations open
Dance
Dance
Drink
Dance
Bouquet toss
Dance
Drink
Cake cutting (I might be lying and the bouquet toss may have been after cake, I forget)
Dance
Dance
Drink
Dance
Dance...drink... dance.

This is what ours will be like, with a couple changes (bolded/crossed out). @swazzle, a couple of my additions should have been in yours too. Just sayin'

doubleSS07 · July 2014

GoldenPenguin said:

Swazzle said:

My wedding was an endless cocktail hour so it's a bit different from a typical sit-down. Ours went something like this:

Parents introduced
Bridal party introduced
Bride and groom introduced
1st dance
Fathler/daughter dance
Mother/son dance
Toast/MOH/BM speeches
Food starts being passed/stations open
Dance
Dance
Drink
Dance
Bouquet toss
Dance
Drink
Cake cutting (I might be lying and the bouquet toss may have been after cake, I forget)
Dance
Dance
Drink
Dance
Dance...drink... dance.

This is what ours will be like, with a couple changes (bolded/crossed out). @swazzle, a couple of my additions should have been in yours too. Just sayin'

There better be someone taking video...or an invite (yeah i'll just invite myself what of it!)

[Deleted User] · July 2014

This was our timeline (be advised it was a Winter wedding so the ceremony was early)

4:30 Ceremony

5:00-6:00- Cocktail Hour

6:15- Introduction to Wedding Party

6:20- First Dance

6:25- Blessing and Dinner begins

7:25- Speeches

7:45- Father/Daughter Dance

7:50- Mother/Son Dance

8:00- Cake Cutting

8-9:30- Dancing

9:30- Bouquet and Garter Toss

10:00- Send Off

Dignity100 · July 2014

For some reason I always thought that the cake cutting in my mind signaled the end of all 'ceremony events' and meant 'just party the rest of the night'. Maybe the bouquet/garter tosses are after the cake though - now I cannot remember!!

I'm clueless about the reception

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