Wedding Timeline-Skipping a few traditions

EverAfer

What are your thoughts on this timeline and flow?

I'm not 100% convinced I have the toasts, dances, and table visits in the right order.  We're skipping garter & bouquet toss.  I'm open for suggestions to do something else.

7:00 p.m. Guests head in from cocktail hour into the reception and find their seats

7:15 p.m. Emcee begins introducing the parents, wedding party, and B&G

7:20 p.m. The first dance B&G.(??) Then Parents & Parents dance (??) (His and mine, instead of F/D and M/S)

7:25 p.m. A welcome speech and the toasts — best man followed by man of honor (or save MOH for toasting later??

7:30 p.m. Dinner is ready. The emcee asks guests to take their seats. Dinner is buffet style- 2 set-ups double side, so 4 lines serving.

8:30 p.m. Family (parents) thanks guests. B&G thanks guests for coming. 2nd toast possible here.

8:30 p.m. Dessert stations and coffee/tea is served.  (also skipping cake)

8:45 p.m. B&G Visits Tables

HisGirlFriday13

EverAfer said:

What are your thoughts on this timeline and flow?

I'm not 100% convinced I have the toasts, dances, and table visits in the right order.  We're skipping garter & bouquet toss.  I'm open for suggestions to do something else.

7:00 p.m. Guests head in from cocktail hour into the reception and find their seats

7:15 p.m. Emcee begins introducing the parents, wedding party, and B&G

7:20 p.m. The first dance B&G.(??) Then Parents & Parents dance (??) (His and mine, instead of F/D and M/S)

7:25 p.m. A welcome speech and the toasts — best man followed by man of honor (or save MOH for toasting later??

7:30 p.m. Dinner is ready. The emcee asks guests to take their seats. Dinner is buffet style- 2 set-ups double side, so 4 lines serving.

8:30 p.m. Family (parents) thanks guests. B&G thanks guests for coming. 2nd toast possible here.

8:30 p.m. Dessert stations and coffee/tea is served.  (also skipping cake)

8:45 p.m. B&G Visits Tables

So you're having your parents dance with each other? Why? If you're not doing F/D, M/S, I'd just skip them. No one really wants to sit through your mom and dad dancing with each other, no offence.

Who is giving the first welcome speech, at 7.25? That should be the hosts -- you and DH or your parents. I would do a SHORT welcome/thanks for coming, then have BM/MOH speeches, then be done with it.

I am not a fan of having my dinner and conversation interrupted endless times for speeches. I'm just not. Put them all together, command my attention for five minutes (MAX for speeches), and then have done with it.

Also, only the hosts really need to thank guests for coming -- so that's you and DH or your parents or whomever. But once the guests have been thanked by the hosts, they do not have to be thanked again.

I think everything in your 8.30 time slot (except announcing that dessert and coffee are served) can be cut as being unnecessary. 

EverAfer

No offence taken on the Parents dance.

Our intent was just to say thank you to our guests since most of them are travelling to be here.

I don't think anyone is already writing up speeches, except for MOH who's officiating anyway.  I'm pretty indifferent with speeches and toasts, but figured we should do it since we're skipping alot of stuff?

Otherwise it would just be first dance, quick thank you, eat, drink and party? I think that would be fine too, but I didn't want to lose the feelings of it being a wedding or what most people would expect.

Maggie0829

EverAfer said:

No offence taken on the Parents dance.

Our intent was just to say thank you to our guests since most of them are travelling to be here.

I don't think anyone is already writing up speeches, except for MOH who's officiating anyway.  I'm pretty indifferent with speeches and toasts, but figured we should do it since we're skipping alot of stuff?

Otherwise it would just be first dance, quick thank you, eat, drink and party? I think that would be fine too, but I didn't want to lose the feelings of it being a wedding or what most people would expect.

To the bolded, H and I did pretty much that except we did do the F/D and M/S dance but that was more for us to have a moment with those parents then for the guests really.  We had zero speeches/toasts.  I really don't think anyone missed them and we certainly didn't miss them.  We basically walked into our reception, did the spotlight dances (3 of them), had dinner and then partied.  That was it.

tcnoble

We aren't doing bouquet toss/garter toss either and as of right now our timeline looks like this..

7:00pm - B&G groom enter, welcome speech by my father

7:10pm - dinner served (buffet)

8:00pm - toasts (MOH&BM)

8:10pm - cake cutting

8:20pm - first dance, father/daughter dance, open dance floor, PARTY!

Could vary slightly if you want to do spotlight dances before dinner.

tammym1001

EverAfer said:

No offence taken on the Parents dance.

Our intent was just to say thank you to our guests since most of them are travelling to be here.

I don't think anyone is already writing up speeches, except for MOH who's officiating anyway.  I'm pretty indifferent with speeches and toasts, but figured we should do it since we're skipping alot of stuff?

Otherwise it would just be first dance, quick thank you, eat, drink and party? I think that would be fine too, but I didn't want to lose the feelings of it being a wedding or what most people would expect.

The only wedding tradition we did was a cake cutting. There were no dances (not even us), no grand entrance, nothing. MOH and BM did give an impromptu toast that lasted 30 seconds. Believe me, it still felt very much like a wedding and we got a lot of compliments from people that they were glad there wasn't a lot of waiting around and down time. Everyone had a blast.