Help!!! Wedding Day Timeline

[Deleted User]

So I am having my ceremony and reception at the same place. One very large room, local music venue. The ceremony is at 7 PM sharp with reception to follow. I need help with the day of timeline... I'm finding this difficult because I have a wedding band and a dj. We have the venue until 3am. Open bar for 4 hours with appetizer buffet instead of a traditional sit down dinner. I want to allow enough time for the band to play but don't want to wait too late to do all the traditional things!

KatWAG

Knowing very little about your wedding, here is what I would suggest:

7-7:30 ceremony

7:30-8:15 cocktail hour with wedding band playing

8:15- 9:30 dinner, toasts, dances, cake cutting. 

9:30-12 dancing with DJ (bar closes at 11:30pm)

Here are some questions. If you only have an open bar for 4 hours, what do you plan to do after 11:30ppm since you have the venue for so much longer? Will you switch to consumption based bar? Because switching to a cash bar would be really rude. 

Do you expect people to stay until 3am? If so, I would get some late night snacks. 

If you are doing apps/ buffet instead of a sit down night (which is completely fine) you need to make sure you have enough food to be considered a full meal. If not, I would start you ceremony a bit later, and state on your reception card something like "Dessert and dancing to follow" so people know they won't be getting a full meal.