Spin-off: How long should the reception be?

beethery

How long should dinner be served? How long should all the traditional stuff (if you're into that) take? How long should the wild dance party go on?

If you're not doing dancing, how long should the reception be then?

Questions for the ages!

misshart00

My reception was about 1.5 hours but it was later and a dessert reception. It was perfect for me. I am not a big partier.

JoanE2012

We had ceremony from 6-6:30, cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 and reception (dinner/dancing) from 7:30-11:30. We did intros, first dance, parent dances.  No speeches or toasts.  Went right into first course.  Then DJ opened up the dance floor between courses.  After dinner was done, more dancing, cake cutting and coffee/tea served around 9:30pm.  More dancing.  Most people started leaving by 10:30-11pm.  I thought the timing of everything was perfect.

If there was no dancing, I'd keep it to 3 hours instead of 4.  You'd probably still have people leaving a little early, but nobody would be rushed.

mysticl

Cocktail hour was 1-2. Lunch was 2-3. Cake and dancing was 3-5. People started cutting out around 4:30. I had thought I wanted a longer reception but this ended up being perfect.

QueerFemme

Our cocktail hour was from 3:30-4:30. Dinner from 4:30-5:30, cake cutting right after dinner, and partying from 5:30-9ish. But, most people started heading out around 8:30

AddieCake

Ours was 2 hours at lunchtime.

theartistformerlyknownas

Ours is scheduled for:

Ceremony 4 til around 4:45 (haven't completely planned the ceremony yet)

Cocktail hour immediately after

Intros and cake cutting around 5:45, maybe earlier

Dinner promptly at 6

Dancing 7-11 (dueling pianos for 2 hours, DJ for the rest)

Late night snack at 9:30 or 10

If nobody stays til 11 I won't be butthurt, but I don't want to kick anyone out. Heck if the party's still hoppin' I might make the call to extend til 12 for whatever extra fee that is.

Weddings I've been to have been all over the board... sometimes everyone filters out around 9:30, other times we close the place down. Buuuut... my wedding's gonna be pretty damn awesome so I hope people want to stay!

emmyg65

Our reception was 4.5 hours:

Ceremony: 5-6

Dinner: 6-7:30

Brief thank you speech, cake cutting and serving, first dance: 7:30-8

Dancing: 8-10:30

The dance floor was still full but we had agreed to turn the music off at 10:30. Many people decamped to the hotel bar for the after party. I really wish we had been able to dance for longer, but when you get married at someone's house, they make the rules.

izza2

Ours isn't set in stone, it's a complete rough draft still, but..

Ceremony: 1-1:30

Lunch: 1:30-2:30

Thanks, cake cutting and then "special" dances: 2:30-3

Dancing/Socializing/Having a great time: 3-Whenever.

But, we're thinking of having our cut-off point for dancing and stuff at like 6 or 7. We have to call the venue's owner that night to let her know we're all out and cleared so she can come and lock it up, and although she set the last call at 11 PM for everyone to be out, we seriously don't want her to have to come out that late to lock up the place.

And we're going to be the last ones out to make sure everyone's gone, and we don't want to get home at midnight. I'm pretty well half dead to the world at 9:30 anyway; seems to be my bed time. :P

I figure most people will probably leave around 5-6 or so, anyways, from my experience at other weddings, so it should work out pretty good.

tammym1001

Ours was:

Ceremony: 4:00-4:30
Cocktail hour: 4:30-5:30(ish)
Salad served: 5:45
Dinner: 6:00-6:45
A little mingling and short toast: 6:45-7:15
Cake cutting: 7:15
Dancing: 7:15-9:00 (nobody wanted to leave and the venue had to turn the music off because we were supposed to be out by 8:30)
9:00-2:30: hosted after party

We had a very small wedding with only 35 guests and didn't do any of the regular wedding traditions other than cake cutting so it was very relaxed. This wasn't our original time schedule but it's just how things ended up flowing that night.

MyNameIsNot

Our reception was 5 hours.  Dinner was about an hour, first dances and BS was about 20 minutes, then dancing for about 4 hours.  

Most people stayed until the end and went to the after party.  Open bar does that to my family.  

Ven&Radio

Our entire wedding from ceremony to grand exit was 4 hours.  I'm a big fan of leaving while I'm still having fun, so I didn't want it to be super long.  The people who wanted to keep partying moved to the bar of the hotel where we blocked rooms.  The 'traditional stuff' doesn't take very long, less than 30 minutes.

Approximate timeline:

5:30-5:40 Ceremony
5:40-6:40 Cocktail hour
6:40-7:00 Move inside, introductions, first dance, toasts
7:00-8:00 Dinner
8:00-8:10 Cake cutting, Parent dances
8:10-9:20 Open dancing
9:20-9:30 Give away bouquet, last dance, grand exit

PrettyGirlLost

beethery said:

How long should dinner be served? How long should all the traditional stuff (if you're into that) take? How long should the wild dance party go on?

If you're not doing dancing, how long should the reception be then?

Questions for the ages!

Depending on how many ppl are in attendance, the reception dinners I have been to have lasted between 1.5hrs for a plated meal and 2-2.5 hours for buffets or food stations.

The toasts should be brief imo, and take no more than 3 or 4 minutes a person- they are toasts not speeches- and should be limited to no more than 3 or 4 people. At the receptions I have been to they take place during dinner.

Spotlight dances and the tosses should be under 10 minutes total.

The receptions I have been to have all lasted between 4 and 6 hours, with the majority leaning towards the 6 hour mark. They usually have 3 to 4 hours of dancing. . . Which is what I love and look forward to!

donethat

Lots of "depends on" but here's an approx idea for an evening event:

Cocktails/socializing 1    hour

Dinner (including introductions/toasts/cake) 1.5 hours

Dancing (including special dances) 2.5 hours

TOTAL 5    hours

Of course, time can be taken away from or added to any of the above areas, "depending" on you and fi, venue, budget, families, and also drinking or dancing love (or not).      But, a 5 hour block is a pretty good start.