reception timeline advice

kimandrob1317

I am having an issue organizing my reception timeline. We are getting married at 2, plan on doing all of our entrances, cake cutting, toasts, first dances, bouquet toss etc first. We have the venue until midnight, so we will probably stop all activities around 10/10:30. We have access to a ballfield for whiffleball, park playground, core hole, games, kids area. We want to spend as much time as we can with friends and family during the day. It is going to be like a wedding field day extravaganza. So should we plan all of these activities before and/or after, or during dancing?? 
Not everyone is going to want to dance or play games, but I want to make everything as smooth and inclusive as possible. What is the best way to do that?

Would it be reasonable to do all the games and mingling early evening (3-5) and then do partying an dancing after??

lovegood90

How long is your ceremony? Were you planning on serving lunch or dinner ?

kimandrob1317

15-20 min. We are planning on serving a late lunch right after our ceremony while we are taking pictures outside. So then we do our entrances, cut the cake, etc. I want people to have choices for entertainment so we decided to do a indoor/outdoor mix of activities and dancing. Just didn't know if maybe the dancing should be earlier/later/ongoing? Or if it really mattered?

[Deleted User]

kimandrob1317 said:

15-20 min. We are planning on serving a late lunch right after our ceremony while we are taking pictures outside. So then we do our entrances, cut the cake, etc. I want people to have choices for entertainment so we decided to do a indoor/outdoor mix of activities and dancing. Just didn't know if maybe the dancing should be earlier/later/ongoing? Or if it really mattered?

Ongoing, I think.  The people who will dance will likely not play cornhole and vice versa.  I mean, they might, but it's a different kind of personality.  Though people might go inside, get a drink at the bar, dance their way across the dancefloor for a couple of songs, head back outside for a game or cornhole, and do it again when they finish their drink.

MandyMost

I would suggest you do perhaps an extended cocktail hour (maybe 90 minutes) immediately following the ceremony, outside where people can play the games outside. 

2-2:30 ceremony

2:30-4pm cocktail hour and outside games

4pm-4:30 intro, toasts

4:30-5:30pm dinner

5:30pm-10pm--spotlight dances, followed by opening the dance floor. You can also have the outside still available if people want to go back out

I'd also make sure you have additional food available later in the evening for whatever timeline you're doing. People are going to leave if they have a late lunch at 2:30, and then nothing else to eat. In that case, I'd think you basically need enough food out for another meal around 7pm if you expect people to not leave and go get themselves dinner. If you do the timeline above, I'd expect you'd just want some heavy snacks out for people around 8 or 9pm. 

kimandrob1317

Good concepts I like the idea of ongoing. I just didn't know how to lay it out! Thank you! We got engaged at the softball field, so we wanted to incorporate a passion of ours and many guests, while still able to keep 20-30 kids occupied too! The park next to our venue is where we had one of our first dates too. So regardless of activities or not, it's just gonna be a fun sentimental day.

kimandrob1317

We are also having a projector playing the final four games if uk or u of L are playing. No sound, just the game. But we and a lot of our guests are huge fans of either team. So i think during the games(usually 8/9) we will serve "game time" snacks then.

Knottie74992899

I like the idea that you are doing all of the "wedding" traditions first.  2-12 is a very long time and people like me will leave after the meal.  Best Wishes!