5 hr Reception Timeline w/ Buffet style Dinner.
Hello everyone,
I am in need of help with my reception timeline. Our Ceremony is taking place at a church at 3:00pm and our reception is about 15 minutes away.... but, our reception does not start until 6 pm. I'm thinking the Ceremony might take about 30 minutes, then after a few pictures at the church, we want to take pictures at another location. Which is the reason for the gap in time between Ceremony and Reception. I want to be able to enjoy all 5 hours, after all were paying for it. I'm just having a hard time figuring our the timeline it self, see we want as much dancing time as possible. We are having around 140 guest (mostly adults), but our tricky situation is the Buffet dinner. We have to have dinner started right away in order to have a lot of time to party. So our plan is to do all the speeches and traditional dances right away. So far, this is what I have. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
In the end this is just a timeline, I know that they don't always go according to plan and on time!!
Some details
Open Bar will be closed for the Dinner Hour 7-8
Photo Booth will be open from 6-10
6:00 pm Doors will open with open bar and appetizer being served. At this time the guest will also look for their table and take a seat , at the tables the salad will already be served for them to begin eating.
6:30 pm Bridal Party Entrance. The Bride and Groom will have the First Dance. Brother and Sister Dance followed by Son and Mother dance. The Groom will thank everyone for Coming.
7:00 Buffet dinner will start. Tables will be called one by one. (Starting with the Bridal Party)
7:30 Speeches from the MOH and BM. Then will Follow the Brides Mother and the Grooms Father.(Some guest will be in line for food)
8:00 Music will start picking up momentum to have guest start joining the Dance Floor.(By this time the Bridal party should have been fed and can start dancing)
8:30 Bouquet Toss
9:00 Gardner Toss
9:30 Cake Cutting (Served)
10:00 Dancing
10:30 More Dancing
11:00 Time to Go Home
Re: 5 hr Reception Timeline w/ Buffet style Dinner.
Everyone.... Please share your suggestions as requested for the Reception Timeline. I understand that not everyone is in favor of a gap in time between Ceremony and Reception. I have been to a few weddings myself with breaks in time and we would go to a local bar and grab some drinks or if close by, go home and freshen up for the Reception.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Yes we will have refreshments at the church for after the ceremony. And yes there will be suggestions on where to go for those 2 hours. One of the options includes the Grooms parents’ home that is close by. This place will also have Refreshments. I did not include all these details because I was specifically asking for the Reception Timeline suggestion. I only mentioned the gap as background information.
Everyone is entitled to their own ideas for how they want their Wedding to go. People will always have something to complain about no matter how hard you try, if the gap in time is one of them, im ok with that as long as they have a great time at the reception (which is my main concern). At no point is my intent to be rude. I simply wanted to get the pictures done during the gap so that we may have time to enjoy the entire reception. I was not expecting to get bashed on something I wasn't even inquiring about just mentioning. But thank you all for your suggestions. My gab in time will remain as is.
Gaps are rude because it causes inconvenience for your guests. The job of a host, in the case of a reception, your and your NEW husband (woohoo!) is to make your guests feel as comfortable as possible. It is not to get everything you want. In fact, a good host puts their guests above their own wants, your want being pictures.
Gaps cause issues. Even if your ceremony ends at 3:30, that is 2.5 hours till the reception which then lasts till 11. So if people walk in right at ceremony time they are devoting 8 hours, plus drive time to your party, some of which they will be left wondering what to do. Even if one of the parents do host something are they prepared for 150 people to show up and park at their home? What other "activities" are you suggesting? Are they really things you would want to do all dressed up in wedding attire? The questions go on and on.
What honestly gets me is you saying "I do not care if they think it is rude." This translates to "I do not case if I cause hardship, frustration, and/or boredom to my guests." which is shocking and is something I would think only a rude person would say. Owning your rudeness does not resolve you of anything and comes off even worse.
Bottom Line: You asked for help for doing the wrong thing. Most of the people on this board are not going to help you do the wrong thing.
Ok so this post tells me that you don't want suggestions, you want validation for your longgap. And you aren't going to get that here.
ETA: Your post says you want people to have a good time at your reception. A good start would be to not have a long gap... Just saying.
Thank you to those that are giving me the Reception timeline suggestions.
I will move the spotlight stuff all together with out the gaps. As one person mentioned no one wants to stop dancing to see that stuff anyways. As for the dances they will probably short (not the entire song). The DJ is going to do his thing to make the song end early with out sounding completely cut off mid dance. And I have also made it clear to those speaking to keep the speeches short and sweet. But I will probably move those closer to the dances.
I have a reception timeline suggestion. Close the gap.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and think that perhaps gaps are normal in your area so you're not sure what's wrong with them. But normal/common =/= proper etiquette/not rude. The second you invite guests to witness your marriage, the day ceases to be about you and becomes about them. The reception is meant as a thank you to the guests and should immediately follow the ceremony. Asking your guests to wait around so you can take pictures is a slap in their face. Your family and friends will not tell you this is rude, because they love you. But they will be upset, and they will talk about you behind your back. Your wedding is one day, but how you treat people on that one day will affect your relationships for years to come.
In addition, do you really want your parents to worry about managing guests at their property? Do you really want to inconvenience them like that? How inconsiderate to make them do that when they should be enjoying your wedding. The last thing I would want on my wedding day is for my Mom to worry about the house and providing refreshments.
Take the majority of the pictures before the ceremony, and then use the 60-90 minute cocktail hour to take the rest of the pictures. That's what the cocktail hour is for. Unless you take all of the pictures prior to the ceremony, you will most likely not get to attend the cocktail hour. Which is fine, because it is for your guests, not you.
We are not trying to be mean. We are trying to help you host your guests well and have a great wedding. All of us here have been to a wedding with a gap, and they suck. I don't need time to "freshen up," and I don't want "planned activities" to do or a third place to drive to. I just want to be hosted well. I promise you your guests are thinking the same thing.
See how ridiculous that is? So yea, I'm going to comment on your gap and try to help you eliminate it.
3:30-4 - ceremony
4-4:30 - receiving line
4:30-5:45 - refreshments at the church for guests (this is your "cocktail hour")
4:30-5:45 - pictures for B&G
5:45-6 drive time to reception venue
6:15 introductions and MOH/BM toasts
6:30-7:30/8 - dinner
7:30 - first dances
7:45 - bouquet/garter toss (personally I would skip these)
8 - cake cutting
8-11pm - party!
In your current plan, you have 30 minutes for intros/dances/groom toast, 30 minutes for the bouquet toss, 30 minutes for the garter toss (what is he planning to DO?!), 30 minutes for more toasts and 30 minutes for cake cutting/service. That's wayyyyyy too much "stuff" time.
The best weddings are ones where they don't stop every 15 minutes to kick everyone off the dance floor or direct their attention somewhere else. Try to group the "stuff" so you get it all done at once and leave plenty of uninterrupted dance floor time.
6:00-11:00 open bar
6:00 Guests and bride & groom all arrive at reception location. People find their tables. Champagne is served. Perhaps there are some spontaneous toasts.
6:30 Buffet dinner will begin, with one table called at a time (we only have 60 guests, so it should not take too long to get everyone food)
7:00-9:00 Dancing and socializing. There are no scheduled dances or tosses.
9:00 (or thereabouts): Cake & coffee
9:00-11:00 More dancing and socializing
11:00 Alas, time to say goodnight
Can you push your ceremony start time back to 3:30pm?
2nd, if you are having 140 guests you really need to allocate 1.5-2 hours for your buffet. I had 150ish guests and my buffet was ~2hours long and it was the perfect amount of time for everyone to eat their fill at a comfortable, social but efficient pace.
3rd, unless your venue has a wierd policy, do not close the bar during dinner. Keep it open from cocktail hour through an hour prior to the end of your reception.
Your wedding timeline is very, very similar to my own wedding- minus the HUGE and annoying gap- I had a Catholic Mass at 3:00pm and a 6.5 hour reception immediately following. so my timeline suggestion is:
Ceremony- 3:30pm-4:00pm
Receiving Line- 4:00pm-4:30pm
WP Pictures- 4:30pm-5:30pm
Cocktail Hour at church- 4:30pm- 5:45pm
Everyone Drives to Reception- 5:45pm-6:00pm
WP Entrance- ~6:00pm
Cake Cutting and Groom says Thanks- ~6:05pm
Buffet Dinner- ~6:10pm- 7:40pm/8:00pm- Any toasts can be done during dinner.
Cake is served- 8:00pm
1st Dance, Bride/Father Dance, Groom/Mother Dance- 8:00pm- 8:10pm at latest. Spotlight dances done while guests eat dessert; skip the Brother/Sister dance, 3 spotlight dances is plenty. If you really *need* to have this dance, do it later in the night during open dancing and let everyone participate with whomever is dancing.
Also skip the bouquet and garter tosses- most people do not enjoy them, especially if very few people in your crowd are single. That just makes those people feel singled out and awkward. Plus this gives more time for open dancing, which everyone enjoys!
Open Dancing- 8:10pm- 11pm!
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
Thank you guys for your suggestions. I will look into the 3:30 start time, that will actually eliminate the gap itself. (So nooo more rants) And will keep all the guest in one place (Church) with refreshments until the reception officially begins at 6. And at that time the bridal party can take pictures without actually missing any part of the reception. Very helpful !