First dance without reception

knottiee6d4b2070a6bd056

We have decided to cancel our reception, but I still want to do the first dance. Some have suggested to do it right after we walk out of the church.. does anybody have any input or ideas? Has anyone had a ceremony only and how did that work?

levioosa

knottiee6d4b2070a6bd056 said:

We have decided to cancel our reception, but I still want to do the first dance. Some have suggested to do it right after we walk out of the church.. does anybody have any input or ideas? Has anyone had a ceremony only and how did that work?

If you are having people come to the church for the ceremony you need to host them with a reception afterwards, even if it’s outdoors with pre-wrapped sandwiches and cake. 

ILoveBeachMusic

Yes you need to have some sort of reception to host your guests after the ceremony. It doesn't have to big and elaborate. As @levioosa said it could be outside with pre-wrapped sandwiches. It could also be cake and beverages (non-alcoholic if you want). As long as the food is appropriate to the time of day simple snacks are fine. However, if you are having a wedding that will overlap a normal meal time, you need to provide some kind of meal. 

I'm curious if you are deciding this because of the pandemic (you didn't say when you are planning to be married) or are doing this as a cost savings.

short+sassy

I'm also have a little trouble envisioning what you all are planning to do, in order to answer the question.

If there are no other guests and it's just you and your H after the ceremony, you all can have your first dance wherever you wish and it makes the most sense.  Perhaps with the music coming out of a cell phone or pad and then it could be right outside the church.  Or go somewhere pretty, like a local park.

But, like other PPs have said, if there is even one guest at your all's ceremony, then there needs to be a reception.  Assuming just a few people, it can be as simple as inviting people back to your place and ordering pizza or having a sandwich tray(s) ready.  Or taking everyone out to eat at a casual restaurant.  Have your first dance at that location.

My H and I had an at-home ceremony and reception at my mother's house...which is plane ride away from where we lived.  We had 35 people, including ourselves and our WP.  We had an Ipad playing for background music, but there was no dancing because there wasn't room for it.  We went on our honeymoon without going back to our own home first.

We actually had our "first dance" when we got home from our honeymoon, almost two weeks after our wedding.  Alone, just us.  Not the typical scenario for the "first dance", but it worked for us and was still special.

Jen4948

You can have your "first dance" with or without a reception, but if you invite even one guest to your ceremony, you must provide a reception for that one guest immediately after. It need not be lavish, but it must be consistent with the time of day of the wedding. Doing nothing and expecting your guests to leave and feed themselves is highly inappropriate.

maine7mob

If you're inviting people inside a church to watch your wedding, why not invite them to the parish hall for cake and punch afterwards? Or if the weather is reliably good, have it outside. You can have tables spaced appropriately and have servers masked and gloved. Once everyone has been served their slice of cake and glass of punch (or champagne, if your church allows it), put on the music and do your first dance.