Dancing at Reception...How Long?

rands09

Hey, Gals! How long did the dancing portion of your reception last? We are planning our May 2010 wedding, and I met with a potential wedding planner this past weekend, who told me that dancing only typically lasts about an hour to an hour and a half...really?I was telling her that I wanted to extend the reception venue time by an hour to allow for more dancing, and she said that after 2 hours, guests would be ready to go. Maybe its just me, but our family and friends are dancers...and hour just didnt seem long enough...what have you ladies found?

becs11048

Wedding is in a few weeks Cocktails 5:30 to 6:30 Dinner 6:30 to 8:00 Dancing 8:00 to Midnight Pretty typical timeline for weddings that I have been to (about 10-15 in the last 3 years)

~mRm~

Most weddings I've been to (including my own) is at least 3 - 4 hours of dancing.

Lasairiona

Honestly, I would not hire that wedding planner since they clearly don't have the correct information. If all you have is 1-1.5 hrs of dancing, really why bother? Every wedding that I have been to with dancing has had 4-5 hrs for dancing alone, not counting any other events going on, and everyone involved was happy with it and didn't want it to end. If 2 hrs is too short for you and your guests then obviously you need to have a longer period available for dancing. Put your foot down and if someone talks you out of it, find a different vendor who is willing to work with what you want. You are paying them to work for you and see that your requests are fulfilled, not the other way around.

ootmother2

Don't hire this wedding planner!Dancing is usually 4 hours or more and bands book in those segments.   I think DJs probably do as well

Lady05

OH Girlie Please get a new planner she does not want to be bothered with you all night at your wedding. NOT A GOOD SIGN. DJ's typically require 4hrs min. No DJ or Band want to take all that time setting up to their equipment to turn around and break it down after ONLY 1 - 1.5hr of dancing. Thats so not cool. You want atleast 4hrs. Shoot girl it will take some guest time to warm up ... ha ha  ha The weddings I have been to and including mine when my big day comes will have atleast 4 hrs. Good Luck w/ your planner! HTH!

mandyandmike2009

My wedding starts at 6 done by 6:15. Every starts eating right away while we are taking pics. We will be in by 7 and dancing starts at 7 and ends at 10. Even 10 seems too early for me. I am thinking about having it end at 11 because I love to dance. One hour makes NO sense at all.

grace_anthony

same thing our dancing was 4 hours.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

5:30-6:00 ceremony 6:00-7:00 Cocktail hour 7:00-8:30 platted dinner 8:30-midnight dancing So approx. 3.5 hours of dancing. We have the DJ frm 7pm-12am (string quartet for ceremony and cocktail hour), he will be playing background music for the dinner portion and then dance music the rest of the night. An hour seems really short to me, especially since during that time things like cake cutting, bouquet toss, ect happen, and those things will really break up the dancing and turn an hour into half an hour pretty easily.

rands09

Thank you all! Everyone backed up what I had experienced! I've never been to a wedding with less than 3 hours of dancing. Thanks so much - and yes - we are not going with that wedding planner!!