Need help on designing the order of things at the reception

kccgcc

I know the flow of the reception doesn't always have to the same. I was just wondering what the norm is, as far as when to eat and dance and cut cake?

Avion22

We did:

6:00 - 7:00 Cocktail Hour

7:00 Guests asked to find their seats in reception hall

7:05 Bride and Groom announced, straight into welcome/thanks speeches from parents

7:10 Buffet opened, Bride and Groom circulated among tables to greet guests

7:45 Maid of Honor/Best Man toasts, dinner continues

8:15  First Dance, followed by father/daughter mother/son dances

8:25 - 10:45 Open dancing, with DJ annoucing when dessert buffet opened (no cake cutting, but I would do this in here)

Your DJ or MC should be able to suggest some other options and what he/she thinks will work best for you.

JaxInBlue

We did something like:
3:30 - 4:30 Cocktail hour
4:30 - Entrances and first dance
5:00 - MOH/Best man speeches, blessing
5:10 - Dinner served (table visits after we ate)
6:15 - Father daughter dance/mother son dances
6:25 - Open dancing
7:15 - Anniversary dance
7:30 - Cake cutting
7:35 - Open dancing resumes
10:00 - Reception ends

Summer2011Bride

I'm going to just post the order of what we did and leave off times:

Entrance
Salads served
While eating salads, did the toasts
Dinner served
Cut cake
First dance
Parent dances
Cake served while dance floor opened

fallbride1109

If you have a DJ or an event planner at your venue, he/she can help you.

Ours was:

B&G Announcement
B&G First dance
Dinner
Cake cutting and toasts (hour after dinner)
Dancing (spotlight dances could go here)
Garter/bouquet (2 hours after dinner)
Dancing
Last dance for guests
B&G private last dance
Exit

DramaGeek

Ours was

Dinner (we did a buffet and H and I stood near the buffet line to greet everyone, then ate quickly by ourselves before going in)

Entrance

Cake Cutting

First Dance

Father/Daughter dance

Open to everyone

transcriber87

The venue where I am getting married and having my reception has an event planner there and she said she would guide things along.  After our gazebo wedding at 7, the guests will walk a few feet into the reception hall while our photographer does all the pics outside...there will be appetizers/drinks for our guests...then we will be introduced, get our food and sit and eat, then the guests will follow...we will be done eating, having our toasts and then while the guests eat, have our first dances (I think this is the timeline she gave us) the dance floor will open up for dancing for a while, we will do the garter and bouquet toss, dance some more, then cut the cake and more dancing...