Reception Length - How Long??

christie311

How long is a typical reception? The venue we are looking at allows for only 5hrs. Is that enough time? How long are/were yours and what did you fit in there. I want there to be enough dance time once the formal stuff is out of the way!

aegrish

IMO anything over 5 hours would be exhausting!  for you and your guests.  at least 5 hours at the same venue.  Most receptions I have been to are 4-5 hours.  I think a lot would depend on the size/stamina of your group though too!

christie311

That makes me feel better! There will only be about 80 of us!

cschuma2

We had ours reserved for 5 hours, and that included the time for cocktail hour and a little time to clean up too.  I think this sounds fine.

cmk46202

We are having about 80 guests as well and I'm thinking we won't go the full 4-5 hours. I can't imagine a ton of people out there dancing like there would be at a wedding with 200-300 guests.

caseyandlizzie

Yep, 4-5 Hours is the norm around here too.

DeadUtopia

The banquet hall we rented was only a 5 hour allotment too, but we added on an extra hour so we could have time to clean up without shortening the festivities...we have a party crowd.

em01092

Our cocktail hour is from 5-6 and the reception is from 6-10, so 5 hours total maximum for guests if they want to stay the full duration until our send off.

Luckily, we have the venue for the entire day; they do daily rentals not hourly, so we can come in that morning to check out the set up and be sure its right. Also we do not have to worry about extra time for clean up. 

lthom17

Ours will be 4.5 hours (assuming our ceremony begins on-time), but we may add an additional hour.  This does not include clean-up.

KH 2012

5 hours including cocktail hour!

katheriner89

ours will be closer to 6 hours.

AbbeyS2011

I think 5 hours will be plenty of time, especially with the amount of guests you are having.

Ours is 3.5 hours long, but we are not having any dancing either, so I think that will be more than enough time. 

aemahm

4-5 hours sounds really short to me. All the receptions I've been to start around 5:30 to 6:30 until 2 or 3AM, but I guess it depends. When we booked ours, the sales guy told us you get the room from 5:30 TO 3AM.