Leave before guests or stay until the end

LizzyRB

From your experiences, is it more fun as a bride to stay until the very end or to leave a little before closing time (say leave 11:45 for reception ending at 12) and have a grand exit with sparklers or something?

[Deleted User]

We'll be staying until the end and then heading to the bar in the hotel across the street with some guests where we'll be staying

jessicabessica

We stayed until the very end, and we sat around chatting with friends for a while (afternoon reception, over around 7).  

The last wedding we attended, the couple also stayed until the very end--DH's best friend was the groom, so they had some scotch and the bride finally got to sit down to a plate of food.  

aragx6

We're doing the same as what Duds did except that we do have our own little town car to take us -- the limo company threw it in with our coach rental. We have it for an hour so I figure we should be driven around for a while and make out :P

fallbride1109

Where I live, people do a grand exit.  Here, the bar packages are 4 hours and when the bar closes, it's pretty much over,  unless you do an after party.

The cool thing about it is, most brides here do a private last dance.  The DJ clears the room for everyone to go line up, like with sparklers, whatever.  And the B&G have a last dance with just the photographer present.  It was our favorite part of the whole night. 

[Deleted User]

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_leave-before-guests-or-stay-until-the-end?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:c82e85e0-49ef-433e-88ee-61692dfd20aePost:2c8fd8ef-2594-48d7-bf87-ce532401ba39">Re: Leave before guests or stay until the end</a>:
[QUOTE]Where I live, people do a grand exit.  Here, the bar packages are 4 hours and when the bar closes, it's pretty much over,  unless you do an after party. The cool thing about it is, most brides here do a private last dance.  The DJ clears the room for everyone to go line up, like with sparklers, whatever.  And the B&G have a last dance with just the photographer present.  It was our favorite part of the whole night. 
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

That is so incredibly sweet! I should see if my venue and photographer can do this I just love the pictures!

alithebride

personally i've never understood couples leaving before the guests do.

stay until the end is my vote.

Queen Jane

We stayed til the end, but we had a suite at the venue so it was an obvious choice.

Summer2011Bride

We stayed until the very end because all our best friends were still partying it up and we didn't want to miss out on the fun. We also wanted to help gather up all our stuff (like gifts, our toasting flutes, etc) instead of putting that on someone else. I have seen some neat grand exits, but it just wasn't for us. We ended our reception at 11, so it's not like it went super late anyhow.

LuckyGirl1713

in my humble opinion you paid all this money for a wedding and you should enjoy every single second of it! we are staying to the very end of our reception.

lyndausvi

We stayed until the very end.  I also don't understand couples leaving before the end.  When the couple leaves it is the end. 

DramaGeek

We left when we felt ready.  Around here the couple leaving signals the end.  We had to be out by 9 and we left about 8:30 I think.  We did not do a big grand exit though, everyone just walked us out to the car and waved as we left.

mbrischoux

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_leave-before-guests-or-stay-until-the-end?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:c82e85e0-49ef-433e-88ee-61692dfd20aePost:2c8fd8ef-2594-48d7-bf87-ce532401ba39">Re: Leave before guests or stay until the end</a>:
[QUOTE]Where I live, people do a grand exit.  Here, the bar packages are 4 hours and when the bar closes, it's pretty much over,  unless you do an after party.<strong> The cool thing about it is, most brides here do a private last dance.  The DJ clears the room for everyone to go line up, like with sparklers, whatever.  And the B&G have a last dance with just the photographer present.  It was our favorite part of the whole night. 
</strong>Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

I lpve this...wish we had done something like that.

We stayed until the end without a formal exit.  It wasn't missed.

Belle0720

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_leave-before-guests-or-stay-until-the-end?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:5Discussion:c82e85e0-49ef-433e-88ee-61692dfd20aePost:2c8fd8ef-2594-48d7-bf87-ce532401ba39">Re: Leave before guests or stay until the end</a>:
[QUOTE]Where I live, people do a grand exit.  Here, the bar packages are 4 hours and when the bar closes, it's pretty much over,  unless you do an after party. The cool thing about it is, most brides here do a private last dance.  The DJ clears the room for everyone to go line up, like with sparklers, whatever.  And the B&G have a last dance with just the photographer present.  It was our favorite part of the whole night. 
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

I looove this idea!

[Deleted User]

A last dance sounds so sweet, maybe I could work it in. We have to be out by 11 so I'm having the dj annouce nicely for everyone to say goodbye around 10:20 (and we will start walking around saying goodbye and thank yous a little bit before then).I also put that its ending at 10:30 on the wedding website so maybe people will leave a little early. Hopefully it will leave us 15 minutes to get everything packed up. 

bridejl

My vote is also for staying until the end. I agree with the sentiment that you paid for it all, so why not enjoy it? It's also more fun for the guests. At my friend's wedding last summer, the B&G left at 9 when the DJ was there until 11. My friends and I continued dancing until 11, but it was awkward and we missed celebrating with the bride. It was kind of like they were way too anxious for the wedding night...