Wedding Reception Forum

Extending The Reception....

We are thinking of extending the reception an hour  to make it a 5 hour reception instead of 4. Right now our reception is ending at 9:00, but we feel maybe 10:00 is a better time to end. We also are adding Vienesse dessert tables, so I feel it takes time away from dancing and we'd really like to party! We'd be having the DJ stay additional time and then extending the open bar the additional hour....

It's a destination wedding and everything is taking place at the one hotel so I can't picture people leaving early since their rooms are right there... I just feel like 9:00 is a little early to end??

For those of you who have extended the reception, do you feel it was worth it?

Re: Extending The Reception....

  • Our reception was 5 hours, including cocktail hour.  At the end, 90% of our guests were still there, and over half of them went on to the after party. 

    If you have the budget, go ahead and extend it.  But plan to have all the formal stuff done in the first 3 hours or so so that your guests with kids or who are older feel free to leave earlier.
  • I say go for it!!  My friend got married in August and her reception was 7pm-11pm.  At 11pm we couldn't believe it was over...we wanted to party allllllll night!! 

    So, if you want to extend it, go ahead.  Whoever wants to stay can stay, and whoever wants to leave can leave. 
  • I would definitely extend it. Ours will be 7-midnight. After all, people will be on vacation.

    The other option would be to maybe have an "after party" if the hotel has a bar or there's something else close by.
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  • Thanks for all the advice! I think we are going to do it... I just feel like it would be more fun.

    I had thought about doing some sort of after party at the hotel bar, but then I feel kind of weird inviting guests there and then making them pay for drinks at the hotel bar, whereas if we just extend the reception we can just have the hotel extend the open bar there... plus then the DJ would be there and there'd still be dancing. I'm going to email the venue about it and see what they think and price it... extending our DJ is $100, which I think is worth it. Everyone said the night flies by, so why not make it last a little longer, right?

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_extending-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:f2979f0d-07f9-407d-b522-c4c555667240Post:d41e9550-3861-42ab-8f10-a88b92a9f94f">Re: Extending The Reception....</a>:
    [QUOTE] Everyone said the night flies by, so why not make it last a little longer, right?
    Posted by bellebride116[/QUOTE]

    <div>Exactly!  We had a DW as well so everyone was staying at the hotel...  We started cocktails at 4:30PM and wrapped it up at a little after midnight.  No one started leaving until around 11PM and the younger guests stayed until the very end...  You won't regret extending ;)</div>
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