Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines

ceglare4

How many are having one? My venue discourages them because the ceremony/reception are all in the same location and there isn't really an ideal spot for one. The wedding coordinator advised that we go to take pictures immediately following the ceremony while our guests scoot off to the cocktail hour. Is this rude? Are receiving lines a neccessity? I personally hate them as a WP member because I never know the majority of the guests and think it's so awkward. But if it was just me and FI, that wouldn't be so bad.

LADY324

we are not doing one.  They take too long and our wedding is outside so I don't want all of the guests to be hot waiting on line.  We plan to say hi to as many people as we can during the cocktail hour.

butterflyjumper1

We are planning to do one that will just be FI's parents, my parents, and then the two of us, immediately following the ceremony. I agree, when the wedding party is in the receiving line, it is awkward and pointless. I don't need to introduce myself and say hi to every single groomsmen, sorry. 

I know that it is important to my parents to be able to say hi and receive congratulations and thank all of the guests that are at the ceremony.  They won't do the table-to-table walk like fiance and I will at the reception, so the receiving line is really more for my parents than for us. 

penny12986

Receiving lines are not a necessity.  We are not doing one.  We are going from the ceremony immediately to take pictures so that we can cut down people's waiting time since we are not doing a first look.

mekiakoo

I didn't really want one but decided to do one since we'll have about 220 guests and every wedding I've been to around here has had a receiving line. It'll give the guests a opportunity to actually talk to us.

We're limiting it to FI and I with our parents though.

We're doing pictures before the wedding and then fun pictures after the wedding while people venture off to cocktail hour.

bells24412

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_spin-off-of-reception-plans-below-receiving-lines?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:a46d0034-08f8-4e60-ac60-613bf09a52f6Post:b221c629-cee6-4435-97fc-e3092c4d55c9">Re: Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines</a>:
[QUOTE]we are not doing one.  They take too long and our wedding is outside so I don't want all of the guests to be hot waiting on line. <strong> We plan to say hi to as many people as we can during the cocktail hour.
</strong>Posted by LADY324[/QUOTE]

Ditto

michelle11988

We are not doing one and they are actually not allowed at the church we are getting married at.  I have never been to a wedding with a receiving line, and we want to go get our pictures taken after the ceremony.

Amanda1443994

Receiving lines aren't necessary and we are still undecided if we're going to do one. We're having a church wedding and will be taking pictures after while the guests are at cocktail hour.

Out of curiousity, those that are having a receiving line with just bride, groom, and parents, what are the other bridal party members doing at this time? I've never seen it done this way and I may consider it now. Do they just stand around and wait?

lvissers

I've only been to one wedding ever where they had a receiving line and that wedding was in Iowa. It must not be common on the west coast. I have to admit, it was boring waiting for them to go through everyone with 400 people and just sitting waiting so we could leave the church. I understand that with so many guests that might have been their only way to say hi to everyone though. We are going to do some fast rounds after dinner to say hi to everyone at their tables. We will have 120-140 guests.

butterflyjumper1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_spin-off-of-reception-plans-below-receiving-lines?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:a46d0034-08f8-4e60-ac60-613bf09a52f6Post:86be4d5a-1491-4d2b-8cf3-d2dbd1903706">Re: Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines</a>:
[QUOTE]Receiving lines aren't necessary and we are still undecided if we're going to do one. We're having a church wedding and will be taking pictures after while the guests are at cocktail hour. Out of curiousity, those that are having a receiving line with just bride, groom, and parents, what are the other bridal party members doing at this time? I've never seen it done this way and I may consider it now. Do they just stand around and wait?
Posted by Amanda1443994[/QUOTE]

I have been to a lot lately that do it this way. in fact, I think it makes a lot more sense.  The BP members will just mingle with the guests and chat, they can go to the bridal party holding area at the church if they want to, but I anticipate they will just hang out with friends who are guests at the wedding, touch base with their spouses, etc..  We will all reconvene for pictures once the receiving line is done. The last wedding I went to did it this way, and I actually hung out with one of my friends who was in the BP during the receiving line time. 

xobride

We're only going to have about 60 people and we know them all very well so we're not having one.  We'll be doing pictures during cocktail hour and then will visit with everyone during the reception.  I agree that receiving lines can be tedious, but with a big wedding, I can see the sense in them, but I definitely don't think they're required.

ceglare4

Good to know I'm not doing anything wrong!

bridetobe71412

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_spin-off-of-reception-plans-below-receiving-lines?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:a46d0034-08f8-4e60-ac60-613bf09a52f6Post:07f0d380-144c-4071-a827-5e52bf97a37a">Re: Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines</a>:
[QUOTE]We are not doing one and they are actually not allowed at the church we are getting married at.  I have never been to a wedding with a receiving line, and we want to go get our pictures taken after the ceremony.
Posted by michelle11988[/QUOTE]

Not sure it's "not allowed" at our church, but our church only gives us 30 minutes following the end of the ceremony before we have to be out. I'd rather get pictures in the church during those 30 minutes than spend the time on a receiving line.

Aside from the fact that I've never seen it done well with a large group of people. Everyone ends up just waiting in line for like half an hour to say hi to a row of people that they'll end up seeing at the reception anyway. It's always a big clusterf*ck whenever I've seen it done. 

That's just my opinion, though :) haha 

Amanda1443994

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_spin-off-of-reception-plans-below-receiving-lines?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:a46d0034-08f8-4e60-ac60-613bf09a52f6Post:fb6ee1c4-7173-478e-a229-ed60df03c8eb">Re: Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Spin off of "reception plans" below... receiving lines : I have been to a lot lately that do it this way. in fact, I think it makes a lot more sense.  The BP members will just mingle with the guests and chat, they can go to the bridal party holding area at the church if they want to, but I anticipate they will just hang out with friends who are guests at the wedding, touch base with their spouses, etc..  We will all reconvene for pictures once the receiving line is done. The last wedding I went to did it this way, and I actually hung out with one of my friends who was in the BP during the receiving line time. 
Posted by butterflyjumper1[/QUOTE]

Hmm that does sound like a better way to do it! All the weddings I have been to have been very traditional and when I mentioned to some people that I may not do a receiving line, they were shocked. So this sounds like a good way to do it (: Thanks!

BmoreBride311

Our church doesn't allow them, and I don't really like the idea of them, so I think instead we are going to float from table to table at the reception saying hi to everyone. We'll especially focus on those who we didn't chat with at the CH.

k8888

My FI and I are having one, but just the 2 of us.  I'd like to know who came to the actual ceremony.  We're having a church ceremony and the reception is about 35 minutes away from the church, so I'd like to thank those who made the trip.

We're also not allowed back inside the church for pictures, so it won't interfere with that.

Melissa.hylton

Not doing one. I feel like there shouldnt be a problem with mingling. Plus people come up to you anyway. Every wedding I have been to I always approach the bride and groom to congraulate and thank them for the invite. 

BeachLover2885

We probably won't do a receiving line because our cocktail hour will start immediately after the ceremony, so we wil trangry greet as many people then. The way our venue is set up, I'm not sure where we would have a receiving line anyway. I've only seen them at church weddings now that I think about it.

MeaganR12

Not doing one. But we're having a relatively small wedding (~100 people) so we shouldn't have a problem greeting every guest. We're also doing a first look so we'll probably come close to greeting everyone during the cocktail hour.

arunkumar

From the original post, I am doing one. It's just FI and me. Our reception is in a different location and we are having only 130 guests so it won't take too long.

I went to a wedding once where after bride and groom were introduced at the reception they stood on the dance floor and an announcement was made that everyone could greet/congratulate them at that time.  It was like a voluntary receiving line for guests. I don't know if this is common though.

Nancy00714

We're not doing one.  We have a 30 second walk from the ceremony to the cocktail hour. We will just be mingling during cocktail hour and continue to mingle curing the reception.  With 100 people there I'm sure I'll be able to say hi to everyone in 5 hours. 

And we are taking pics before (but maybe we'll take a few before joining cocktail hour). 

NIKKIANDTYE

We are not doing one either, we feel that we will see everyone at the reception after we take our pictures

littlemoments324

We're definitely not doing one!  We're mingling at the reception

TChiumi

We are not doing one.  In fact I don't think they are very common here the last time I went to a wedding and they had a receiving line was like 10 years ago.  We will thank our guest for coming at the cocktail hour and reception.