mild freak out/what is your timeline?

pillsburyaj

Just got the proposed timeline for the wedding and it is stressing me out!

Here is part of it;
6:00 PM    Pre-ceremony cocktails served
6:30 PM    Music begins; Ushers seat guests
6:55 PM    Ushers stop seating guests
7:00 PM    Officiant, Groom, and Groomsmen will take their place
7:00 PM    Wedding party assembles; Attendants proceed down the aisle
7:05 PM    Processional music begins; Bride & Father process
7:05 PM    Ceremony
7:25 PM    Recessional music begins
7:30 PM    Guests move to cocktail hour; Photography with Extended Family, Friends
7:30 PM    Cocktail hour for guests before you arrive; Guests sign guestbook in reception hallway
8:15 PM    Guests directed towards seats for reception
8:25 PM    Wedding Party Arrives at the reception
8:30 PM    Grand entrance – DJ play list
8:40 PM    First Dance
8:45 PM    Dinner
9:45 PM    Cutting of the cake
9:55PM    Father-daughter dance, Mother-son dance
10:00PM    Dancing
10:55PM   Bride and Groom exit
11:00PM  All guests out; Clean up

What I am freaking out about is the  reception. Does it seem really short or is it just me???

ETA: I really wanted a lot of dancing and celebrating!

rachael7183

Omg, that makes me feel like the night just flies on by...our reception is four hours as well, 8-12am...6pm ceremony; 7pm cocktail hour....

honeybear072012

That does seem really short to me but I'm not having my ceremony at the same place as the reception so I have my hall longer.  Can you get rid of the pre-ceremony cocktails and start the ceremony earlier?  That'd give you an extra half hour of party time at least.

I would also suggest flipping the first dance and cake cutting so the cake can be served after dinner and people aren't stopping mid dancing to eat cake.

arunkumar

Your timeline looks great, but the dancing part of your reception seems very short. Do you only have your reception until 11pm or can you stretch it until midnight? I would provide at least 2 hours of dancing if that's really important to you.

My timeline

3:30-4pm Ushers seat guests
3:55pm Bridal Party Lines up
4pm Processional
4pm-4:45 Ceremony
4:45 Recessional 
4:45-5pm Receiving Line
5-6pm Photographs (Guests will have a gap)
6-6:50 Cocktail hour for guests, B&G change into second outfit
6:50 Guests are asked to be seated for dinner
7pm Wedding Party Entrance
7:05 Cake Cutting
7:10-7:30 Salad
7:30-7:35 Toasts
7:35-8:05 Dinner
8:05-8:20 Cake Served
8:20 First Dance
8:25-12 Open Dancing
12am Everyone leaves or head to after party

michelle11988

It does seem really short but I have distant between my two places and have it for 5 hours as well.  I agree that the preceremony cocktails or 30 mins of seating could be taken out.  It seems like a lot of the time is eaten up at the beginning of your evening.

pillsburyaj

Our wedding is on a Friday, hence why we have the later ceremony. We wanted to allow people who were working full days ample time to get ready and get there in time. So, we will probably leave the ceremony as is. I think to rent for an additional hour would cost $375 but then we'd have to pay the DJ an extra $100.

In looking at the timeline again, it seems as though there will be some time here for dancing;

8:45 PM    Dinner
9:45 PM    Cutting of the cake

I don't think people will take a full hour to eat dinner. I think I'll have dancing start at 9:15 so people who want to eat can eat and people who want to dance can go ahead and start dancing. That gives us another 45 minutes. Okay, now that I've talked myself through this, I feel a little better...

michelle11988

Or maybe move up the cake cutting and special dances to occur while guests are eating.  That might be a good way, plus then they aren't just sitting there watching stuff for an hour after dinner.

hmacsine

It does seem short. Since bumping the end time back isn't an option. You can take you wedding pics before the ceremony and shorten the cocktail hour. I haven't started working on a day of time line yet.

pillsburyaj

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_mild-freak-outwhat-is-your-timeline?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:be816a52-ea4f-4379-92a4-5e22c714c1f7Post:f41e9553-feb7-4516-953f-16052c301051">Re: mild freak out/what is your timeline?</a>:
[QUOTE]Or maybe <strong>move up the cake cutting and special dances to occur while guests are eating.</strong>  That might be a good way, plus then they aren't just sitting there watching stuff for an hour after dinner.
Posted by michelle11988[/QUOTE]

I like that idea!

pillsburyaj

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_mild-freak-outwhat-is-your-timeline?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:be816a52-ea4f-4379-92a4-5e22c714c1f7Post:e72c3578-8048-47a8-afb3-62341d17ccc2">Re:mild freak out/what is your timeline?</a>:
[QUOTE]It does seem short. Since bumping the end time back isn't an option. <strong>You can take you wedding pics before the ceremony and shorten the cocktail hour.</strong> I haven't started working on a day of time line yet.
Posted by hmacsine[/QUOTE]

I probably should have explained this earlier but our ceremony and reception are in the same place. So, after the ceremony the guests move downstairs for cocktails and then back up for dinner. To save time, the caterer is going to have the tables pre-set in side rooms so all they have to do is pull them out. Hopefully, it will end up being shorter.

We are doing a lot of BP pics before the ceremony. This leaves only pics of B&G and family, plus a few of the whole BP. I talked to FI about doing first look and some pics, but he wants to stick to the tradition.

lvissers

My ceremony is at 6 and reception ends at midnight, so yours is technically 2 hours shorter than mine from ceremony to end of reception. I am all about having my reception be a big party. I would really try and add the additional hour.

pillsburyaj

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_july-2012-weddings_mild-freak-outwhat-is-your-timeline?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:066005ef-215f-48b1-8655-328b41e07c52Discussion:be816a52-ea4f-4379-92a4-5e22c714c1f7Post:eee839bf-f125-460a-a0f8-f455a78709a2">Re: mild freak out/what is your timeline?</a>:
[QUOTE]My ceremony is at 6 and reception ends at midnight, so yours is technically 2 hours shorter than mine from ceremony to end of reception. I am all about having my reception be a big party. <strong>I would really try and add the additional hour</strong>.
Posted by lvissers[/QUOTE]

I am going to talk to people to see if this will be an option. I think it's the only way I will feel not so stressed for time!

EDIT: Thank you all for your suggestions! You gave me some good ideas.