Have you noticed... shorter receptions?

lifeizbeachy

We have been invited to a few weddings this spring and have noticed a lot of people (half or more) leaving early. The music was good the environment beautiful, Fi and I were ready to hit the dance floor and everyone started bailing after the cake??  In one case they didn't even throw garter or bouquets because everyone was gone.... I felt so bad for the B&G... The dj was good the liquor was free we ate good and the cake was delish??? 

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I just didn't get it. I have been wracking my brain on how to prevent this on my wedding day, but it happened at all 3 weddings we have been to. 

We went to one in December and it happened but I figured it was because the photographer kept the couple for an hour after the ceremony and by the time the B&G joined us we ate dinner and they did the first dance and parents dances we were kind of ready to go. Too much waiting even though we had appetizers and drinks there was just no action other then the DJ playing typical cocktail hour music. 

lifeizbeachy

DOH screwed the poll up sorry I accidentally  posted it before I was done and it won't let me edit it! 

janedoe1113a

Ours was our ceremony, then an hour cocktail hour, and then a 4 hour reception.  We cut the cake around 9pm and people start leaving around 9:30-10pm.  We had some people stay until the very end though (not many though).  I was a little bummed, but I understood because it was a long drive back to the city (about 30 minutes).

lifeizbeachy

I guess you just have to be ready for that, seems like when I was younger people wouldn't think of leaving until Bride and grooms exit or at very least the bouquet garter toss. 

*Mrs.CPH*

Ours was a hour cocktail and 4 hour reception. Only GMIL left early. Everyone else stayed til the very end and about 20 of us went out afterward too!  I will say though that we only had 35 guests and it was more of a younger crowd. MIL was dancing the ENTIRE night though, so that helped with keeping the party going.

prncsz

Well I think it depends on the timing of everything If you do everything early (cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc) it's not much to wait around for except for dancing. Then some people have to go church the next morning if it's a Saturday.

SaraMac72

Our wedding will be about 4 and a half hours...1/2 hour ceremony....hour for the cocktail hour and then 3 hours for dinner and dancing.  It's all in one location too.

jagore08

Quite a few of our guests left after we cut the cake but they were guests that live about an hour away so it didn't bother me.  Both DH and my families stayed for the entire night and that's all we needed.  I still had a great time and my family was tearing up the dance floor.  What more could I ask for?

KappaUCF20

The timeline can make a big difference I think.  I've heard that it's pretty common for people to start leaving after the bride & groom cut the cake so we didn't cut ours until later in the evening (around 9:15... reception officially ended at 10).  I'm not sure why that is but I guess in the "old days" (haha), the cake cutting was usually a signal that the party was drawing to a close. 

Other than that, maybe people were just tired? I know that I can't handle as much partying and socializing as I used to... maybe we're getting old but by the time 10:00 rolled around, my DH and I were more than ready to exit our own reception! lol  It was a long day.  Also, if guests are left waiting for long periods of time while the B&G take pictures, that might tick them off enough to want to leave early. 

CherylK00

Yeah, my wedding is at noon and the reception is 1-6. We plan on cutting the cake around 5pm and exiting around 5:30ish

xlox89x

I've noticed that people leave early too. But like everyone else said, I think it has to do with the timeline. We plan on cutting the cake towards the end.

chloejax

I have noticed that too! That's one reason, I chose my photographer (my sister used), at her wedding she was very fast, professional, and really cared about the wedding party and B&G getting on into the wedding to have fun..and the photos all still turned out fantastic! I agree with waiting to cut the cake towards the end, that makes alot of sense. Also, we can make sure the DJ only plays music that attracts everyone to the dance floor not alot of sleepy music.

lifeizbeachy

One of the reception we were at had a small cake for them to cut surrounded by a beautiful array of gourmet cupcakes that everyone ate right after dinner. I was like shouldn't we wait???

When they went to cut the cake the table was a mess. I tried to clean it up some for pictures. 

chloejax

Ooh, I have an idea! We can have the bartendar make a special wedding punch and spike it with a tad of red bull!

duncanpowers

I think we did 5.5 hours total including ceremony and that seemed just right (it was a 20+ minute drive to the reception place). Cocktails and apps, dinner, cake, dancing, and just as people were starting to tire out and mill around, it was done.

naiadfae

I went to a wedding recently and we left before the cake was even cut..they were taking too long.  I'm not saying we didn't try, we were there 3 hours and no one was dancing..not even b&g.  They booked for 5 hours though, so i can see getting what a pay for.  So I took that into account for mine, we're on a boat so no one can leave till we dock, but its only 2 1/2 hours cruise time.  Then we're planning to go out later with anyone who wants to go.

mrs.hough

I went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I ended up leaving before B&G because it was getting pretty late and I kept hearing "okay after this song is done they're going to leave" and they just kept going. When I went to my car the limo driver was outside waiting and was clearly upset that B&G were late leaving. I felt bad leaving early but it was midnight before I got home and I had to teach Sunday school the next morning.