Receiving Line Times and the Time Gap Etiquette

eschmid367

Our invitations need to be printed pretty soon so I've been trying to create the perfect wedding day itinerary (if there is such a thing!) that allows enough time for pictures but doesn't create a large time gap for guests.

 

We are going to see each other before the ceremony for pictures with the bridal party- we will be doing a "first look" picture to capture that moment but I want to do pictures at a park so for timing it's just best to do it before the ceremony.

 

My questions come into play about ceremony timing and the cocktail hour. We are locked into 5pm with the reception hall for the start of cocktail hour, however, the church is very flexible so I basically just have to choose a time and get those invites printed!

 

I want to do a receiving line because the weddings I've been to where the bride and groom say they'll come to each table never seems to work out very well. By the time they finish dinner and make it to some tables the dancing has started and no one is really at there tables any more. That being said if you do have success in doing this please let me know how you did it and how it worked out! We will have about 275 guests so if anyone has a similar experience with a receiving line or going from table to table I am curious about how long it takes! Right now I'm planning on an hour since I've read to allow about 20 minutes for each 100 guests.

 

Then, I want to do family pictures after the receiving line and from what I've heard I should estimate about 30 minutes for this.

 

That being said it takes about 25 minutes to get from the ceremony site to the reception site and the ceremony will probably last about half an hour. All of that considered I would like to start the ceremony at 2pm, however, out of respect for our guests and to create as small of a gap as possible I was thinking of pushing the ceremony back to 3pm. After the ceremony and the receiving line we would be at about 4:30 (I guess some of them will be through the line in only a few minutes though). Once you have the drive to the reception hall guests will be arriving right about when it starts.

 

I guess my main question in this long post is: How long did your receiving line take? And how long did your church pictures take?

 

Thank you for your thoughts!

lauralaur

I would ask your photographer how long pictures take. We did a receiving line and I really don't think it took that long, but we had about 100 guests and it was just the two of us in the receiving line. I told the parents to spread out, people would come find them, and they did. I did find that as soon as guests made it through the receiving line, they high-tailed it for the reception, that may just be my family though. I've been to other weddings where people really milled about the church for awhile after the ceremony saying hello to people.

You could also ask your venue what happens if guests arrive early. If you put 5 pm reception start in your invites, most people will be aware of that. But, our guests all arrived to our reception early and while the hall itself was not yet setup, they were more than happy to open up the bar/cocktail hour and start taking our money.

STARMOON44

I think 275 guests is vastly too many for a receiving line.  No one wants to wait in line an hour to talk to you.  When you decide to have a wedding this size, you need to realize that one-on-one time with every single guest may not happen.

If you're dead set on it, I'd do:

3-4 ceremony

4-done receiving line

by 4:30, a substantial potion of your guests should be en route to the reception

5pm- start cocktail hour

5pm- start family photos

5:30 finish family photos

6pm- guests move into dinner space

6pm- after guests seated, you and party enter.

You get around having a huge gap by not going to your own cocktail hour.  2 is way too early.

If you decide not to do the receiving line, I'd move the ceremony to 3:30.

LeiselEB

We had about 250 guests and going table to table worked for us. We went in between courses of dinner. As first courses were served, we'd go around and speak to some tables, then we'd eat our first course. As soon as we finished, and while the main course was being served, we'd do some more tables, etc. through dinner. We got a lot of people covered that way, but keep in mind that greeting guests and thanking them for coming can be done on the dance floor or at the bar, too. If you see someone dancing before you'd gotten to their table, talk to them there. 

Also, a lot of pictures besides just the first look can be done earlier in the day, if you've got your photographer for that time. We did all of our bride with bridesmaids and groom with groomsmen pictures prior to the ceremony, and most of our family pictures. You can skip your cocktail hour and finish up pictures then if you need to.