Extend the Reception?

I <3 Seabass

I know some people extended their CH to be 1.5+ hours but has anyone extended their reception to be longer?As a guest would you like a longer reception or do you think 4 hours is more than enough time?

Danes983

IMO its a waste and here is why- Having working in hotels and baquet halls, they charge you extra pp basicially for nothing.  At that point in the night most people are drunk enough that they wont drink anymore.  Also they usually wont do any food that late. You are really paying for the matre d and staff to do nothing.. Have an after party at the hotel.

kpeteley

Our cocktail hour is an hour (shocking   and our reception is 5 hours for a total of 6.  We have a vienesse hour (in a separate room - right next to our room) which added an extra hour onto the event.  I am excited to have the extra time.  I will not be insulted if some people leave a little early.  I know that most of my family and friends are party people and will enjoy the extra time - I love weddings and feel like they go by soo fast- so I love extra time  

mbcdefg

I think I'd rather just go to an after-party if it was a good friend's wedding. If it wasn't a good friend's wedding, I think I'd be ready to go after a 4-hour reception.

melissa82

I wouldn't mind it being longer as a guest. But it's more cost than just the reception hall--the band/DJ will need overtime, too, and any other vendors (if there are any) would need to not start breaking down until afterward (lighting, photobooth, etc.), so they might need to be paid extra as well.

FutureMrsF111

I think it is more important if you want more time than to worry about the guests. However, I was just at a wedding with a 1.5 hour CH that was WAY too long. If your guests are dancers and will make the most of the extra time at the reception then I say go for it. It is your day and you need to do what you think will make you happiest. I would extend mine but its a Sunday night and already ending at 12:30. Whatever you decide make sure your venue and band/dj make the most of the time you have. Same wedding as above....DJ did not play anything first half hour before family came in so guests were just sitting with no food and bar did not open for the first 20 minutes of that. Once the party started the DJ stopped for a long time at each course. The party was extended (1.5 Ch and almost 6 hour reception including the Viennese Hour) but because the DJ did not keep everyone dancing it felt like it dragged on forever.

I <3 Seabass

Yeah we wouldn't just add the hour to add an hour. We want to add a viennese and think if we add it we would need more time. I'm not sure if adding the viennese would automatically add an hour or if we have to pay for an additional hour on top of the cost of the viennese. I will have to check.

dominoe611

i think 4 hours is more than enough for a reception.  some people leave right after the cake is cut (usually about an hour before the end of the wedding) so i don't see it being worth the money.  i think you are better off having an afterparty and those that want to continue the party, can.

teamAandE

Not worth it. I thought I would really want this and in the end the overtime for the band and other vendors plus price pp wasn't justified. A lot of older guests leave after cake/dessert and when the wedding was over I was very happy with the timing. I would not have lasted another hour!

Rosie24

I think for all the time and money we put into weddings an extra hour would be really nice. If mine wasn't on a Sunday I would have definitely liked to extend it. When we are looking at venue's for a Saturday, we negotiated 6 hr packages. We may still do that if the party is still going strong and the vendors agree to stay. 

dianenjnj

i wouldn't...it's way too expensive...band has to be paid overtime, etc.  5 hours is enough...those who want to continue to party can at the hotel.

mcconvillejulia

our vienesse was included in our time which was a 1 CH and 4 hr recption. I dont think you need extra time with the vienesse hour.. Ppl just got up and went to the other room and came back..it didnt stop anything

erikag23

don't do it. my friend did it and a bunch of us left at the original time is was supposed to end~ we were exhausted and wanted to get changed. i think 1 hour ch and 4 ceremony is plenty.

uppereastgirl

Our venue highly recommended that we extend our cocktail hour because the setting for cocktail hour is so lovely.  So we did that.  But we extended the event from 5 hours to 6 hours because (a) 3.5 hours sounded too short for the reception particularly with so many courses of food and viennese and such, and (b) we had full control over when our reception would start so we opted to have no gap at all between the ceremony and cocktail hour for the convenience of our guests, which meant that the reception otherwise would have ended pretty early.  I'm really happy we made that decision-- people seemed to be having a lot of fun, and it all went by in a slightly longer blink of an eye! 

USER876

Our 1.5 hr cocktail hour was a huge hit...but our place really decked out the food.  I wouldn't extend the reception...it would of cost a fortune paying each band member an hour of overtime.

BrideMaidPro

I am doing the extra hour...half hour added to CH and half hour at the end on the Viennese hour.You know how your friends would be...I know for me, the more time the better!

uppereastgirl

Agree with BrideMaidPro-- my friends were definitely of the the longer the better type.  After our six-hour reception ended at 10:30, the afterparty went on until 3.  A few people left the reception early, but there are always people who leave receptions early.

DandT1206

if you want the extra hour and can afford it, then do it!  it's your day more than it is your guests' day.  I know I'm not going to want the night to be over, so that extra hour will feel nice.  And if guests leave, then so be it.  I'm sure they'll have fun whether it's 4 or 5 hour reception. 

30may09bride

I think it depends upon your crowd.  We did the extra hour onto our reception, and it was one of the best decisiosn we made with the whole wedding.  We didn't have a ton of people staying at hotels, and peopel were spread out at a bunch of hotels, so an after party just wasn't going to work for us (esp since we weren't staying at a hotel, we went home that night).  That last hour was some of the most fun of the night, our friends and close family were still there, drinking, dancing, having a great time.  We really thought alot about it, bc it wasn't cheap (and our venue was higher than others that we looked at for that extra hour) but we decided to go with it and were so happy that we did! 

I <3 Seabass

Ug. I just feel like everyone's going to spend the entire time eating. An hour for CH, the soup course, then salad course, then intermezzo, then entree, then dessert. Just seems like there won't be enough time for dancing w/o constantly being interrupted for another course. We're already paying a lot for the band so I wouldn't mind paying extra for people to actually be able to dance and enjoy it. IDK, I'm probably way over thinking this.

DandT1206

people will def. still dance during viennese hour... some ppl might not want to eat the desserts and some will be drunk and want to continue dancing.  do you know if the viennese is in a separate room or will they bring it out onto the dance floor? (if they do the latter, then that kinda ruins the dancing part).

caketime

Instead of a viennese you could have a dessert plate where everyone gets 3 or 4 desserts plus cake.  We did that and it was a huge hit.  Everyone loved having the little tastes and we got a lot of people saying that was more enjoyable than the viennese.But like everyone else you know your guests best.  You could add on a half hour if you feel like that's a good compromise.  For me, I'm ready to go home at the allotted time or to the after party.

melissa82

Would you consider taking out a course--like maybe the soup? Maybe you could add something to the CH instead.

I <3 Seabass

That's a good idea melissa. Maybe I'll take out the soup and trade it for what caketime suggested and skip the viennese.

Lola Minnie

That's a really good idea, Melissa.

mylittleray02

I agree with most of the above. My family is large and spanish and we love to party and dance and drink just as much as the next person, but we are planning on having an after party at the hotel once the reception is over. I just think it's a better idea and you don't have too pay the hall for basically nothing you know? Best of luck!!!

chrissy31805

i dont know if i would like a longer CH  only because i just want to go in and start dancing. IMO an hour is enough time to make small talk w/ everyone and then enjoy yourself. i think we are doing an after hours party in the lounge of our reception area. they will have music (not my dj, prob a playlist) and open bar.

tlc11934

4 hours is plenty for a reception.  Last year I went to a wedding that had a 1.5 hour CH and a 5 hour reception.  I was so ready to go home after dinner! 

jjjenny

I personally hate Viennese.  It totally kills the party.