Reception: 10pm-??

Mercy36

Hello all, 

I'm just wondering what everyone's take on receptions that start late (around 9:30-10pm) and run very, very late is. FI's family is from Venezuela, and it's not uncommon for receptions there to run as late as 5-6am (totally not exaggerating) Basically the way it works is that up until midnight/1am, all of the normal wedding reception things happen. Dances, food, the cake, etc. At midnight, the "crazy hour" begins. Essentially it turns into a nightclub environment and it continues like that until no one is left. While I don't expect many people to stay quite that late, is it unreasonable to expect the party lovers to stay until 3/4ish?

We're planning on holding our reception on my family farm which is an hour from the church. Because we don't want to specify an end time, we naturally are concerned about drunk driving. We're planning on having food available all night (my family business is catering, so we don't have to worry about that) as well as shuttles running back and forth at regular intervals so people don't have to worry about driving. We also have space for people to spend the night if they choose to. 

Thoughts? Is 10pm WAY too late to start? Is the whole idea crazy? What are the latest receptions you've been to that you didn't absolutely hate? How late would you stay if it were a great party? 

Thanks!

Knottie1450123632

what time is the ceremony

Mercy36

Sorry, not quite sure yet. Either 7-7:45 or 7:30-8:15. It will probably be shorter than that. It's a Catholic convalidation, not a full mass. I suppose reception would start closer to 9-9:30 than 10. 

jessicabessica

What time is your ceremony?  You should not have a gap between the ceremony and the reception.  

I think you really need to think about your crowd when you're thinking about such a late timeline.  While your FI's family might be used to it, what about your family and your friends?  Will you have older guests that might not be able to stay up so late?  

Mercy36

See above for ceremony time- ending at approximately 8:15. The only gap is the 1 hour travel time (see my other post for that crisis) 

We would have shuttles running back at regular intervals so anyone who wants to leave earlier can. I suppose the point is to not have an end time. If everyone left by 1, that's when it would be over.  

daria24

10pm would never fly in my family but you know your guests best. My main concern would be people having to wait until 10pm for any food. I would be starving.

JoanE2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_reception-10pm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:d11c078b-e072-4e6d-a03c-36c590308f56Post:fb2d465d-87f2-423f-8c8e-3c1ea6e51843">Re:Reception: 10pm??</a>:
[QUOTE]10pm would never fly in my family but you know your guests best. My main concern would be people having to wait until 10pm for any food. I would be starving.
Posted by daria24[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Wouldn't work in my family either.  10pm is when we started to see some people leave.  
</div>

MyNameIsNot

The beauty of having the party on your own land is that you aren't restricted to a normally 4-6 hour time frame.  

I haven't been to Venezuela, but I have been to Peru, where they also party all night.  The norm there is to start at the typical 6-8 pm, party with everyone until midnight or so when everything turns into a club.  You party until the sun comes up, and then you have breakfast before everyone leaves.  

Since people will be coming some distance out, you're serving dinner, and you're mixing cultures, I would start the reception no later than 8:00, but still be ready for people to stay until sunrise.  

Most of my friends in my age group will still stay up pretty late, but it's unlikely that we're going to leave home after 9:00, especially when there's 30 minutes travel time involved.  We have to get out and get going by 7-8, or else we fall into mellow mode.  

Mercy36

Thanks everyone, 

The catch is that we have only 2 options for our ceremony, and we can't compromise, since we're having a Catholic ceremony. 2-3 pm in which case the reception would start at 4:30-5ish (shockingly early to half of my guests) or 7:30ish, with the reception starting at 9/10 (possibly shockingly late to the other half of my guests)

It's a conundrum. 

QueerFemme

I would start your ceremony at 2-3ish, and start the reception immediately thereafter.  People can party til 10pm, 2am or 6am.  And I would find somewhere else to hold the ceremony, because an hour travel time between locations is way to far,

OwningAHome1981

My reception starts at 9:30pm and ends at 1:30am.

efmcc67

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_reception-ideas_reception-10pm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:5Discussion:d11c078b-e072-4e6d-a03c-36c590308f56Post:8a8cab5b-75e0-4f3d-95e1-144bba923035">Re: Reception: 10pm-??</a>:
[QUOTE]I would start your ceremony at 2-3ish, and start the reception immediately thereafter.  People can party til 10pm, 2am or 6am.  And I would find somewhere else to hold the ceremony, because an hour travel time between locations is way to far,
Posted by cmgilpin[/QUOTE]

<div>I agree with all of this. Personally, I wouldn't want to attend a reception that started that late because I'm usually in bed by 10. I think it's better to go with the earlier time, even if it's "shockingly early" to half of your guests. Unless "early" is 3:00 am, early is better than late.</div>

[Deleted User]

I would have to really take into consideration my relationship to you. If we are close, I would pound the energy drinks to make it through the traditional parts of your reception. But if we're distant cousins who got a courtesy invite, I would probably decline since I'm an early to bed person.

lyndausvi

Your after 10pm people will handle a "shockingly" early reception way better than your early people will handle a "shockingly" late reception.

There is nothing stopping the 10pm people from continuing the party into the wee hours.  Either at your place or somewhere else.  Your early people will just leave or not even show.

kipnus

My H is from Venezuela and we ended our reception at 10pm. We didn't get any complaints.

Peledreamsofrain

I think if your family on BOTH sides are night owls, that sounds fine.  Keep in mind that you will inevitably lose some people after the ceremony, because not everyone likes to be up that late.

Dreamergirl8812

I'm 30 and am asleep every night by 10pm.

alithebride

i'm always in the camp of 'later is better than earlier'. have a great late reception!

honestly people-it's a wedding. it's one night. you can sleep the next night stay up a bit, have fun and celebrate a marriage!