How late is too late???

[Deleted User]

I know this personal preference, but in general what do you think is a good time frame for a wedding?  One of the venues we are looking at the place is ours from 5pm until 1am.  Which is 8 hours!!!  I figured at least the 1st hour would be us getting ready (which we can do there).  I orginally thought of starting the ceremony like around 6:00/6:30 with the reception following soon after since we will be having dinner I didn't want it too late.  At first I was thinking cool 1am but then I thought about it and was like I would probably be beat by 11pm and most of my guests? Wouldn't you think?  Plus my photographer I was going to orginally just do 6 hours of her time which of course would be past that if I did that.  So how late is to late for you?

artbyallie

Does that time frame include set-up time or not?

For me personally, I would probably stay pretty late if there was an open bar and good dancing and/or conversation. We had a lunch reception, though, and nearly all the guests were gone by 3pm.

[Deleted User]

In Response to Re: How late is too late???:
[QUOTE]Does that time frame include set-up time or not? For me personally, I would probably stay pretty late if there was an open bar and good dancing and/or conversation. We had a lunch reception, though, and nearly all the guests were gone by 3pm.
Posted by artbyallie[/QUOTE]
From my understand the 5pm-1am is our time so no that time does not include that.  They do the set up and take down (I will check though) but the way she sent it to me was we can party between those hours.

[Deleted User]

Also if we choose the later time should I make my photographer stay too?  I mean she will but I think the price goes up a bit.

MayDay513

In Response to Re: How late is too late???:
[QUOTE]Also if we choose the later time should I make my photographer stay too?  I mean she will but I think the price goes up a bit.
Posted by mdtaylor1981[/QUOTE]
Your photographer does not need to stay for all the dancing unless you want them to. Normally after 1st dance, father daughter etc  they can leave.

Maggie0829

It depends on if your budget can handle a party to go on for 8 hours.  Honestly, if a wedding started at 5pm I would probably be ready to go by 11pm, maybe midnight at the latest.  Especially if no other late night snacks were provided.

As for your photographer, I wouldn't keep her the whole time.  After a few hours at your reception she has pretty much gotten plenty of party shots and the later you go the more people will start looking not quite their perky, well put together selves.

Just know that if you do have an 8 hour reception you really need to consider having a good late night snack spread for those that decide to close the place down.

[Deleted User]

the reception part I am guessing would be more like 5 hours depending on ceremony start time.  I was going to use the first hour or so for prep not part.  I am expecting the reception to start about 7pm so for the guests if you go until 1am thats 5-6 hours total they would be there (excluding the wedding party).  I do know we are having a dessert bar that we will have for after the dinner.  I have noticed though when people drink they don't eat as much.  I know she will be there for a while (like we won't have any father daughter dances or anything of that sort) but more so to get photos of the guests and fun I guess. I was thinking more of the send off most I know have photo's of that too so wasn't sure.

lyndausvi

I like receptions that are 5-6 hours long (cocktail + reception).  As long as the ceremony starts by 8 with a reception immediately after I really don't care when it starts. 

We had our ceremony start at 5:00. It lasted 15 minutes.  Reception start right after (same location).   It ended at 11pm.

[Deleted User]

Since we have it available until 1am then should we just use it until then?  If people want to go they can or stay whatever... 

monkeysip

If you have it available, then just keep it as long as people want to stay.  If you're not paying extra, I just don't see the harm.

If you do choose to keep it though, I would have a late night snack.  Even something casual, like pizza or sliders.  People will love you for it.  

I also wouldn't pay extra to keep the photographer longer.  Make sure he/she is there long enough for the cake cutting, special dances, and for maybe an hour of normal partying/dancing.  Then he/she can go.  That's what we're doing. 

[Deleted User]

I am afraid any more food than what I am already providing would put us out of budget to be honest.  I think most of his friends would probably hit up I hop after words (that's what we do when we would go to the club which had no food).  

monkeysip

Well if you don't provide food later, that's ok, but I just would expect that a lot of people wouldn't stay until 1am.  And that's ok, but you need to think about how late do YOU and FI want to stay?

I know some B&Gs party into the morning, while others prefer to leave at a decent time so they can go home and enjoy time together (or fall asleep from exhaustion)  

libby2483

Our ceremony was at 3:30, and our reception was from 4:00 until midnight.  Long receptions like this are typical in my circle, so several guests stayed until midnight.

This was our general timeline:

3:30: Ceremony

4:00: Cocktail Hour

5:15: Bridal party entrance and cake cutting

5:30: Dinner & speeches

7:00: Dancing and photobooth

9:00: Late-night snack (pizza)

12:00: Reception ended

We had our photographer take pictures until about 8:00.

[Deleted User]

Good points if anything I could probably get some 5 dollar pizza's from the place down the street?  My guests would still be stoked. lol As to the question about how long we will want to be out, I am honestly not sure!  Do we have to stay until everyone leaves?  I don't know the rules lol

monkeysip

In Response to Re: How late is too late???:
[QUOTE]Good points if anything I could probably get some 5 dollar pizza's from the place down the street?  My guests would still be stoked. lol As to the question about how long we will want to be out, I am honestly not sure!  Do we have to stay until everyone leaves?  I don't know the rules lol
Posted by mdtaylor1981[/QUOTE]

Only if you guys are the ones that are taking down the decorations.  If someone else is doing that, leave whenever you want.  Generally speaking though, guests will leave soon after you leave.  So if you wanted to leave at 11, it doesn't make sense to keep the reception open until 1, you know?

[Deleted User]

In Response to Re: How late is too late???:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: How late is too late??? : Only if you guys are the ones that are taking down the decorations.  If someone else is doing that, leave whenever you want.  Generally speaking though, guests will leave soon after you leave.  So if you wanted to leave at 11, it doesn't make sense to keep the reception open until 1, you know?
Posted by monkeysip[/QUOTE]
yeah the place cleans up not us lol so yeah I guess we can let them party until their hearts content

winelover123

Until TK I have never heard of a reception that is 8 hours long. My FI used to work at a popular ceremony/reception venue and they booked by 8 hour slots, but 2 of the hours were for set up and clean up. I don't imagine many people will stay after you leave. If you're paying your DJ by the hour (or another vendor), then you'll probably want to talk to your FI and figure out what time you'll want to leave.

[Deleted User]

In Response to Re: How late is too late???:
[QUOTE]Until TK I have never heard of a reception that is 8 hours long. My FI used to work at a popular ceremony/reception venue and they booked by 8 hour slots, but 2 of the hours were for set up and clean up. I don't imagine many people will stay after you leave. If you're paying your DJ by the hour (or another vendor), then you'll probably want to talk to your FI and figure out what time you'll want to leave.
Posted by winelover123[/QUOTE]

The venue is ours for that time slot.  I have found several places we could have for 8hrs some all day.  I am not sure about the put up (I haven't talked suspifics yet with them) but do know apart of the break down cost was clean up/tear down that I was paying for. The time slot is the time frame that is available for me to use the building.  We are doing the ceremony and reception in the same place, so the reception itself won't be 8hours long.  The DJ is charging us a flat rate its a coworker of FI.  the time we leave we will probably play by ear I would imagine.

Ella and Pedro

I might be misunderstanding, but it sounds to me like you are not absolutely clear if the time period you were given is meant to include the clean-up of the venue.  That needs to be crystal clear, before you go forward.  If the venue says that this time INCLUDES clean-up, that means you really close down your event at 12 midnight.  Vendors reliably need an hour to clean-up big events.  You might even want to ask your vendors if this hour is sufficient.  If you have elaborate florals, or have a confetti or rose petal toss, lots of lighting, etc. they may want more time.  Remember, if anyone or anything takes longer, and it's seen as a result of your bad planning, you and your fiance will be billed.

If you can have the party until 1 am, the next thing to realize is that almost any vendor charges by the hour, so if you have valets, musicians, A/V people, etc. they will certainly charge more for late night service.  Also, if your florist or caterer isn't normally cleaning up or removing rentals till so late, they will likely charge you an extra fee for late night/early am services.  The bartenders and servers are hourly.  The bar drinks (if you do open bar or beer & wine) will be hourly.  If you're doing like most couples, you're hosting the bar till the hour prior to the end of the event.  That means youi'd be paying for hourly serving staff, bar staff, and beverages till 12 midnight.  Unless of course, the venue or local laws require otherwise.  these are all things you need to consider in respect to your budget.

Our venue charged us about $400 for an extra hour, so we were able to have our reception run till 7-11 pm, with clean-up 11-12 midnight.  (Ceremony is 6-7 pm, including about 15 minutes of transition time/photo time.)

We found a nearby jazz club, open till 1:30, live jazz, great drinks, 14th story view of Baltimore skyline, cool appetizers - so we're referring late night partiers to this venue.  We didn't rent it, we're just directing folks there if they want to keep dancing. This cuts down our fees, because if we wanted dancing till midnight (and some of our guests likely will want to do just this) we'd have to pay another $1000 between the venue rental and those other fees I just mentioned.

This, by the way, does not even include any 'late night snacks' we might feel the need to provide.