How late should my reception go?

rockchalksarah · January 2012

I'm recently engaged and just starting to look at venues. The church we're getting married in apparently only offers one ceremony time on Saturday afternoons, so our cermony is set for 2 p.m.

I'm thinking of having a reception at our university's alumni center. I like the look of it, there's plenty of parking, and it's just a few blocks away from the church. My concern is this: The alumni center can only be rented out until midnight, and they'll stop serving alcohol at 11. Is that enough time for a reception?

The alumni center is right next to a popular bar (which is inside a hotel, where a lot of guests might be staying), so I thought some of our harder partying friends could walk down there if they weren't ready to call it a night. And I might want to join them.

I haven't been to very many weddings, so I'm just not sure. Is it weird for the reception to wind down before midnight? The alumni center has done wedding receptions before, so I assume it worked for other brides. But there are plenty of other reception options in our area.

Thoughts?

ElisabethJoanne · January 2012

We're in the same boat. My long ceremony is at 2pm. My reception is actually set to END at 10pm, wind down around 9pm. It's before a work day, though. You've got plenty of time. Consider this timeline:

2-2:45 ceremony
2:45-4 photos/cocktail hour
4-6 first dances, toasts, general dancing
6-7 dinner
7-8 cake cutting, dessert, general dancing
8-10 general dancing
10 bouquet, garter toss
10-11 more dancing

That's 4 or 5 hours of dancing. It's more than enough. Most receptions fit everything in in 4 to 5 hours. Remember, also, that you'll likely have guests who don't want to stay late, even if you want a huge dance party vibe. My timeline was just to show you how everything could fit.

futuremrsgates · January 2012

Wow these receptions are lengthy! That being said, my bff Aly's reception started at six and we were dancing WELL into 1 am.

Avion22 · January 2012

It's fairly normal for wedding recpetions to wind down around midnight. Like you said, your younger guests may want to continue the party elsewhere -- but I'm sure you're older guests would enjoy being able to see the cake-cutting, bouquet toss, etc and being out of there by 11 or 11:30.

2-12 sounds like pretty long day to me.....but I don't see any reason why you can't have a long day.

cadamus · January 2012

Our wedding starts at 2 and should be over around 3-3:15. and then cocktail hour starts at 4-5 and then toasts and dinner will be around 5. We only have our space until 9. and then we will go to the bars after for who ever wants too bc our reception site is down town (in my city) and all the bars are around it.

2-12 also sounds like a very long day to me!

ChristineNB · January 2012

I'm planning on having my ceremony around 5 or 6pm and having the reception be over by 11. For the younger crowd that doesn't want the party to end, you can always do an after party. I"m sure my older relatives would not be able to keep going past 11 anyway though

smartlypretty · January 2012

That's a long day! Mine is 6:30pm ceremomy. Cocktails from 7-8, and dinner at 8pm. Reception ends at midnight. I'm not worried about dinner not being served until 8 because the cocktail hour is extremely food heavy.

How late should my reception go?

Re: How late should my reception go?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards