Reception Timeline

stephk31 · April 2012

Just curious....does anyone have a reception time line yet? If yes, do you have any pointers? We are having our wedding ceremony at 3:30p. It is a church ceremony and should last about 45 min to 1 hr. We were thinking 4:30-5:30 pictures, that should be enough time for the guests to travel to the reception venue (20 min away, we live in the country). Appetizers at 5:30, and then have our entrance at 6 pm.
What happens afterwards as far as first dance and cake cutting, etc, I am not really sure of. So if you gals have any advice, please let me know

eseney82 · April 2012

Are you doing any pictures before hand? Total picture time should be about 2 hours. I would just have apps ready for whenever your guests arrive, that way they arent sitting around with nothing to eat or drink if they get there before 5:30; if the wedding gets over at 4:30 thats an hour for them to get to the reception hall. As far as at the reception, your DJ normally helps with the layout of how the reception is going to go, and you will probably have a meeting closer to the date of what you want.

smilesavy · April 2012

So I am learning this all depends on where in the country you are getting married....so on the East Coast we typically do the "first dance" immediately...but in the mid west I have noticed the first dance doesn't come until after dinner....

So our "loose schedule" is

7:00 parents announced
7:05 bridal party enters
7:10: bride and groom enter
7:12 first dance
7:15 Blessing
7:20 Salad Course
7:25 Parent Dances
7:30 Dinner Served
7:50 Bestman Speech
8:00 Cutting Cutting
8:05 Dancing Starts

saraschilling88 · April 2012

I've been thinking about this, but nothing set in stone yet, so here is a rough outline of our night that will probably be changed!!

3:30- Ceremony (not sure how long it will last, probably 45 - 60 min)
4:15/30- Receiving line at church
5:00 - Dinner (reception is 5 min away from church if walking, 1 min if driving)
5:30 - Cake Cutting/Champagne passed out
5:45 - Toasts
6:00 - First Dance (followed by Father/Daughter, Mother/Son dances)
9:30/10:00 - Snack served (meat & cheese tray, cheeseball & crackers)
10:15-10:30 - Last call for alcohol
10:55 - Last Song played
11PM - Reception ends

smilesavy · April 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_august-2012-weddings_reception-timeline?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:1fb748ee-7a4e-40eb-b4b4-e553486f4cacDiscussion:e1e4811d-7d2f-42ba-ba50-f713415142c2Post:9e5746ee-0e2f-4941-8db8-7107c112884a">Re: Reception Timeline</a>:
[QUOTE]I've been thinking about this, but nothing set in stone yet, so here is a rough outline of our night that will probably be changed!! 3:30- Ceremony (not sure how long it will last, probably 45 - 60 min) 4:15/30- Receiving line at church 5:00 - Dinner (reception is 5 min away from church if walking, 1 min if driving) 5:30 - Cake Cutting/Champagne passed out 5:45 - Toasts 6:00 - First Dance (followed by Father/Daughter, Mother/Son dances) 9:30/10:00 - Snack served (meat & cheese tray, cheeseball & crackers) 10:15-10:30 - Last call for alcohol 10:55 - Last Song played 11PM - Reception ends
Posted by saraschilling88[/QUOTE]

This is why I love midwest weddings!! They serve dinner BEFORE all the dances...and they serve a meal after a meal...man I wish I was getting married here!!

transcriber87 · April 2012

Hey everyone! First post here lol! Our DJ has gone over how things will go and then the woman at our reception venue also gets involved...He said it would be the ceremony, pics, then we all would be introduced, go straight to get our dinner, eat, he said by then the guests will be eating and we would have our first dances and mingle...then the cake cutting...gosh, I better check again,, it has been 2 months since we sat down with him. lol..

Reception Timeline

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