When to leave the party?

melissacatarra · December 2010

I am about 5 months away from the big day and have started to really think about the smaller details of "the day of." It is a destination wedding in which all of the guests and the us, the wedding couple, will be staying at the resort where the wedding takes place.

In talking with my day-of-coordinator, she asked "When will you and your husband leave the reception?" To be honest, I have no idea. I had not thought about a grand exit. When in the reception should a Bride and Groom leave the party? I am guessing it is not "ok" to be the last ones there?

Thanks for your insights

danieliza1127 · December 2010

I think it's great to be the last ones there. It's your party, why wouldn't you stay and enjoy it and your guests? You are spending a lot of money, you might as well make the most of it!

We were the last to leave our reception.

FutureMrsTR · December 2010

We were among the last people at our reception. One thing I wish we had done was have a better plan for leaving, though. It was a scramble to stuff gifts and decorations into different cars and then haul them up to the hotel room all in my dress. That was one aspect of planning I totally dropped the ball on, haha.

[Deleted User] · December 2010

We were the last ones at our reception with the exception of our parents and the GM and my MOH/sister. I think its really hard to do a grand exit thing bc people will leave at all different times. If anything, you could do a grand entrance, that is what we did.

[Deleted User] · December 2010

We were the last to leave, but technically we didn't go anywhere anyway. We stayed at the venue (a private cabin) that night and everyone else left. I've never heard of it not being okay to stay until the very end.

waltzingmatilda13 · December 2010

We did a grand exit, but that was more because we had to out of the venue at a certain time and it wasn't very long to being with (4 hours for the ceremony and reception). So it was more of a "the party is over, get the heck out!" kind of thing. But with a DW, I would stick around until the end. People probably traveled pretty far to see you get married so you should stay and visit with them.

Beachy730 · December 2010

I don't get leaving your reception early. You put in so much time, effort, and money to plan this party, I'm going to enjoy every second of it. We were the last ones there with my parents and a few friends.

LDYGTR13 · December 2010

We were almost the last to leave. We didn't have a grand exit at all - it wasn't even close. It was more of "crap the towncar is here and we still need to figure out what we're doing with the gifts and leftover food and rentals"...I didn't exactly think of all of that. I think staying the whole time is the way to go. Hug people as they leave, be gracious to all of your vendors and then when it's over, head on out. Esp. with a DW. Enjoy yourself

sprat85 · December 2010

We had a grand exit, but that was because our time for the reception was up and we had to leave. By grand exit we left the ballroom, hopped into a pedicab and rode around the hotel to the front door. We then met up with friends in the lobby bar. We left when the first bar closed but a lot of our friends continued the party to the second bar at the hotel that was open until 3a.m.

SarahPLiz · December 2010

Everyone but our parents and my sisters left our reception an hour earlier than we thought they would, so we had to call the car to come get us early. However, kicking back in a chair with just our closest people at the end of such a big day, with a glass of wine, was pretty darn enjoyable.

garcias1 · December 2010

Yeah, I would say a grand exit is not necessary, unless you need to get the rest of the guests out of the reception space. I would stay as long as you can. Even if you close the place down, it's your party, so enjoy every minute of it.

mica178 · December 2010

We left when the music stopped. There were a few people lingering (planning on meeting up at a bar to continue drinking), but we were in the last group to leave.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · December 2010

We were the last ones there. Our reception ended at 11pm. The last hour or so everyone started trickling out. (We also had a shuttle for the hotel, which made three trips - the last was at 11pm.) We didn't want to pay to have the limo waiting around for 5 hours for us, so we had my SIL drive my husband's car over. So when everyone else got ont he last shuttle, we thanked the staff, made sure we had everything, and drove ourselves back to the hotel.

We did end up doing an introduction into the reception, but it wasn't a huge deal because we ended up walking in and joining cocktail hour before that anyway.

melissacatarra · December 2010

Haha Awesome everyone!

I was sort of hopping everyone would say that staying to the end was totally OK as that is what I truly want to do

So me and the new-hubby-to-be will say goodbye to our departing guests and stay until the last dance!

Summer2011Bride · December 2010

We plan on being the last ones there (except for maybe our parents--not sure==they have volunteered to take care of the gifts). If you put in the time and money to plan it, I'm not sure why anyone would want to duck out early, esp. since the party is in your honor.

CaylaSummer · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_leave-party?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:d5ef990e-ced4-4b04-b5cc-a5837d87fe0dPost:14a1dd34-9205-4301-8f84-9a12664ed90a">Re: When to leave the party?</a>:
[QUOTE]Haha Awesome everyone! I was sort of hopping everyone would say that staying to the end was totally OK as that is what I truly want to do =) So me and the new-hubby-to-be will say goodbye to our departing guests and stay until the last dance!
Posted by melissacatarra[/QUOTE]
Hey there,<div>
</div><div>Thanks for asking this question. I was thinking of asking the same thing 7 months from now. glad to see it's been answered.</div>

DNAtime · December 2010

At the end....

ehathewa · December 2010

We didn't make a grand exit. We stayed for the last dance and then hugged all of our guests. We were both starting to help clean up when my mother yelled at us and said that we should go home, she would do all the cleaning... so that is when we left

Kristin789 · December 2010

Wedding guests aren't supposed to leave BEFORE the bride and groom. See below:

From the 2002 "Bride's Book of Etiquette," by Brides Magazine, page 230:

"Traditionally, the bride and groom are the first to leave the reception; their departure signals to guests that it is appropriate for them to leave, too."

That's just common courtesy, like waiting for everyone at your table to be served before you grab a fork and dig in.

tenofcups4me · December 2010

Twice in my life I've seen an "exit" from a wedding. At every other wedding, the couple has been the last to leave. My ex- and I were the last to leave our wedding. It was our party -- why on earth would we leave before it was over?

When to leave the party?

Re: When to leave the party?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards