Receiving Line question!!

campergrlsugar · May 2010

We are not getting married in a church. Our ceremony and reception are being held at the same place. Do we need to have a receiving line??? I was planning on kind of disappearing for pictures after the ceremony and greeting our guests during cocktail hour and reception...Our pictures are also being taken at the same place...Any advice??

trix1223 · May 2010

If you're sure you'll see all your guests at the reception. But the cocktail hour IS for the guests to have something to do while you're taking pictures. Especially since there's no travel involved: what do you have planned for your guests?

My DD had an outdoor wedding and an indoor reception at the same venue. Guests went through receiving line directly inside to CH while they went and had the photos.

They were glad that they had the RL immediately after the ceremony because she felt that they got pulled in so many directions that it was hard to visit with everyone and she didn't want anyone to feel left out.

aerinpegadrak · May 2010

We actually cut and served our own cake to make sure we didn't miss anyone. (A couple of people kept trying to step in and do it for me, until I told them I was doing it instead of a receiving line, haha.) We had a very small guest list, though, and a lot of other wedding weekend events, so I wasn't too concerned about missing anyone.

The point of the receiving line is simply to ensure that the bride and groom get a chance to greet every guest. As long as you're sure you'll be able to do that (cocktail hour and table visits can be somewhat disorganized, so you might miss people), you can safely skip the actual receiving line.

girl2bewed · May 2010

Definately dont need a receiving line, why dont you just to table visits at the reception instead.

campergrlsugar · May 2010

Our ceremony is at 4 pm and our cocktail hour starts at 5....I am planning on making it for the second half of the cocktail hour. There is plenty of places for people to go for about a half an hour between the ceremony and cocktail hour. If we do the receiving line I'm afraid we are going to miss the cocktail hour!!! But I guess we could do the receiving line and then just make our grand entrance.

Thank you ladies!!

trix1223 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_receiving-line-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:83e2cddd-48de-41fe-a2e6-3f5db1c33cc0Post:1e29531d-c109-4b53-be62-1b8e7e6e4698">Re: Receiving Line question!!</a>:
[QUOTE]Our ceremony is at 4 pm and our cocktail hour starts at 5....I am planning on making it for the second half of the cocktail hour. There is plenty of places for people to go for about a half an hour between the ceremony and cocktail hour. If we do the receiving line I'm afraid we are going to miss the cocktail hour!!! But I guess we could do the receiving line and then just make our grand entrance. Thank you ladies!!
Posted by campergrlsugar[/QUOTE]

So at a wedding where ceremony and reception are at the same place, you're still going to make your guests stand around for half an hour? That's just really rude. This is one of those instances where you can't have your cake and eat it too.

The whole purpose of the CH is so your guests are NOT standing around waiting for you to finish a photo shoot. I'd be pretty pissed if I had to hang out without drinks/food while you and your new DH and your WP posed for pictures.

FWIW: At DD's wedding, the coordinator made sure that two large platters of appetizers were outside for the WP, and that a waiter took drink orders for all of us involved in photos, and brought our drinks to us.

campergrlsugar · May 2010

ok so i will miss half my reception and most of the daylight because the guests wont want to go to the bar for a drink...what are they going to do if they are the first people to meet us at the receiving line??? I truly dont understand??? how will the receiving line help alleviate the half an hour lapse???its a half an hour people what can i do with that send them on to atlantic city to miss the reception??? suggestions for what to do in this half hour would be more helpful than saying what a horrible person I am......

Jacqui9782 · May 2010

We've been considering this a lot too, though we think we're going to do a receiving line because we don't want to be stressed later about making sure we saw everyone.

I don't think anyone will mind the half hour wait. People usually spend time standing around and chatting after the ceremony anyway before actually heading to the cocktail hour. Plus you said there will be drinks, so I think it's totally fine! People will spend time ordering drinks and greeting one another, and by then the 30 minutes will have passed and the food will arrive.

njgal26 · May 2010

We didn't have a receiving line at the church but what DH and I went around to each table at the reception and even posed for pictures with each table between courses. It was great to get one on one time with each person without having to designate extra time to do it since we had no extra time at all!

antimony · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_receiving-line-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:83e2cddd-48de-41fe-a2e6-3f5db1c33cc0Post:09bc4428-c0e5-4f10-bc5c-6cba68a0bd2b">Re: Receiving Line question!!</a>:
[QUOTE]I did not choose to start the cocktail hour at 5 that is what the venue required...There is a bar where we are doing a hosted bar for our guests and there is acres for people to walk about. Its not like we're making them wait around for 3 hours its a half a freaking hour! We are taking our pics during the cocktail hour...we didnt postpone it so we could make people wait...geez now i know not to post questions.....talk about rude....people that live in glass houses....
Posted by campergrlsugar[/QUOTE]

So you are doing something -- people do have somewhere to go and a half hour of bar without the food starting isn't long enough to be a problem. It'll be fine. And walking around gardens with a glass of wine sounds like a fantastic thing to do for a short break.

I'm doing a receiving line because I like them. If you skip it, make sure you have some other way to make sure you say hi to everyone, but that can be table visits or whatever.

Receiving Line question!!

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