Timing Delima

katiesmith4 · November 2012

How long does a normal ceremony and reception last? The venue I'm looking at only has packages with 4 hours. I haven't asked if i could extend the time length but I wouldn't know if it were needed or I'd need more time.

MairePoppy · November 2012

That depends on what you are planning. Are you planning a simple ceremony, followed by finger foods, cake and punch or a sit down dinner and dancing or something else?

katiesmith4 · November 2012

Sit down dinner and dancing.

Avion22 · November 2012

Our ceremony started at 5:30, cocktail hour started at 6, dinner started at 7, and everything was wrapping up by 10:45. It was all at the same venue. We skipped a lot of stuff (no garter/bouquet tosses, no cake cutting) to give people more time to enjoy dancing. It felt a little on the short side, but I prefer that to a long drawn-out evening anyway:-)

MrsGandthebeag · November 2012

I think the typical reception around here is 5 hours. We got married at 5:00 in one location. Our reception started at 6:00 and we had the venue until 11. Not everyone statyed the whole time.

JaneAustensGhost · November 2012

My ceremony starts at 3pm, dinner is at 5pm and we have the whole place until midnight. But I seriously think we'll be saying goodnight to most people around 9pm.

HobokensFury · November 2012

We had our venue for 6 hours total. 1/2 hour ceremony, cocktail hour and a 4.5 hour reception.

tiny speck · November 2012

We have 5 hours booked with the venue. Our ceremony is at 3, cocktail hour is 3.30-4.45, dinner will start at about 5 (allowing time for guests to move from one space in the venue to the other), and the reception will end around 8. We aren't having any dancing.

MairePoppy · November 2012

My daugher's ceremony, took 45 minutes. The reception, at another location, lasted 5 hours, included a cocktail hour, dinner and dancing.

Jen4948 · November 2012

Probably most weddings are on average 4 to 5 hours or so. If there's a religious ceremony, photo shoot, cocktail hour, dancing, speeches, and/or other activities like a cake-cutting, bouquet toss, and/or garter toss, it will be on the longer side, but if you need to shorten, eliminate, or reschedule anything to accommodate a 4 hour schedule, you can.

QueerFemme · November 2012

Our ceremony was at 3:00pm. Cocktail hour was from 3:30-4:30. Dinner served at 4:30 and reception ended at 9:00pm. Although, most people started leaving around 8.

kipnus · November 2012

Four hours definitely doesn't seem like enough time for your ceremony and dinner. Most receptions around here are five hours, and ceremonies are 30-45 min. Do you get to set up before the four hours starts?

libby2483 · November 2012

Our ceremony and reception were at the same venue. Our ceremony was from 3:30-4:00. Then, our reception was from 4:00-midnight. We had quite a few guests who stayed until midnight, although most of our older guests stayed until about 10:00. This is a pretty normal length for receptions in my circle, but is seems a bit longer than average.

Timing Delima

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