Wedding Reception Forum

order of events?

What order do the events at the reception typically happen? For instance, do they B/G have their first dance after the grand entrance or after dinner? And if we have our first dance before dinner, where do the dances with each of our parents come in? I was thinking first dance right after entrance, have dinner, then the special dances, but I'm afraid other people might start dancing before we get to do those. Any suggestions?

Re: order of events?

  • You'll find that people do all different orders and there is no one "right" order.

    We are doing a low-key entrance ("Please welcome Andrew and Sara Lastname!" Applause. Sit down) and then sitting down for dinner.  We will do first dance and parents dance after dinner to kick off the dancing.
  • It does differ depending on how you want the order to go.

    Here's how we are doing it:
    Grand Entrance
    B/G Dance
    Dinner
    Open dancing
    Toasts followed by cake cutting
    Bouquet toss
  • bidge24bidge24 member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments
    here's what we are doing:
    grand entrance
    cake cutting
    dinner
    toasts
    b/g dance
    bridal party dance
    boquet/garter toss
    Anniversary
  • I was in a wedding last summer and they used this timeline:

    Entrance
    Cake Cutting
    Dinner
    Toast
    Dances - B/G and parents
    Bouquet and garter toss

    Having the cake cutting right after the entrance might seem odd but it worked very well because the venue was able to cut the cake into pieces while everyone ate dinner and then guest were able to have cake as soon as they wanted after the meal.

    I will likely use this timeline as well.
  • Here's what we did: 
    grand entrance
    cake cutting
    blessing
    toasts
    dinner
    table visits
    first dance, parent dances
    bouquet/garter toss later in the night after some dancing
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  • I've been reading alot of wedding books and they suggest you do 1st dance right after announcement/entrance to get that out of the way. They suggest you do father/daughter dance after the dinner......
  • I would ask your DJ for some advice, also they can steer the timeline of events just by making sure to announce whatever is going to happen.
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