How long should a reception be? I only asked because we have to be out of the venue 1/2 past sunset because of no lighting which makes cleanup hard, so obviously the length of our reception (think we have to be out by 9pm) is going to determine what time we have our ceremony (we have the venue starting at 8am but we need decor setup time etc I'm figuring about 4-5 hours for setup depending on things ) that would make our ceremony start anytime after 2pm) anyways the question is just how long should a normal reception be? I don't want to drag it out and have people be bored but I don't want to cut it short and have people be disappointed so what is an appropriate amount of time?