Receiving line vs Table visits

MrsMack10612 · June 2013

I'll admit I didn't read all the responses yet, and I'm a little late to the party but:

We were both against the receiving line idea, so we planned on table visits. What ended up happening was since we did all of our pictures before the ceremony we were able to attend our cocktail hour. We led a processional from the church to the reception hall (about a 5 minute walk) and ended up with an unintended/impromptu receiving line as folks came into the cocktail hour. We were able to greet and thank most of our guests during the cocktail hour and hit anyone we missed with table visits, though this wasn't formal table visits because I think H & I did most of it separately.

gmcr78 · June 2013

FI and I decided on the receiving line. It'll be just us, so it should move pretty quickly. We'll likely have 200ish people at our wedding and I don't think we'll be able to make it to everyone with table visits without missing people. We'd also like to eat.

Kate61487 · June 2013

@ojitosverdes @zobird - totally doable :-) We were definitely trying to be mindful of time, but I didn't feel like we were totally rushing. We spent probably just a minute or two per table (10 person rounds) which doesn't sound like much at all, but it's honestly not bad - pull out a stop watch and imagine small talk in your head:

"Hi everyone! thank you so much for coming, we are so glad you're all here. Aunt Judy I love your dress! Oh thank you, yes that song was really special to us. Did you drive in this morning? I hope traffic wasn't too bad. We're honeymooning in Hawaii, we leave on Wednesday. Sam that tie is really sharp." ... and I'm just over 30 second on the stop watch... It also is a built in excuse to cut off the uncle that rambles on too much "that sounds like a great story, but we have a few more tables to hit before they serve dessert; we'll see you a little bit later to hear how it ends!"

so in all the 30 table visits took us between 30-45 minutes split between the salad course and the main course. We kinda copped out at the two tables full of my sorority sisters and just stopped to say "hi / thank you / see you on the dance floor!" because I knew they'd hang around. Since we did it during meal time and our bar was closed for dinner there was only one person we missed during our rounds.

Also - word to the wise - I had intentions of hitting the end of cocktail hour as well. Sadly I didn't include bustling my dress in my mental timeline of the day so H got to attend nearly half our cocktail hour while mom, MOH and I were in the bridal suite getting my dress figured out. Thankfully my other BMs brought us apps and drinks; I think I only caught about 5 minutes or so of the actual party before we went back out for the intros.

easilyunamused · June 2013

I do really want to sit and enjoy my first meal as husband and wife. So receiving line it is! With some table visits as well.

It is good to see that both ways seem to work for different situations. I like the idea of having people sit until their row is called. I guess we shall see how it works the day of

Thanks for all the input and stories ladies!

easilyunamused · June 2013

OjitosVerdes said:

annathy03 said:

I prefer table visits as a guest, but I think we will do a receiving line and then try to get to as many tables as we can. I don't think there is a major downside to the receiving line if you keep it moving, and it ensures you get a chance to thank everyone. Table visits are more common where I am from but unless they split up like Erin described (a few did, that works well) most of my married friends didn't manage to get to each table.

This is exactly what I'm worried about. I'm not thrilled about splitting up either, as due to how spread out our families are geographically (especially mine), neither FI nor I will have met the majority of the other's non-immediate families until the day of the wedding. I'm just not sure we could cover all the tables without splitting up, but splitting up would defeat one of the things we're looking forward the most, which is introducing one another to our respective families.

Edited for 'haven't had my coffee yet brain'

Yea, I don't like the idea of splitting up either. I feel like it defeats the purpose. We want to engage with people together as husband and wife.

OjitosVerdes · June 2013

scribe95 said:

The favorite receiving line I have seen is having the bride and groom actually release the rows and chat with each guest. People were comfortable in their seats waiting their turn and it allowed short introductions, thanks, compliments etc.

Of course later at the reception the couple is free to do more. We floated around all night chatting with people even though we did a receiving line at the church.

I *really* want to like this idea, but to me it seems like a high school graduation or something. And while it does sound like it would be comfy for the guests, as a bride I think I would feel so awkward - do you leave the church with your husband post-ceremony, then walk back in to dismiss guests? Or once the ceremony is complete, do you wander over to the first row and start dismissing? I guess my reticence really has to do with the fact that I hate being the center of attention. While that is unavoidable to an extent at your own wedding, I think it will be overwhelming enough to meet and greet people (and a ton of people I've never met) without doing it in front of a church of guests watching on. YWIM? Anyone dismissed rows as a bride/groom and loved it?

Kate61487 · June 2013

scribe95 said:

The favorite receiving line I have seen is having the bride and groom actually release the rows and chat with each guest. People were comfortable in their seats waiting their turn and it allowed short introductions, thanks, compliments etc.

Of course later at the reception the couple is free to do more. We floated around all night chatting with people even though we did a receiving line at the church.

Am I the only one who hates this? whether the B&G are 'releasing' guests themselves or having ushers do it; it makes me feel like I'm back in elementary school and being scolded to wait my turn. And I have no problem with the natural flow of an exit from a church (or really any) ceremony where the front rows exit and you wait until those in front of you have gone... kinda like getting off a plane - there's a clear etiquette, I don't need someone to 'dismiss' me.

Honestly the only receiving line that I've ever actually enjoyed was H's cousin who greeted all the guests as they entered the reception, but since people didn't all arrive in a drove (like when you're leaving the church or being ushered from one room to another) there was no LINE, it was just them standing by the door to greet people. Of course they had a 4 hr gap so that contributed to the more natural trickle of people arriving to the reception...

daria24 · June 2013

We did both, we didn't plan on the receiving line, but as we walked out there was a little bridge so we stopped there and greeted everyone as they walked by. I actually found the table visits more awkward than the receiving line.

I've been to one wedding where the bride & groom dismissed each row and it was the worst. It was soooo rushed, it was like everyone was on fast forward rushing past. At least if you, as a guest, want to skip the receiving line, it's easy to just scooch around it.

mcda04 · June 2013

We had both. We took some pictures outside the Church and thanked them for being there with us.

At the reception, because people were arriving in spurts; table greetings wouldn't have worked so as people arrived, H and I were greeting them. Before dinner was served; we went around tables and took group pictures. We had 145 guests and we're so happy we got to talk to everyone even if it was for a split second.

loca4pook · June 2013

StageManager14 said:

scribe95 said:

With table visits there is no guaranteeing you are seeing each guest. They could be in the bathroom, at the bar, on the dance floor. I went to a wedding in Chicago years ago and the couple did table visits and I never saw them all night. Paid hundreds of dollars to travel, pay for a hotel - not a word.

Receiving lines at church are easy. You have an usher or groomsman release rows starting at the front a little at a time so the line doesn't get too long. That way the people mostly sit while waiting. Was at a 200-person wedding a few weeks ago and it took about 15 minutes.

This.

And, personally, while greeting everyone in groups of 10 may make it faster for the bride, I've been the guest whose time gets railroaded by table companions wanting a lengthy visit or the bride and groom coming when I'm at the bar/bathroom/etc and felt pretty shafted, honestly. We still spent our reception going around and visiting with everyone, but we were able to do it more leisurely and ENJOY our guests because we weren't racing the clock to make sure we made it to Aunt Mable's table before she left early or having to keep track of the fact that Susie was there, but Bob wasn't and trying to track down Bob later.

see, if I only did a receiving line at the church, I would have missed a TON of my guests. I have many guests just go to reception only. It goes both ways

Receiving line vs Table visits

Re: Receiving line vs Table visits

Choose Another Board

Search Boards