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Timeline for reception/cocktail hour

tjones1224tjones1224 member
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in Wedding Reception Forum
Ok, so I have been reading other discussions and am having a bit of a hard time figuring things out. My church will not start the ceremony after 3pm and the reception venue is 35-40 mins from the church. My fiance and I want to let the guests out a row at a time (is that appropriate?). We will have around 250 guests most likely. So ceremony at 3, cocktail hour 5-6, and reception starting at 6? Is that too much time in between? I haven't been to a wedding ever that I haven't been involved with, in some way, so I never get to the reception venue before the reception starts. Thanks in advance!
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Re: Timeline for reception/cocktail hour

  • BlueBirdMBBlueBirdMB member
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    How long will the ceremony be?
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
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    tjones1224 said:
    Ok, so I have been reading other discussions and am having a bit of a hard time figuring things out. My church will not start the ceremony after 3pm and the reception venue is 35-40 mins from the church. My fiance and I want to let the guests out a row at a time (is that appropriate?). We will have around 250 guests most likely. So ceremony at 3, cocktail hour 5-6, and reception starting at 6? Is that too much time in between? I haven't been to a wedding ever that I haven't been involved with, in some way, so I never get to the reception venue before the reception starts. Thanks in advance!
    @tjones1224

    I personally don't think the guests should be let out row by row but if that's what you want, then ok. 

    I think that time line should be fine as long as your ceremony is NOT less than 30 minutes. Otherwise I would say to move everything up a little bit. 

    Let's say that your ceremony starts at 3 and goes for 30 minutes. That means it will be over between 3:30 and 3:45 (they don't always start on time). Add 10 to 15 minutes for guests to be escorted row by row out and a little bit of mingling at the ceremony location and now you're at about 4:00 (give or take a few minutes) Add 45 minutes (maybe traffic or something) and now you're at 4:45 approximately for guests arriving to cocktail hour. That allows for them to mingle a little bit and get settled into their seats and by the time they're ready for drinks, cocktail hour has started.  
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  • s-aries8990s-aries8990 member
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    tjones1224 said:
    Ok, so I have been reading other discussions and am having a bit of a hard time figuring things out. My church will not start the ceremony after 3pm and the reception venue is 35-40 mins from the church. My fiance and I want to let the guests out a row at a time (is that appropriate?). We will have around 250 guests most likely. So ceremony at 3, cocktail hour 5-6, and reception starting at 6? Is that too much time in between? I haven't been to a wedding ever that I haven't been involved with, in some way, so I never get to the reception venue before the reception starts. Thanks in advance!
    Yes, how long is the ceremony? That makes a difference. I think @hlvonb hits the nail on the head. I agree that escorting the guests row by row is a little, well, childish? maybe? IDK, I can't put my finger on it, but something is a bit off about it. Would that be for a receiving line out of the church?
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  • CrazyCatLady3CrazyCatLady3 member
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    Please don't dismiss guests one row at a time, esp. w/ 250 guests.  If I were in one of the last rows to be dismissed I'd be pretty antsy and annoyed waiting that long.  People will know how to file out of the church in an orderly manner.

    As for the timeline, if your service starts at 3 and lasts one hour, that takes you to 4.  Let's give 45 full minutes for guests to get to the reception venue.  That gets you to 4:45.  So you should start the cocktail hour at 4:45.
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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
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    I agree with PPs:

    How long is the ceremony?

    Please don't do the row-by-row dismissal of guests.  Guests want to leave for the reception when the ceremony is over-not when they are dismissed.  They aren't elementary school students, so making them wait is going to piss them off.

    4:45 sounds like the right time to start the cocktail hour if the ceremony is an hour long.
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  • tjones1224tjones1224 member
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    The ceremony will be 30-35 mins. I don't think I have ever been to a wedding where the bride and groom didn't let guests out row by row.  I assume we would do a receiving line at the back of the church if we don't dismiss by row? Won't that take pretty much the same amount of time? We would still have talk to/hug/mingle with each guest. Or should we just wait until we get to the reception and go table to table? I'm sure we would do that anyway. 
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  • s-aries8990s-aries8990 member
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    tjones1224 said:
    The ceremony will be 30-35 mins. I don't think I have ever been to a wedding where the bride and groom didn't let guests out row by row.  I assume we would do a receiving line at the back of the church if we don't dismiss by row? Won't that take pretty much the same amount of time? We would still have talk to/hug/mingle with each guest. Or should we just wait until we get to the reception and go table to table? I'm sure we would do that anyway. 
    I asked if you were doing a receiving line at the church to see if that was your logic for dismissing row by row. It's not necessary to dismiss row by row if you're "receiving" at the church. People aren't as dumb as you think.

    You can either do a receiving line at the church or do table visits. Entirely up to you!

    Suggested timeline:
    Ceremony at 3:00
    Guests leave Ceremony at 3:35-3:45
    Guests arrive at reception between 4:15-4:30.
    Cocktail hour begins at 4:30.
    Cocktail hour ends 5:30-5:45
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  • AddieCakeAddieCake member
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    You need to plan for the cocktail hour to begin by 4:30 at the latest. Some people will not dawdle at all after the ceremony and will head straight there. You don't want them waiting around long not having refreshments available once they get there. 


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  • RebeccaB88RebeccaB88 member
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    Cocktail hour should begin when the first guests arrive at the reception venue. Whatever time that is.
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  • doeydodoeydo member
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    I, like PPs, don't like the idea of letting guests go by rows.  What were you picturing if you let them all go at the same time?
    image
    Also, some people will get out of that church and to their cars pretty fast while others would be hobbling along taking their sweet time.  So, the cocktail hour should be ready for when the first guests arrive after the ceremony.  So, if the ceremony ends at 3:30, allow time for driving and a few minutes to get out of the church without being too rude, maybe 4:10.  
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  • RebeccaB88RebeccaB88 member
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    I've never seen a receiving line done at the church. I've only seen them done at the reception. Why not do it there?
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  • tjones1224tjones1224 member
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    The logic for me was that a receiving line would take just as long as letting out row by row. I'm not sure how we would set it up if we did it at the reception. Never seen it done that way. I know people wouldn't all rush out if we didn't release row by row but I've never been to a wedding where the bride and groom haven't released each row so not sure what to expect, especially with so many guests. 
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