@TheGrimRepear - that's my thought. Doing the first dance right after introductions isn't *that* weird. And I'd rather not make our guests sit through parent dances before getting to the toasts and eating.
I *think* what I'm going to do is have the servers start serving the salad during the introductions/first dance. We don't have a very big bridal party - 3 for each of us, and if they're announced in pairs it will move quickly. Hopefully that means we can move the entree up to 8:45 if not earlier. Toasts will happen while guests are eating their salad. Then we can do table visits during dinner, and we'll thank our guests towards the end of the night.
Cake will stay where it is. It's not being served to the table, it's being set up on the side of the room with coffee. I've never been a big fan of cutting the cake before dinner.
I'll see if I can split up the photobooth, but if not I think I'll leave it 8:45-11:45. I've always had much more fun with them towards the end of the night after a few drinks. I've never had a problem keeping myself entertained during cocktail hour.
I wouldn't serve dinner any later than 8:30pm.
It doesn't matter if the cake is being served table side or if guests are supposed to help themselves, the venue still needs time to cut it and plate it.
So maybe cut the cake at 8:45pm if not before dinner? It's fine if guests are still finishing up their main course at that point, because again, it will take some time for the venue to cut and plate your cake, and some guests might not want to wait around until 10pm for dessert. They might want to leave earlier.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
@PrettyGirlLost makes a good point. In addition to doing our dance right after intros, we immediately walked over and cut our cake. My goalwas to make people wait around as little as possible.
Also, looking back through this thread, the idea of dancing between courses is SO odd to me. How long are people sitting around between courses that they get up to dance? And does grandma who's still working on her salad have to eat it while dance music is blasting in her ear?
@PrettyGirlLost makes a good point. In addition to doing our dance right after intros, we immediately walked over and cut our cake. My goalwas to make people wait around as little as possible.
I'm just thinking of the older crowd, and typically our grandparents and older aunts, uncles, etc. leave early. They try and wait until cake is served to be polite, so with them in mind I think serving dessert at 10pm is too late.
Right now, our planned timeline is to be announced/enter (no WP introductions) and then immediately cut our cake. Then our food stations will open up, we'll all eat, after dinner we do all the spotlight dances, then we party down!
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
@PrettyGirlLost makes a good point. In addition to doing our dance right after intros, we immediately walked over and cut our cake. My goalwas to make people wait around as little as possible.
I'm just thinking of the older crowd, and typically our grandparents and older aunts, uncles, etc. leave early. They try and wait until cake is served to be polite, so with them in mind I think serving dessert at 10pm is too late.
Right now, our planned timeline is to be announced/enter (no WP introductions) and then immediately cut our cake. Then our food stations will open up, we'll all eat, after dinner we do all the spotlight dances, then we party down!
My aunts/uncles/grandparents never leave early. They always stay til the end, even my 80 year old grandparents. I'll talk to the coordinator and see if I can move things up a bit, but I'm not really concerned about the timing of dinner. I know my crowd. Doing the cake cutting before dinner is only going to push dinner back more.
@PrettyGirlLost - Yeah, I hadn't considered that her reception is so late. Since we had a Catholic mass, our cocktail hour started at 4:30 - it went a little over an hour. Everyone was sitting down by 6! We didn't have many older guests, but we had a LOT of kids. 9pm dinner would not have flown.
@PrettyGirlLost - Yeah, I hadn't considered that her reception is so late. Since we had a Catholic mass, our cocktail hour started at 4:30 - it went a little over an hour. Everyone was sitting down by 6! We didn't have many older guests, but we had a LOT of kids. 9pm dinner would not have flown.
We have a Catholic ceremony at 5:30. We couldn't do any earlier unless we went in the afternoon (there's the Saturday evening mass at 4). Assuming 45 minutes for the ceremony, then driving time, and 7-12 seemed like the best idea. My cousins have had similarly late receptions, it's really not a problem. We only have a few kids, and even for them it hasn't been an issue at other family weddings.
@PrettyGirlLost - Yeah, I hadn't considered that her reception is so late. Since we had a Catholic mass, our cocktail hour started at 4:30 - it went a little over an hour. Everyone was sitting down by 6! We didn't have many older guests, but we had a LOT of kids. 9pm dinner would not have flown.
We have a Catholic ceremony at 5:30. We couldn't do any earlier unless we went in the afternoon (there's the Saturday evening mass at 4). Assuming 45 minutes for the ceremony, then driving time, and 7-12 seemed like the best idea. My cousins have had similarly late receptions, it's really not a problem. We only have a few kids, and even for them it hasn't been an issue at other family weddings.
I would budget an hour for the ceremony. Our priest is capable of knocking out a regular weekend Mass in 54 minutes, Communion included, and our wedding Mass still ran to an hour and five minutes. And there were about ~30 Catholics who took Communion.
I'm gonna go with 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'
@PrettyGirlLost - Yeah, I hadn't considered that her reception is so late. Since we had a Catholic mass, our cocktail hour started at 4:30 - it went a little over an hour. Everyone was sitting down by 6! We didn't have many older guests, but we had a LOT of kids. 9pm dinner would not have flown.
We have a Catholic ceremony at 5:30. We couldn't do any earlier unless we went in the afternoon (there's the Saturday evening mass at 4). Assuming 45 minutes for the ceremony, then driving time, and 7-12 seemed like the best idea. My cousins have had similarly late receptions, it's really not a problem. We only have a few kids, and even for them it hasn't been an issue at other family weddings.
I would budget an hour for the ceremony. Our priest is capable of knocking out a regular weekend Mass in 54 minutes, Communion included, and our wedding Mass still ran to an hour and five minutes. And there were about ~30 Catholics who took Communion.
@HisGirlFriday13 We're not doing a full mass. So 30 or so minutes is probably more realistic.
@PrettyGirlLost - Yeah, I hadn't considered that her reception is so late. Since we had a Catholic mass, our cocktail hour started at 4:30 - it went a little over an hour. Everyone was sitting down by 6! We didn't have many older guests, but we had a LOT of kids. 9pm dinner would not have flown.
We have a Catholic ceremony at 5:30. We couldn't do any earlier unless we went in the afternoon (there's the Saturday evening mass at 4). Assuming 45 minutes for the ceremony, then driving time, and 7-12 seemed like the best idea. My cousins have had similarly late receptions, it's really not a problem. We only have a few kids, and even for them it hasn't been an issue at other family weddings.
I'm sure it will be great! Plus, if I got an invitation for a 5:30 wedding, I would snack mid-afternoon. It would be silly not to (for me). Funny story: Our reception ended at 10:30. or 11. Honestly, I forgot. Either way, H's 90+ year old great uncle was there. When his daughter came to get him, he looked up and said "But I'm not ready to go yet!" Some older people can definitely hang
Have the salads pre-set on the tables. People can eat during the first round of toasts.
Once you have your first dance, the floor is open. People can and likely will dance between courses. Once the mains are served you can do any remaining toasts.
That hasn't been the case at any of the weddings I've been to. The DJ isn't really playing dance music during dinner.
I am with you on this. I have never been to a wedding where people danced in between courses. The music that is always played is nice background dinner music and there really isn't a whole lot of time in between the salad and the entree for people to get up and groove.
I've never seen this and I would think it was totally weird to dance between courses. I would and have, however, used a photo booth between courses.
really? I can't remember a single wedding I've been to where there wasn't dancing in between courses. I guess it really is different across the country. The only time people are sitting down is when food has just been served, and/or there is something to watch. It's a lot of dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this
Have the salads pre-set on the tables. People can eat during the first round of toasts.
Once you have your first dance, the floor is open. People can and likely will dance between courses. Once the mains are served you can do any remaining toasts.
That hasn't been the case at any of the weddings I've been to. The DJ isn't really playing dance music during dinner.
I am with you on this. I have never been to a wedding where people danced in between courses. The music that is always played is nice background dinner music and there really isn't a whole lot of time in between the salad and the entree for people to get up and groove.
I've never seen this and I would think it was totally weird to dance between courses. I would and have, however, used a photo booth between courses.
really? I can't remember a single wedding I've been to where there wasn't dancing in between courses. I guess it really is different across the country. The only time people are sitting down is when food has just been served, and/or there is something to watch. It's a lot of dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this
I mean, people don't usually stay sitting between courses (we only have two anyway). But it's not dancing. They might get up and go visit another table, but no dancing until the DJ opens the dance floor. Funny how we don't even think about differences such as this.
Have the salads pre-set on the tables. People can eat during the first round of toasts.
Once you have your first dance, the floor is open. People can and likely will dance between courses. Once the mains are served you can do any remaining toasts.
That hasn't been the case at any of the weddings I've been to. The DJ isn't really playing dance music during dinner.
I am with you on this. I have never been to a wedding where people danced in between courses. The music that is always played is nice background dinner music and there really isn't a whole lot of time in between the salad and the entree for people to get up and groove.
I've never seen this and I would think it was totally weird to dance between courses. I would and have, however, used a photo booth between courses.
really? I can't remember a single wedding I've been to where there wasn't dancing in between courses. I guess it really is different across the country. The only time people are sitting down is when food has just been served, and/or there is something to watch. It's a lot of dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this/dance/sit down for this
I've never been to a wedding where there was dancing in between courses, and I've never been to a wedding were there was a ton of time between courses either.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
Seconded to @PrettyGirlLost. Seems like such an odd concept. How long are you guys sitting around between courses? I'd be pretty irritated. And my question remains: If I'm not done eating my salad, is there seriously Rihanna pumping through the speakers while I'm trying to enjoy my meal? I've never been to a wedding where people get up for more than a drink or to use the restroom between courses. And if you get up to use the restroom, your next course is there by the time you get back.
Time between courses would confuse me, unless you mean serving time- like the salad would be served a few minutes before the entree so they have time to eat the salad.
We did the first dance immediately after grand entrance (7:30 or 7:40) since everyone is already staring at the B&G at that point, then sat down and dinner was served. Speeches were during dinner, and after dinner H and his mom had their spotlight dance and the DJ opened the dance floor directly after. Cake cutting was 45 minutes or so later (about 9:30), and that was it for scheduled events for us. Our older relatives have no trouble staying up, so 9:30 wasn't too late for cake cutting (reception went to 11 and most were there the whole time), but we have been to some where they cut the cake as the first course was being served so the venue would have it cut for everyone right after dinner.
Honestly couldn't even tell you how much time between courses cause we're usually dancing and not keeping track of time. But eating so quickly after each course and not opening the dance floor until after dinner just seems so strange to me! I would be so bored and restless!!
Honestly couldn't even tell you how much time between courses cause we're usually dancing and not keeping track of time. But eating so quickly after each course and not opening the dance floor until after dinner just seems so strange to me! I would be so bored and restless!!
So quickly? How in the hell long are your courses?
I've never been to any multi course event where the time between courses was enough time to dance. This is one of the strangest things I have heard on these boards.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
Honestly couldn't even tell you how much time between courses cause we're usually dancing and not keeping track of time. But eating so quickly after each course and not opening the dance floor until after dinner just seems so strange to me! I would be so bored and restless!!
How many courses? We had a salad and entree, with cake served later. So dinner was 45 min? Hopefully none of my guests were bored and restless
Yeah, and unless I'm sitting with a pack of assholes, I'm quite enjoying the time during dinner. It's nice to catch up with people.
We've gone out to eat at restaurants and it took longer than the meal at our wedding. It never occurred to me to get up and do things between courses at a nice restaurant.
It must be regional. There is always dancing between courses at weddings I have been to. And usually about 4 courses and then dessert. The older people also stay till the last dance is called and the reception ends I have never seen them duck out at cake.
I just want to say HOORAY for someone who wanted to get married in a church/have a Catholic ceremony and managed to arrange her timeline in a way that avoids a gap. It can be done!! Yay @ashleyep !!
It must be regional. There is always dancing between courses at weddings I have been to. And usually about 4 courses and then dessert. The older people also stay till the last dance is called and the reception ends I have never seen them duck out at cake.
What region? I've been to weddings in the east, midwest, and Canada. . .
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
I'm in NJ, and have danced between courses here, in NY, DC, and MA. Just a few songs while plates are cleared and new ones served. And never blasting Rhianna in grandma's ear- just a few crowd favorites to pass the time.
But then again if you served me dinner at 5 I would be baffled since that's just not a meal time for me at all.
I just want to say HOORAY for someone who wanted to get married in a church/have a Catholic ceremony and managed to arrange her timeline in a way that avoids a gap. It can be done!! Yay @ashleyep !!
Thanks @tcnoble! With the vigil mass at 4, it might be kind of awkward if any guests come to the church more than 30 minutes early (which my family is apt to do). But we'll make it work. I definitely didn't want an afternoon ceremony.
Re: Reception Timeline and Toasts
It doesn't matter if the cake is being served table side or if guests are supposed to help themselves, the venue still needs time to cut it and plate it.
So maybe cut the cake at 8:45pm if not before dinner? It's fine if guests are still finishing up their main course at that point, because again, it will take some time for the venue to cut and plate your cake, and some guests might not want to wait around until 10pm for dessert. They might want to leave earlier.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
Right now, our planned timeline is to be announced/enter (no WP introductions) and then immediately cut our cake. Then our food stations will open up, we'll all eat, after dinner we do all the spotlight dances, then we party down!
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
I've never been to any multi course event where the time between courses was enough time to dance. This is one of the strangest things I have heard on these boards.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
What region? I've been to weddings in the east, midwest, and Canada. . .
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
But then again if you served me dinner at 5 I would be baffled since that's just not a meal time for me at all.