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receiving line at outdoor ceremony/reception

Knottie6049239 Knottie6049239 member
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in Wedding Etiquette Forum
I'm currently trying to figure out the logistics of making a receiving line work at our venue.

We are having the ceremony and reception at the same place and it's an outdoor wedding.  Given that its a pretty open space, there are not any places where a receiving line would naturally form.  

If we just stand at the end of the aisle after the ceremony, do you think guests would get the idea the line up?  

I'm afraid guests may not get the idea, and since there would not be any sort of bottleneck forming they may not be motivated to keep things moving. What's the proper etiquette for directing guests to a receiving line and keeping things moving so we get to everyone before people wander off to the bar?

Given that we only have about 40 guests, all of whom we are excited to visit with at the wedding, would it be rude to forego the receiving line and just make sure we get around to everyone at some point during the cocktail hour and reception to thank them personally?

I should add that I'm not a fan of table visits,  they've always seemed awkward and impersonal to me, so I'd prefer a receiving line if necessary.

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Re: receiving line at outdoor ceremony/reception

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    snakeyladysnakeylady member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    With 40 guests, you could probably manage to see everyone without a receiving line. The important thing is thanking each guest for coming.

    I'm also getting married outdoors (though the reception is inside) and we'll be doing our receiving line on the path between the ceremony area and the cocktail hour space. We'll have over 100 guests, so it's not practical for us to forgo it. If anyone skips the receiving line, we'll try to find them during the reception.
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    Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Skip the receiving line and just visit with everyone at the reception.

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    artbyallieartbyallie mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited July 2015
    As long as you and your spouse greet and thank each guest individually, how you accomplish that does not matter. With only 40 guests, there is not really a need for a receiving line to do that. Depending on where folks are during the reception (cocktail hour is part of that) you may in fact need to go to their tables. We did a receiving line and table visits just to be sure we caught everybody, but we did have 200ish guests.

    ETA: A table visit is only impersonal if you make it that way.
    image
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its First Anniversary
    If you can hit everyone at the cocktail hour / beginning of the reception you're fine. All you need to do is personally thank each guest for attending; nothing says it has to be via a receiving line.

    My planner is suggesting this to us but I think our group might be too big.
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    AddieCakeAddieCake member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    We did table visits instead of a receiving line.
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
    image
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Given that there will be only 40 guests, I think it makes more sense to greet them individually rather than do a receiving line.
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    SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited July 2015
    Our ceremony and reception where in the same room, so guests needed to exit the room for changeover. There was a covered veranda outside where we did our receiving "line". At the end of our ceremony, our officiant let our guests know that we would be out on the veranda to receive our guests. We went and stood towards the other side and people filtered out of the room and over to see us. We had 67 guests.

    Another option is for you and your FI to stand between the ceremony location and the bar. People will stop along the way ;).

    Or, as above, greet guests during your cocktail hour.
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    kvrunskvruns member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer

    We had a path from the outdoor ceremony to the reception area and that is where we did it.  It wasn't a dedicated path but having the wedding party lead the way and then the guests followed.  The officiant made an announcement to follow the wedding party.  If this venue you're using is a typical wedding site ask the venue coordinator what people normally do.

    Create a natural flow from the ceremony to the reception area - even if it isn't a designated path you can create one and people will follow.  Unless the bar is like 2 feet from the end of the aisle I think you can make it happen pretty easily.

    .

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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    SP29 said:
    Our ceremony and reception where in the same room, so guests needed to exit the room for changeover. There was a covered veranda outside where we did our receiving "line". At the end of our ceremony, our officiant let our guests know that we would be out on the veranda to receive our guests. We went and stood towards the other side and people filtered out of the room and over to see us. We had 67 guests.

    Another option is for you and your FI to stand between the ceremony location and the bar. People will stop along the way ;).

    Or, as above, greet guests during your cocktail hour.
    This.  The line for the bar IS your receiving line.  Done.
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    emmaaaemmaaa mod
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    We did table visits with a total of 160+ guests. I missed some people that ONLY came to the ceremony but I did see them briefly afterwards.

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    auriannaaurianna member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    While it won't work for everyone depending on their attire/preferences, this is what we did:

    Our wedding was at 5pm.
    From about 4:30-4:45 my husband (then FI) stood at the front of the church and actually greeted guests as they came in. Then at 4:45 I went into the back room and changed into my dress.

    We were able to pick up the guests we missed during cocktail hour and at table visits.

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    climbingsingleclimbingsingle member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    We had an outdoor ceremony and did a receiving line right after. My H and I walked past where all the chairs were set up and stood there. It worked fine. 
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