Wedding Reception Duration

[modernsparkler]

We have a band booked for 4 hours- we are planning to have them from 7:30 -11:30 with the first hour being dinner music and the last 3 with dancing and minimal interruptions for cake cutting, etc. Does this seem reasonable? I have looked at some timelines on here but it is hard to determine what would be an appropriate length for an evening recption.

 

[CJ2008]

Ours was from 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM, with basically the same timeline...first hour dinner music, then dancing, with minimal interruptions: we did a really quick cake-cutting (next day DH and I were like "I thought we weren''t going to do a cake-cutting?" anyway - we were just doing whatever our photographer told us to do haha) and a very short first dance at one point during the reception.

I thought it was too short and went by too quick! But I keep saying I needed just one half hour more, so yours might be just perfect. Although - my wedding was VERY small - 18 people total. How big is yours?

 

[modernsparkler]

Date: 7/16/2008 6:00:07 PM
Author: claudinam
Ours was from 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM, with basically the same timeline...first hour dinner music, then dancing, with minimal interruptions: we did a really quick cake-cutting (next day DH and I were like ''I thought we weren''t going to do a cake-cutting?'' anyway - we were just doing whatever our photographer told us to do haha) and a very short first dance at one point during the reception.

I thought it was too short and went by too quick! But I keep saying I needed just one half hour more, so yours might be just perfect. Although - my wedding was VERY small - 18 people total. How big is yours?

Claudinam- we are having about 140 people. I am just afraid that it will go by quickly and I would love to extend it but it isn''t really in our budget to have the band, photographers, bar tab, etc for another hour. It has ben a long time since I have been to an evening wedding and until now I never really thought about the timeline!

 

[jcrow]

the standard is 4 hours.

 

[palomablancabride]

My friend just had a reception from 7pm-12am. It seemed like a lot of people left around 11pm. I think four hours is perfect.

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

I think it''s better to leave them wanting more than making them wish you would hurry up and get in the car already. I''ve been to quite a few receptions where I stayed longer than I wanted to simply because I didn''t want the happy couple to have a wimpy send-off and the other guests were dropping like flies. You know your friends and family, so you can guess better than anyone else whether you should extend or not. Think about the people attending - mostly older relatives or people with children? Mostly young single twenty-somethings? It makes a huge difference!

IF you don''t want to say good-night, but can''t afford to extend, then consider spreading it around that the bride and groom are going to be heading to xyz if anyone wants to continue the party. I''ve met up with a few couples before in hotel suites for after-parties, and I also usually end up going out with other guests after weddings, so just join your guests at their after wedding plans!

 

[CJ2008]

I know - weird all the things you start thinking about and realize there are choices that could be made, right?

Everyone here''s saying 4 hours is the standard - I would trust that advice.

Just as a warning though - it will probably feel very quick. Make sure you and your FI/DH stop every now and then and take it all in.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Ours will be a little less than 4 hours from 6:30-10, so yep 4 hours sounds good!