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Mine is shorter! Ceremony and reception is a total of 4.5 hours! I used to worry about it not being long enough--but that's what we could afford at the venue we like. We're doing an after party at 11 p.m. (reception is over at 10 p.m.) for all our friends & family our age that will go until the wee hours of the evening.
I think no matter how short or long--it's all going to zoom by quickly on the day of.
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OUr reception is 5 1/2 hours. This is how we broke it down:
6:30 to 7:30 cocktails and appetizers
7:30-8:30 dinner, speeches & champ. Toast.
8:30 - 12:00 Dancing, cocktails and cake - Ends a midnight
Depending on how late it goes and how much your friends and family likes to dance and stuff, 4 hours might be enough...
My ceremony is at 6p.m., with a cocktail hour from 6:45-7:30, and then my reception is from 7:30-11. I think 4 hours is fine. If you think about it, you're going to be pretty beat as well. My friend is having a SIX hour reception, and I get downtrodden every time I even think about attending a reception that long.
My ceremony is going to be from 5-6 cocktail hour, 6-10 reception, afterparty.
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Thats a good question!
Our ceremony is at we have the ceremony/reception hall booked from 5-11, but the wedding doesn't start until 7. So ours will be fairly short,from about 7:45-11.
And then of course I expect all our friends our age to head to the bars and party into the wee hours!
Our reception is an hour-long cocktail hour from 5:30-6:30, with four hours for dinner and dancing from 6:30-10:30, so five hours total. I believe that's pretty average, so I think you're fine.
Usually after the reception, if people still feel like celebrating everyone will organize an impromptu after party, typically held at the hotel bar or someplace else that's pretty casual.
But just remember, four hours for one person might not be long enough, while for others, it might be two hours too long. Keep what you have, and see who wants to keep partying after!
Our ceremony is starting at 4:30, lasting about a half an hour. Then from 5-6 will be the coktail hour. And then dinner and dancing between 6 and 10.
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I am marrying an Irish guy and receptions here are VERY long. Like wee hours of the morning and then start again the next day and then for fun repeat a third day. Not officially of course but that's the approach.
We went to my brother's wedding in May and it was FI's first American wedding. The reception ended at 9:30 and everyone had to leave the ballroom. FI was mortified - he made it very clear very quickly that at least having the option to keep partying for a few extra hours was very important to him.
So in the search I went to a few country clubs and hotels and wound up choosing a social club where my parents had their reception and so did my sister and BIL. The club VP said - you can have the place for 5 hours from the time you get here. I told him we'd get there around 5 pm. He responded that we should probably be out by around midnight. That's my kind of 'five hours'!!! There's a bar downstairs from the function room so if the official reception peters out, the hard core folks can keep going. I'm excited just typing it out!
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I was concerned about our 4 hour reception going by too quickly, so I made the cocktail "hour" only 30 minutes. We also took pictures before the ceremony so that my husband and I could arrive at the reception right when it started.
Our reception was 5 hours long. It started at 5:30 and ended at 10:30.We would have loved to have an after party, but my husband was the best man in our best friend's wedding the very next afternoon. Our cocktail hour was from 5:30 to 6:30. 6:30 to 10:30 for all the other festivities.
Our reception starts (in theory) at 6pm and will last until about (again in theory) 10:30 or 11pm. That's about 4 1/2 to 5 hours.
Our photos were from 5-7, ceremony from 7-7:15, cocktails 7:15-7:45, first dances 7:45-8:00, buffet opening right after that, dancing til 10:15, bus left at 10:30. I would've loved another hour but our venue rental was really short.
Ceremony 5:00-5:30
Cocktail "Hour" 5:30-6:00
Reception 6:00-9:00
So, 4 hours total.
Ceremony: 12:00-12:30
Cocktail "Hour" 12:30-1:00
Reception: 12:30-4:00
So we're on the shorter side of things, and that's fine by me.
cocktails start at 4:30
Dinner at 6:00ish
Dance Dance Dance proabably around 8:30-9ish until 2am
Ceremony 2-3
Cocktail hour 4-5
Reception (dinner, dancing): 5-10
Afterparty @ bar: 10-whenever. We better be in bed by 12!
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Our reception is four hours long. And since the ceremony is OOT, and the reception is back home, we're going to have a half hour at the beginning to allow for late-comers, then a half-hour to show the video of the ceremony, so the music and dancing will be only three hours.
Cocktail hour: 6pm - 7pm
Dinner, Dancing: 7pm - 11pm
So, 5 hours total. I think that's plenty long, and would not want it to go on any longer (even if the venue allowed it). Four or five hours gives you enough time to say hello to everyone, eat, dance, and cut cake, but it's not so long that your guests will get bored.
Including our cocktail hour, ours was 5.5 hours. We did cocktails from 6:45-8:15 and then dinner/reception until midnight. It still went by too fast!!!
Our reception was 6 hours and I still felt like it was too short! I just wanted my wedding to last and last!
Our friends definitely like to party - and since it's in NYC and no-one has to drive, we figured - why not!
Our arrival is at 5 (with wine on arrival of course) and the cocktail hour/dinner/dancing goes from 6pm until midnight. So we'll be there for a total of 7 hours, with a 6 hour reception.
I'm so excited!
I think for dinner & dancing receptions, 4-6 hours is average. Anything less than 4 hours for cocktail hour, dinner and dancing will be a bit tight. It also depends on your guests - do they like to dance til dawn or are they a tamer crowd?
I am having a morning brunch reception, and my family is used to shorter receptions anyway since they don't drink and dance (boring, I know). So our ceremony is 10:30am-11am, with fruit, cheese and smoothies immediately following for 30 minutes while we take pictures. Our reception proper will be from 11:30am til about 2pm, so it will only be 3 hours including the "cocktail" hour. Since its outdoors in the summer (under a tent with fans, but still), we figure people will be ready to leave by then.
We're also having an after party that will start around 7pm, with my FI and I arriving fashionably late at around 7:20. It will go as long as people want to stay, but we'll probably be pooped out around 11pm or so! So that portion, with drinks, heavy hor's d'eourves and dancing, will be about 4 hours.
cocktail hour (and a half): 5:30(pm)-7:00
dinner/toast/cake: 7:00-8:30
dancing/more coktails: 8:30-4:30(am)
so, 11 hours? we are not doing any traditional stuff (bouquet/garter toss, etc.), instead we will be providing other forms of entertainment.
I'm not having alcohol at my recpetion neither dancing, we're going to do an elegant dinner as the reception will be in the fellowship hall of the church...I didn't want the normal reception, and I've been to a reception like mine and it was still nice in it's own way!! So ceremony:4:00pm-4:30pm and 5:00pm-8:00pm I guess...or who ever is the last to leave!!
Ours is 5 hours for the total event. With 30 min for ceremony, I guess it's 4.5 hours.
Right now I'm looking at:
Ceremony: 4-4:30ish
Cocktail hour: 6-7
Reception: 7-11
So five hours for the reception in total.
No hosted reception, just dinner, but it's Las Vegas, so after that, who knows?
Ceremony 4-4:45
Cocktail Hour: 6:30-7:30
Dinner/Dance: 7:30-11:30
By that point, most people will be exhausted and grateful for the night to be over. BUT we are still organizing an after-party! Just an informal trip to a nearby bar that will be spearheaded by the honor attendents.
Encore here...with lots of children on the guest list.
Ready for pictures at 9 am, ceremony at 11 am, brunch reception immediately to follow in the church social hall, when we get over there after pictures, we are probably cutting the cake right away
With all of the little kids, our church hostess figured that our reception in reality will only last 1-2 hours-brunch around 11:30/12:00 or so and lasting until about 1/2:00. We are not doing any of the traditional things-garter or bouquet toss, dancing, etc. More visiting, socializing & kids!
We are leaving immediately after to go to North Georgia and spending our wedding night in Toccoa. We hope to get on the road by 3 pm at the latest.
Saturday night-everyone is going out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We've reserved the back room-it's sort of a "dutch treat" kind of thing. Most people will go back to hotels to change, take a nap, watch a football game, etc. after the wedding & reception. Some of the guys may go and play golf, that kind of thing
Sunday late morning-my parents are staying here at my house and keeping my twins while we honeymooon, so my mother is hostessing a luncheon for OOT folks after they check out and before they get on the road-FIs parents & immediate family, close friends, etc. I just talked to the caterer today and I'm excited about this too-croissants, chicken salad, fresh spring green with mandarin oranges & a vinegarette dressing, potato salad, tea & lemon water, with a crunchy banana pudding for dessert.
Ceremony is at 5pm
Cocktail Reception is at 7pm
8pm - 11pm is dancing, toasts and hors duerves.
Photos 3-5 pm
Ceremony 6-6:30 pm
Cocktails 6:30-7:30
Dinner and dancing 7:30- midnight
This is just a rough timeline though... I imagine things won't go EXACTLY as I plan, hehe ;)
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Hi!
My reception is currently scheduled for 4 hours, but I am concerned that it's not long enough. I want to make sure everyone has plenty of time to eat, drink & dance their butts off. We are doing a cocktail hour & then buffet, then passed dessert trays.
How long is your reception? What time does it start?
Thanks!