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I think this is a perfectly well-planned timeline. Midnight is a pretty standard end time for receptions, I think. If people want to leave early, they will.
I think if you're serving appetizers during your cocktail hour that's fine. I really don't think it's toolate to have your reception end at midnight, a lot of people end then. If anything, they'll probably stay until 10 pm or so and your party can kind of change into something for the younger crowd.
I tihnk that's totally fine. Our ceremony began at 6:00 and the reception ended at midnight. We did have some older folks who didn't stay for the end of the reception, but that wasn't a big deal for most people.
End time isn't usually a concern, people will leave when they're ready to (once dinner & sdpeeches are over with of course!). I'd be more concerned with not feeding your guests until 7/8... if you're having nibblies during cocktail hour maybe consider serving them pre-ceremony instead - just to ward off any hypoglycemic/grumpy tendancies!
It is normal for receptions to end at midnight. And if it's too late for the older folks, they can leave early. I wonder if your mom's problem is more with dinner being served at 8pm. Serving appetizers during the cocktail hour is a good idea. Could you also have some appetizers from 6-6:30pm?
Mine only starts half hour before yours. Ceremony at 6, reception ends at 11. No big deal!
I think earlier snacks are a good idea. We're doing apps and punch at 630 while we take pics since dinner's at 730
I think your timeline is fine.
Just a question... are you doing all/most of your pictures before?
Great, thanks everyone! Based on your feedback, I think we'll keep the timeline as is and see if the hotel can add some snacks/appetizers to the "light refreshments" from 6-6:30pm.
@LittleBear Yes, we are doing most of our pictures before. I had really wanted the first time we saw each other to be at the ceremony, but as you can see from the timeline, it wouldn't really be feasible (also, we'd like to take part in the cocktail hour and be able to chat with our guests). Also, our venue is right across from Central Park and we'd like to take advantage of that for pictures! Hence, pictures before.
Good! I was hoping so! I don't want to miss my cocktail hour either! 
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I think it's totally fine... my timeline is really similar, but our ceremony will begin at 6 and last about 25-30 minutes. We're also having a cocktail hour with passed hor d'oeuvres, then plan to serve dinner around 7:30. We have our reception hall until midnight as well, and I hope most people stick around and party with us till the end... but I can understand if some of the *older* guests wish to leave earlier. :)
We're also having a "first-look" photo session prior to the ceremony (to catch the daylight and in order to mingle with our guests during cocktail hour).
Our wedding timeline is as follows
6 pm Ceremony
Reception will follow immediately
Haven't figured out when dinner or anything else will happen ... but we will party until well past midnight!
that sounds good to me! I was MOH in a wedding that started at 6.. it ended at 11 though and it felt just a tad short. I would say yours sounds great!
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Mine is almost exactly the same!
6-6:30 cocktails
6:45-7:15 ceremony
by 7:30 people are ushered into dinner
8 pm band starts
8:30 dinner closes (we're serving family style, so they'll just stop bringing food out)
11:30 last dance, we leave
12 pm everyone's gone
DSCF1017.JPG (2473.7 KB, 32 downloads) 1 year old You must log in to post.
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Our tentative wedding day schedule is as follows:
6pm-6:30pm Invitation, Serve light beverages
6:30-7pm Ceremony
7-8pm Cocktail Hour
8pm-Midnight Dinner and Dancing
I ran this schedule by my mom, who felt that midnight was too late for some of the older folks (they're not old old, but my aunts and uncles, for example). I thought midnight was a perfectly acceptable time for festivities to end, but I want to get the opinion of the hive. What do you think? I kinda don't want to push up this schedule (it will be summer and I want it to start getting dark by the time dinner starts), but then again, I don't want people to leave early either.
Please help! Thanks!