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I'm thinking that we'll just visit tables because I've never seen a receiving line at a wedding, but that's just me. Others may find that tacky. I don't know.
You can definitely visit each table at the reception, but be aware that this means that you likely won't get to eat any of your dinner! I hate the receiving line too, but I'd rather eat dinner so we're just going to deal with it ;) To keep it a bit faster though, we're going to just have us and our parents rather than the whole wedding party as well. We'll get the wedding party to start funneling the guests towards us to keep the day moving along :)
We had like a spontaneous one form. It didn't last long but we walked back down the aisle first but people followed shortly after. We knew we were supposed to wait to walk outside for bubbles so we were just kinda standing in the back so everyone walked past us and of course wanted to say something. It worked out well. We got to be the last ones out of the church and go out in a swarm of bubbles. Our spontaneous 'receiving line' was just the two of us so it didn't take very long for everyone to go through (we had 120 people and it took like maybe 10 minutes, maybe a bit longer, but people just wanted to say congrats and give a hug)
My FI and I are having cupcakes at our wedding. Instead of a recieving line with tons of perfumey/cologney hugs, we've decided to give out everyone's cupcakes instead. We still get a minute with everyone....and no one gets "Totsied" [anyone watch Gilmore Girls?] :)
That's what we did! We had absolutely no desire to do a receiving line, its just not us. And no one said boo about it. We made sure to go to every table and say hello, it was much better that way for us. Now that I think about it, I've been to a lot of weddings and only 1 of them did this. It might just be phasing out.
We didn't do a receiving line, but did table toasts. It still took over 30 minutes to visit our 14 tables, but it was worth it. And I think our guests appreciated it. :)
It's not tacky to skip it, but like PP said, you'll likely miss dinner. I think we're going to skip it and after the grand entrance to reception and dancing and all that stuff, we'll eat and after that we will go visit tables.
We skipped the receiving line and opted to circulate the room instead. We had action stations, so we were able to visit with everybody and still eat dinner afterward.
We didn't want a receiving line (I have seriously only been to about two weddings that had them, and, as a guest, I don't like them because they tend to be a little awkward) and we don't really want to have to commit to visiting all of our ~20 tables (and therefore not getting a chance to eat our delicious meal!).
So, we've decided to do something else: our reception venue is two separate rooms, one for cocktails/dancing and one for dinner, so when the doors are opened to the dining room for dinner, The Guy and I will greet all the guests as they make their way to their tables. Hopefully this will be as successful for us as it was for our friends who did the same thing a few years ago.
We're doing photographs before the ceremony so we're going to use cocktail hour to greet our guests. This way we say hi to everyone and can actually eat during dinner.
I think it's fine. Actually I don't remember ever seeing a receiving line in action at a wedding. But I've always had ample opportunity that let me have a conversation with the bride and groom.
I didn't do a receiving line. We got our dinner first, ate it, and then visited tables. We were present for most of the cocktail hour though!
We are not going to be doing a receiving line either. FI and I are very stuck between doing a first look photo session before the ceremony so that we can attend the cocktail hour OR table toasting during appetizers.
We actually had our priest announce at the end of the ceremony that there would be no receiving line but that we would visit each table at the reception. I never liked receiving lines because I feel like people are just pushed through. We went around to every table at the reception and it felt much more personal.
Thanks for the feedback!
Our plan is to be present for most of the cocktail dinner, BP entrance, first dance, toasts, dinner, parent dances, open the dance floor and then visit tables. I fully intend to eat some dinner so it worries me that so many people are saying that we won't eat dinner!
I'm eating dinner, not doing it, dancing, having cake, and doing pictures after the ceremony. I guess I'm of the mind what happens happens and that's how it'll be.
We also didn't want a receiving line, but our cocktail hour was in another room and people just automatically lined up in a straight line to come in and waited to greet us. So even though we tried to avoid it, it still happened.
As for table toasting, we also did that and didn't miss any dinner. we had all our speeches inbetween the courses and by dessert we did our thank you speech and started toasting table to table. I think the key to making it good too is to keep it shortish and to keep moving from table to table. you'll have more time to talk later to your guests also!
We are just visiting with every table. No recieving line for us. I HATE going through a recieving line at other peoples weddings so I would really hate having one at ours. I think as long as you mingle its ok. Plus, like you said, it takes up too much time.
Personally, anytime I've been a guest, the receiving line has been awkward, since locally the WP is in the line as well. Anytime I've been a BM in a receiving line it has been awkward, even if half the people were my own aunts & uncles then it's like "hey! I know you! I'll talk to you less awkwardly later!"
I think it is totally fine to skip it if you plan on visiting the guests at their tables later.
I'm skipping it.
We didn't do a recieving line and PLANNED to go visit all the tables. Unfortunately, we got about half-way through when something distracted us (still can't remember what it was but I think it had something to do with the rain/food service) and didn't get a chance to visit with the other half. Luckily, it was mostly our friends whom we saw a bunch throughout the weekend anyways but there were a few tables of Mr TM's family/family friends that I feel horribly that we didn't get to say hello to.
Moral of the story: It's fine to have a recieving line but make sure you get to every table!
We're having a fairly small wedding (approx 50 guests) and aren't doing a receiving line. We plan on visiting each table during the reception.
This may sound dumb... but what really is table toasting. I've never heard of this. Do you just go to each table pour them a glass of champagne and toast to them? Is this as simple as it sounds?
I have only really ever seen receiving lines and once in a great while the bride and groom visit each table. Generally the bride and groom just attempt to visit with each person throughout the night. Which seems to be very overwhelming if you are having a larger wedding.
Also, as a guest if the bride and groom do not reach you are you upset by this or doesn't it bother you?
We didn't have a receiving line (church would not allow it) so we greeted everyone at the reception- either at the dinner tables or just around.
We had a buffet, which helped give us time to eat in another room while the guests go through the line. By the time people started to get seated, we were greeting people.
Worked out great.
I am not having a receiving line. However, we are having over 200 guests and there's no way I'm not having dinner LOL. I'm assuming that our table would be served first and we could quickly eat and then visit tables. I have a feeling we'll be doing that all night in between dancing and stuff.
I'm a photographer and I haven't seen a receiving line in over a year.... so, Yes, it's OK ;-) Just make rounds and visit tables and say hello to people.
We plan to do a faux receiving line at the end of the ceremony. Our ceremony venue has two large aisles that both end at a set of double doors to the outside and where we plan to make our grand exit. We plan to do the recessional and then just stand at the back doors. We'll greet folks as they exit. With 250 of our 300 expected to show there's no way we could expect to visit every table without getting distracted halfway through. We're not having parents or bridal party as part of the receiving line. Just my then husband and I, so hopefully it'll go somewhat smoothly. Then we'll leave through the same doors to lots of bubble blowing guests.
I think it's totally fine to not do a receiving line as long as you plan on personally seeing and greeting each of your guests sometime during the night. Table visits are a great way to do this (and that's what we're doing), but remember that it will take a big chunk of your dinner time. I'm just not a fan of receiving lines b/c I always feel rushed w/ the bride and groom, and also am forced to make some uncomfortable conversation with their parents who I may or may not have ever met before. I see how receiving lines can be necessary for large weddings though where table visits would take way too long.
I've been to 12 weddings, and I have never seen a receiving line. Yes, it's ok to skip it!
We are also going to have our priest announce that we will not have a recieving line and will be visiting table to table at the reception. I think we will do this after dinner/dessert/speeches cause most people won't be up dancing right aways anyways.
We're only having a 40 person wedding so I've veto'd the receiving line. I think it's pointless since we're going to mingle with people at the reception, ride back to the reception on the bus with them, etc, etc.
Our plan is to not do a receiving line and make sure we are served first at dinner, finish our dinner and NOT be rushed, and then do table visits with family tables/older guests. Those are the only people I can see being offended. We'll definitely see our friends on the dance floor and at the afterparty so I'm not overly concerned about their tables. They don't know or follow etiquette rules so whatever.
We are not doing a receiving line after the ceremony at the Church because we want to have enough tmie to take plenty of great photos and take our time doing it.
We scheduled enough time between the ceremony and cocktail hour so that we had an extra half hour or so to join in the cocktail hour and greet everyone then and kinda do the modified version of a receiving line and we get to enjoy the food and drinks too!!!! :)
Hope this helps wedding day twin!!! :)
Guests need to be greeted in some fashion. Dismissing the rows at the end of the ceremony will only take 15-20 mins maximum since folks know to rush through. A receiving line will take the same amount of time. Table visits will take much longer because folks won't know that you are trying to get to everyone in a certain period of time and will be very chatty. Those who have done table visits as their receiving line usually say that they don't get around to even half their guests before they realize that the reception is over and they didn't get to dance or eat or even see the other guests they wanted to.
My husband and I had a "family only" receiving line. It helped tell everyone to head downstairs for the reception. It was nice to see all of our guests before we went down and had our first dance. It helped us enjoy our reception rather than worrying about greeting everyone.
Don't think they're a 'must' anymore, and while debating over whether to have one or not I was told they're actually considered kinda old fashioned. And to me it would just be awkward. We are standing at the entrance to the venue and welcoming guests as they enter, then sneaking off for pictures and reentering later.
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Is no receving line really OK? I have looked at our timeline and I just don't want to tie up 30-45 minutes for a formal receiving line. Is it OK not to do a receiving line, but visit with every table after dinner at the reception?
Thanks!