Timeline advice for pre-ceremony cocktail hour & same location?

Add New »

more by xine78

Timeline advice for pre-ceremony cocktail hour & same location?

posted 2 years ago in Reception
1 Members Subscribed To Topic

Member

1 posts

Wannabee

xine78 ? N IL

Looking for some advice on a non-traditional timeline. I've seen a bunch of other ones, but nothing that really works for my plan. The room is a bar-type setting, so we're not doing a big dance floor with chicken dance/tosses/dollar dance type of stuff. We also don't want to do any posey photos. Maybe a couple shots of us alone before & then more candid shots throughout with family & guests. So is 4 hours too short? I figure cutting out all the traditional stuff has to save a good 2 hours!

Also, what do I put on the invites? I was thinking something like wedding at 6:00 and reception dinner to immediately follow, so that all the stragglers will be there by 6:30. I thought if I specifically said cocktails at 6:00 and ceremony at 6:30, then the non-drinkers will plan on coming at 6:30 and still be late and the drinkers will show up early & get smashed :-)

My rough draft:

5:30 BRIDE/GROOM - PHOTOS & hide out somewhere from 6-6:30

6:00 GUESTS ARRIVE - COCKTAIL HOUR & APPETIZERS/SLIDESHOW/CANDID PHOTOS

6:30 CEREMONY in the same room as reception - don't think rearranging is necessary

7:00 SEATED DINNER / GREET GUESTS (walk around)

8:00 FIRST DANCE / MOM & DAD DANCES

8:45 CUT CAKE (might have cupcakes sitting out for people to eat whenever & have small cake on top for cutting)

9:45 LAST DANCE / LAST PICS

10:00 KICKED OUT OF ROOM - after party at the bar or something if needed

2 years ago

Hostess

5,330 posts

Bee Keeper

Mrs. Spring May 10, 2009 California

I think this looks pretty good, but maybe some things to think about (if you haven't already):

How many guests are you having? And what kind of meal are you planning? Depending on the size of your guest list and the type of meal being served (plated, buffet, stations, etc...) people could still be eating dinner during the cake cutting. you could always move the dances and cake cutting back a little bit to give yourself more time.
Maybe reconsider your start time for the cocktail hour? If you put 6:00 pm on the invitation, some people will be early. If guests arrive 15 minutes (or more) early, will they have a place to go until the coktail hour starts? It might be worth considering to start the cocktail hour at 5:45 pm with 6:00 pm on the invites so you can accomodate those early birds.
Again, depending on the size of your reception, and the number of candid photos you want to take, it might be difficult to get all the people you want in your candid pictures. I think it helps to have a list made-up beforehand of people you want in the pictures, just so nobody is missed.
It's also my experience that people will probably not go immediately from the ceremony to eating dinner, even if it's in the same room. I might build in a little extra time after the ceremony (say 15 minutes) for people to congratulate you/visit with you before dinner service.
The only other thing I see is that it looks like you and your Fi won't have a chance to eat! Can you eat before the ceremony while you're "hiding out"?

2 years ago

Member

372 posts

Helper bee

SoonToBeMrsV July 3, 2010

I'd also consider cutting the cake before you do the dances (some even do this before dinner). that way you won't have to interrupt dancing time and you can go straight from the traditional dances into guest dancing.

2 years ago