Wedding

zsaoosh
zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
in Chit-Chat
How long should a wedding last from start to open dance? Any good tips on getting a timeline? So far I have it from 4 to 830.
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Replies

  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    There's a set schedule for these things? (Seriously. Intrigue.)
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Oh yes lol you have to give out timelines for when people are to meet, when the photographer comes into the picture and when you get your hair done, cake delivered and when the DJ plays certain songs. Otherwise it would be a mess and nobody would know what they are doing and when.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    i may actually still have the timeline used for my wedding saved on my computer at home. i may be able to post it later, if i do.
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.
  • DargoMack
    DargoMack Posts: 75 Member
    I think it all depends upon what you like. I'm getting married next year and we are both just looking to have a big blow out of a party. We are paying for it ourselves and are a little bit older, so we have total control over things.

    We are starting the ceremony at 6 and then right into to cocktail hour, interactive food stations and dancing right after.

    We are planning it that way because we have been to way too many formal/fancy weddings that just aren't guest friendly.

    I think it's all personal choice and what you really want.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    What do you mean horrendous??? They are letting me keep the venue from morning to midnight and said they will do whatever I want.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    I think it all depends upon what you like. I'm getting married next year and we are both just looking to have a big blow out of a party. We are paying for it ourselves and are a little bit older, so we have total control over things.

    We are starting the ceremony at 6 and then right into to cocktail hour, interactive food stations and dancing right after.

    We are planning it that way because we have been to way too many formal/fancy weddings that just aren't guest friendly.

    I think it's all personal choice and what you really want.

    We are having a classy nightclub theme for that same reason :bigsmile:
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    What do you mean horrendous??? They are letting me keep the venue from morning to midnight and said they will do whatever I want.

    Well then that you should do. You are fortunate to have the venue so long. I just thing 4pm is a very very weird time.
  • alcon79
    alcon79 Posts: 193 Member
    I think it all depends upon what you like. I'm getting married next year and we are both just looking to have a big blow out of a party. We are paying for it ourselves and are a little bit older, so we have total control over things.

    We are starting the ceremony at 6 and then right into to cocktail hour, interactive food stations and dancing right after.

    We are planning it that way because we have been to way too many formal/fancy weddings that just aren't guest friendly.

    I think it's all personal choice and what you really want.

    That schedule is similar to my wedding in April. 530pm-11pm beginning with the ceremony and going straight into the cocktail hour at 6. Lots of time for eating and dancing.

    We're doing our pictures before the ceremony because if I'm paying for open bar, I'm not missing a moment :)

    I'm going to a wedding in Nov with a Catholic ceremony at 2 and the reception doesn't start til 6. I'm never a fan of the big break, esp. away from home and not in a major city.
  • saracatherine89
    saracatherine89 Posts: 291 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    4pm on a Friday vs. 4pm on a Saturday are two totally different things. I think 4pm on a Saturday is reasonable. However, I had a cousin who got married at 4pm on a Friday DOWNTOWN CHICAGO. We got stuck in rush hour traffic, I had to leave work extremely early, we missed the ceremony completely and were late to the reception...it was just a bad idea. The wedding was lovely, but don't do 4pm on a Friday =)
  • AmyP619
    AmyP619 Posts: 1,137 Member
    I made a timeline of our entire reception to give to our DJ. By breaking it down event by event over the course of the evening, you can better pinpoint how long your reception will be. I don't think the length of the reception matters necessarily, I think the length of each part of the night is what matters. You don't want your guests getting bored because you chose to have 45 minutes of individual dances before dinner that they have to stand around and watch. I broke mine up so that we did our first dance, father-daughter, and mother-son dances (3 dances) before dinner.... then the toast and dinner.... then after dinner we finished those dances (dollar dance, anniversary dance, garter/bouquet toss)... then did cake.. and THEN went to full out dancing for the rest of the night! All preference though!! If people can't stay the entire time, then they can leave early. The reception hall also might have a limit... ours was a 5 hour limit. I wouldn't worry about the length.. people can feel free to leave at any time. I just tried not to make each thing last too long so people didn't get bored!

    Congrats! Enjoy it! It will FLY!
  • oregonzoo
    oregonzoo Posts: 4,251 Member
    We're also doing photos before.
    I'm not picky about much, but I don't want to be missing out on my wedding to take a bunch of pictures.
  • AmyP619
    AmyP619 Posts: 1,137 Member
    We're also doing photos before.
    I'm not picky about much, but I don't want to be missing out on my wedding to take a bunch of pictures.

    We did "First Look" photos before our ceremony!! LOVED it. the reactions on your faces that the photographer is able to catch are unreal! I find that photos after you've already seen each other are so posed and rigid. Ours were so fun and flirty, and it helped the calm the jitters for the rest of the evening. Our photographer positioned us so that it was a surprise to see each other and then captured it on her camera. So amazing! :) I also didn't want our guests sitting around for 2 hours for the reception to start because we were taking photos
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
    i think we are going to be doing 6pm onward, until people drink the whole bar out. but i am renting a school cafeteria and doing it in there.
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
    theknot.com

    beware, it can be a snarkfest over there.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    What do you mean horrendous??? They are letting me keep the venue from morning to midnight and said they will do whatever I want.

    Well then that you should do. You are fortunate to have the venue so long. I just thing 4pm is a very very weird time.
    4pm is the wedding, 445 is cocktail and dinner is served at 6. Dont really see whats weird about that.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    :happy:
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    4pm on a Friday vs. 4pm on a Saturday are two totally different things. I think 4pm on a Saturday is reasonable. However, I had a cousin who got married at 4pm on a Friday DOWNTOWN CHICAGO. We got stuck in rush hour traffic, I had to leave work extremely early, we missed the ceremony completely and were late to the reception...it was just a bad idea. The wedding was lovely, but don't do 4pm on a Friday =)
    It is on the weekend so no problem there
  • magj0y
    magj0y Posts: 1,911 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    What do you mean horrendous??? They are letting me keep the venue from morning to midnight and said they will do whatever I want.

    Well then that you should do. You are fortunate to have the venue so long. I just thing 4pm is a very very weird time.
    4pm is the wedding, 445 is cocktail and dinner is served at 6. Dont really see whats weird about that.

    4pm is a great start if you're serving dinner at the reception. and I think 45 minutes for the entire service might cut it a little close, but shouldn't be a problem.
  • alcon79
    alcon79 Posts: 193 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
    Yea...2 hours for a reception? That's a little on the short side.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Depends on when you get married.
    Most venues in the area I have looked at have an hour for the cocktail reception, and 4 hour reception.

    4-8 are horrendous hours, and I don't even think they'd do that.

    What do you mean horrendous??? They are letting me keep the venue from morning to midnight and said they will do whatever I want.

    Well then that you should do. You are fortunate to have the venue so long. I just thing 4pm is a very very weird time.
    4pm is the wedding, 445 is cocktail and dinner is served at 6. Dont really see whats weird about that.

    4pm is a great start if you're serving dinner at the reception. and I think 45 minutes for the entire service might cut it a little close, but shouldn't be a problem.

    I am just going to have my DJ there playing music by 445 and the venue ready but if people dont show up until a little later it will be ok since dinner isnt served until 6
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:

    Wait wait...2 and a half hours for dinner, then the fun begins? I think people are gonna start gettin' real bored after an hour.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Yea...2 hours for a reception? That's a little on the short side.

    Really? Hmmm...I havent been to many weddings but the ones I have been too dont really take that long. I am not doing the candle and so forth. I will talk to my Bishop and see what he thinks.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:

    Wait wait...2 and a half hours for dinner, then the fun begins? I think people are gonna start gettin' real bored after an hour.

    No, just 2 and a half hours until open dancing, meaning the cake is already cut and the flowers are already tossed, father dances and so forth.
  • alcon79
    alcon79 Posts: 193 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:

    Got it. I misread your first post - thought you wanted to end the whole thing at 8.

    Yeah that seems like a typical timeline. Just make sure you have a list of all the little traditions (toasts,1st dance, cake) that you want to do or not so that you include it all without feeling rushed.

    My dinner is set to go from 630-830 or so and then the dancing follows. May seem long leakramirez, but it takes a while, depending on # of guests to serve & clear the courses, do toasts, cake, etc. Last thing you want to do is rush it.
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:

    Wait wait...2 and a half hours for dinner, then the fun begins? I think people are gonna start gettin' real bored after an hour.

    No, just 2 and a half hours until open dancing, meaning the cake is already cut and the flowers are already tossed, father dances and so forth.
    Ohhhh.

    Okay. I think you pretty much got it figured out. Like another poster said, check out theknot.com for reassurance.
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
    Is there going to be a DJ? Doesn't seem to be a lot of time for dancing if dinner is at 6 and you want to end at 8.
    Open dancing starts at 830 and lasts until the bar runs out or people pass out :bigsmile:

    Got it. I misread your first post - thought you wanted to end the whole thing at 8.

    Yeah that seems like a typical timeline. Just make sure you have a list of all the little traditions (toasts,1st dance, cake) that you want to do or not so that you include it all without feeling rushed.

    My dinner is set to go from 630-830 or so and then the dancing follows. May seem long leakramirez, but it takes a while, depending on # of guests to serve & clear the courses, do toasts, cake, etc. Last thing you want to do is rush it.
    Our wedding was buffett style, and I didn't realize the OP was including the first dance, cake cutting, and all that jazz in that 2 hour time frame.
  • Shash27
    Shash27 Posts: 172
    I JUST got married and 4 hours is NOT enough time. Trust me..you don't want to rush it at all and pictures take longer than you think. We had a one hour cocktail hour, followed by dinner then the toasts, cake cutting and dances. Then everyone let loose for awhile then we did the garter and bouquet. Ours from ceremony beginning until the last song was 6 hours.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    I JUST got married and 4 hours is NOT enough time. Trust me..you don't want to rush it at all and pictures take longer than you think. We had a one hour cocktail hour, followed by dinner then the toasts, cake cutting and dances. Then everyone let loose for awhile then we did the garter and bouquet. Ours from ceremony beginning until the last song was 6 hours.
    But that 6 hours includes "letting loose" right? after 4.5 hours is when they will let loose. Do you have a timeline?

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