Dismissing Rows/receiving Line

Good question, not sure, But i am following just to see brides answers!

My DOC told us it could take up to an hour with 150 guests. I don't think this is true, as my friend had one and it took about 20 minutes for just over 100, but we moved pretty quickly through the line.

We wanted to do a receiving line, but with only having an hour for family pictures after the ceremony we decided to skip it. Instead, our food will already be at our table for dinner so we can sit down and eat while everyone else is being served so we will finish faster in order to walk around and talk to people during dinner.

An Hour---ugh this is what I am worried about. We have a fairly large wedding(~250) so I need to do table visits or receiving line or dismissing ceremony rows in order to attempt to see everyone. We may do a combination of both or depending on the weather (outdoor ceremony). Ceremony and reception are in the same place. We are doing a first look and majority of pics before. So we have the hour after the ceremony(although guests will want to get to the bar- its cocktail hour) or the hour of dinner time(which we want to eat and sneak out for sunset pics).

View Quoted Comment Maybe skip the receiving line unless you want to spend the whole hour greeting everyone. I'd suggest just making table rounds quickly. Thank everyone at the table, not individually, and keep walking to the next. My friend always had people coming up to her throughout the night if they wanted to talk to her so I'm sure this is common for everyone.

About 15 or 20 minutes for 160 guests. Just keep it moving

We marched straight from the recessional to the bridal suite. So did the whole wedding party. That was organized by the venue DOC ahead of time purposely to get us away to do our photos and get the guests moved to the cocktail hour area. So we didn’t have a receiving line. We had 85 guests, and each of us made a point to have a “moment” with everyone at some point during the reception and we did a pretty good job. I can only think of 3 people I missed having a special individual moment with.

We had a receiving line for our wedding this past weekend and it on my took about half an hour or so, we had about 80-90 guests (not sure the exact count as some people who rsvp'd didn't show up). I think the main deciding factor time wise will be if your guests want to stop and talk, most of our guests said congratulations and did hugs/handshakes and some quick small talk (you look great! That was a beautiful service, etc although we did have a few people here and there who spent a little more time chatting. I hope that helps!

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I think I would rather spend the hour and get it done ASAP- I would just hate for my guests to miss cocktail hour. However since everything is in the same location people may feel more comfortable to skip the line- Plus those who know they will spend a lot of time with us later in the evening on the dance floor may skip out of the line as well.

So thats mostly why I wanted to get a rough estimate of times- It is so hard to judge

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Thanks! Yes- that is one reason why I heard doing the "new style" of receiving lines which the couple dismisses the rows from the reception makes it move quicker- Only a hug, kiss, or congrats and they need to get moving. Plus this way people can stay in their seats and wait. However I feel like people are less likely to skip out on it this way...

Which I have no problem with people skipping out of- normally its friends or people who know they will visit with the B/G later.

I feel like as a guest I'd be a little annoyed to have to sit and wait to be released from my seat. It makes everything seem slower moving to the guest. I'd just let people get in line or if your friends know they'll be dancing with you later on then maybe they'll skip.

If I'm a guest at a wedding, I arrive early - 20 minutes or so. With a 20 minute ceremony, we're up to 40 minutes. No way do I want to wait up to an hour to go thru a receiving line. Personally, I think receiving lines are archaic and need to go away. Table visits should be the new standard.

View Quoted Comment True this is good getting different opinions. But you have to wait for the rows ahead of you to go back down the aisle anyways. I am wondering how much longer me giving a quick hi to people will it make the process.

View Quoted Comment I agree. I do not want guest waiting an hour either. But I also don’t want to spend my whole evening doing table visits. Once the dancing starts I will be there the whole time. I worry if we can get through the tables quick enough. I know I partly brought this on myself having a large wedding.

Thank you all for the input! Now thinking about this further I think I may lean towards a receiving line. Our ceremony is outside and has multiple paths to the reception space. I am thinking it may make sense for us to put ourselves in the main path and that way we can catch whoever wants to see us then. Others can find another route....I think it makes it not so annoying due to the fact that it isn't the only way out of a church or room.