How long should a wedding reception be?

My ceremony started at 4:30pm and the dancing ended at midnight.

Ours is 6 hours. 5 PM - 11 PM. Half our ceremony, hour cocktail hour, 4.5 hour reception. All the weddings I've been to are between 5 and 6 hours.

My church mass was at 2pm and we bought an extra hour at the reception so it was 2-10pm. I have no regrets about this at all because for the amount of money we spent it should be an all day event. So total - 8 hrs not including the getting ready and after party

Ours is basically the same!

OP, Most receptions are 3-5 hours. Ceremony's are 10 minutes to an hour to two hours for super traditional religious. I think you're good with 5pm-10pm.

Here's our timeline if it helps:
12-3:30 get ready

3:30-4:15 any pre-pitcures (not doing first look)

4:15-4:45 touchups and calm down

4:45pm places

5-5:30 ceremony

5:30-6:30 pictures and cocktail hour

6:30-6:45 time for people to find their seats

6:45-7 bridal party intros

7:15-8:15 food service/ speeches etc

8:15 dances

9:15 cake cutting

11pm THE END

I think you'll be good with what you're thinking!

Ours is from 4-10 .... The ceremony is at 430, cocktail hour 5-6, and then the reception 6-10 (we actually paid for an extra hour because I thought 3 hours didn't sound like enough time. Thinking back now, perhaps 3 would of been good enough. Paying $300 for the DJ to play for an extra hour, plus $200 to rent the room for an extra hour, just doesn't seem worth it. But who knows ...
5 hours seems plenty long enough in hindsight, but hopefully people will stay the full 6.

On average, wedding ceremonies are 30 minutes long followed by a one hour cocktail hour and a 4-5 hour wedding reception! 🍾

Here's two other community discussions where over 100 couples shared how many hours long their reception will be: How long will your wedding be? and How long will your wedding be from start to finish?