Length and time frame of wedding

We're doing 10 hours (ceremony and reception) but it's also their standard

Hi! I'm a professional wedding singer, and a standard wedding format is:

30-min ceremony

1-hour cocktail hour

4-hour reception

So that's 5.5 hours total. Do you plan to do your ceremony onsite, or at a separate location? And with the 5 standard hours they offer, does that mean you only have access to the venue for a total of 5 hours, or is that time just for the event itself, and they give you extra time on each end for setting up and breaking down? I think you need to find that out before deciding. If they make you pay for additional setup time, then I suggest reaching out to your band or DJ, as well as your florist or decorator, and see how much time they need to set up and break down, then you'd add that time to the 5 hours. If they give you extra setup time for "free", then you can make the wedding work in 5 hours. You can do a 30 or 45-minute cocktail hour, or shave a half hour off the end of the reception, and that will be fine.

Depends if you are doing ceremony and reception in same place, if you need set up time, what time in that block can guests arrive, etc.

My venue was 5 hours (6-11pm), but bridal party, band, etc. could arrive 1.5 hours before (4:30pm). What was stinky was that the start time for the ceremony had to be 30 min AFTER the contract start time so that when guests arrive nothing was still being set up (the venue set up all decor during that 1.5 hours). They wouldn't budge on that.

Timeline:

4:30 bridal party, family, and vendors arrive. All bridal party, couple, and immediate family pics done 4:30-6:00pm.

6:00pm guests start to arrive early (as is the tradition in my corner of the world), prelude music

6:30 ceremony starts (as posted on invite), parents enter, followed by groom and groomsmen, bridesmaids, and bride

6:40 officiant starts, exchange vows, exchange rings, prayer, declared husband and wife, kiss, exit

7:00-7:15 extended fam pics (after all guests have left ceremony space), cocktails and apps start for guests

7:15-7:45 bride and groom get apps and drinks in private time

7:45 bride and groom introduced, buffet opens

8:15 first dance (after last table went to buffet- only 9 tables)

8:20 son-mom dance

8:25 dance floor open for everyone else (note: people can still eat, no tables were broken down for dance floor since extra space wasn't needed)- we went around to tables then to greet everyone

9:00 toasts and cake cutting

10:30 last song (required to be 30 min before end time for venue rules too)

10:35-10:45 sparkler exit

It was a little tight, but perfect for us. The ceremony was late in the day anyways to be a formal evening wedding (6:30pm), our crowd was older, not very into dancing, and tired by 11pm, and it was a fairly small wedding (70 guests attended). If it was earlier in the day, a younger crowd, or larger crowd, or many pics needed to be taken in that time, it would be hard to fit everything in I think. I knew it was going to go by fast, so I made a point to QUICKLY talk to everyone individually first and thank them for coming, and then get to dancing, celebrating with those closest to me. I was tired of dancing and ready to go before 10:30. I wanted to hang out with my friends after at the hotel bar, but was mistakenly was told it was closed. It was ok, my hubby and I enjoyed our night together and then hung out with people at breakfast the next day anyways. Just know that if you do that short timeline, you need to take advantage of each moment quickly.

Hope that helps!

Also note: our venue did all set-up and take down, so that isn't in our timeline.

5 hours is usually good for most crowds, but we went for a 6 hour package with the option to add another hour that night rather than deciding ahead of time and people leaving early, because most of my family's wedding receptions are 9+ hours, like 6PM-3AM.