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Super January 2017

Length of reception?

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RealLifeBride, on November 18, 2016 at 11:05 PM

Posted in Planning 24

Originally I thought we needed like 5.5 hours for the wedding / reception: 30 minutes arrival time (our wedding is in January in the land of snow - so driving delays, boot and jacket removal etc.) 30 minutes for ceremony, 1 hour for dinner, 1.5 hours for dancing / mingling, cake and then another 1.5 hours of dancing/mingling, but as the date is getting closer I'm thinking this is way to much time! We have our venue for 14 hours for set up , event and taredown. What is a realistic wedding timeline? Thanks so much our invites state 5:30 pm if that helps.

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24 Comments

Expert March 2018
Katie · on November 21, 2016 at 2:16 AM
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Ours will be 6.5 hours total.
6pm - hospitality
6:30 - ceremony
7-8 - cocktail hour
8-12:30 reception
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Expert May 2017
Linda · on November 21, 2016 at 3:12 AM
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Mine will be from 7pm - 11:30 pm.
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VIP August 2017
SSJKarigan · on November 21, 2016 at 12:03 PM
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Nah, that's not too much time. My ceremony is 6:30, cocktail hour 6:30-7:30, dinner 7:30-8:30, then dancing and shenanigans til 12:30am. Annnd we have open bar until 12:30pm. That puts me at about 6 hours - and in actuality, guests have until 1 am to leave, so it's closer to 6.5.

Just don't be hurt if people leave before then. I can't imagine most of my guests will really stay until 1am. As long as you have reasonable expectations it'll all go just fine. I'd rather have too much time than not enough, frankly.

ETA: Also, people can arrive between 6-6:30
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Master April 2017
MeetTheHamiltons · on November 21, 2016 at 12:12 PM
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We are having a 5:30 pm ceremony here is what we've come up with so far:

5:30PM - Ceremony begins
6:00PM - Ceremony ends, cocktail hour/family and couple photos begin
6:45PM - Guests are welcomed into the reception
7:00PM - Wedding party introductions/couple’s grand entrance
7:15PM - First Dance
7:30PM - Dinner is served
7:50PM - Toasts
8:15PM - Family dances/all guests dancing
9:00PM - Cake cutting
9:10PM - Party Time!
10:50PM - Last Dance
11:00PM - Couple Exits/Reception Ends
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