Receiving Line Problem

Follow up to this: How do I let people know I'm not doing a typical receiving line? In my program? Do I have my officiant say it? Both? Thanks!

I have been to 25+ weddings and have never seen a receiving line at any of them. The couple has just visited each table at some point in the evening.

Agree with the above poster. Receiving lines seem to be a thing of the past. My FMIL has been to a lot more weddings than me and she says she hasn't seen one in over 20 years. I do understand the concern about still wanting time to eat, even if you go around greeting tables. Maybe you can split the duties with your parents. You can greet the tables with your friends or close family, and your parents can greet their guests/friends (if they invited any). I guess it also depends how big your wedding is too. I once went to a wedding with 30 tables and the bride and groom didn't come say hi to us at all 😅

Table visits aren't hard to fit in between being able to eat. We were served each of the courses first so we ate as people began to be served and then when we were done, we visited a few tables before the next course was ready to be served. After dinner we only had a few tables left (our friend groups that we knew would end up on the dance floor) so we hit those tables real quick before we started dancing.

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I prefer table visits as well. I don't like standing in line waiting to greet the bride and groom, and personally I feel like they take up more time. Sarah put it how I was going to, you'll have time to eat your food while the rest of your guests are being served!

I haven't been to a wedding with a receiving line since I was a kid, Lol. Visiting tables instead can be very efficient if you keep it moving quickly - guests will understand you are busy but appreciate the effort. We were able to eat our dinner (since we were served first), and visit tables afterwards while people were socializing and the cake was being cut.

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This is my experience with how this works. Just communicate with your catering manager/venue coordinator so you can be assured you will be served with enough time to eat and do table visits.

I don't think you need to announce that you aren't doing a receiving line unless they are very common/expected where you live.

I would definitely suggest skipping the receiving line and just visiting tables. There's no need to announce that you're not doing one if you choose not to. We had about 75 guests (so yes, fewer than you'll have), but planned it out so we had plenty of time to eat and also visit tables. Our timeline for the reception looked like this:

3:00 - B/G enter and do first dance, then father/daughter dance. Immediately after the dances everyone went to their tables to eat.

4:00 - Cake cutting and toasts. Guests then were served cake while DH and I made our rounds.

5:00 - Bouquet/garter tosses then dancing for the rest of the reception.

We had plenty of time to visit all of our guests and more than enough time to eat. We had a head table with our wedding party and their dates, so we were visiting with them while we were eating. We also just had appetizers since it was an early afternoon wedding and the reception ended at 6:30. No need for a formal dinner in our case. It sounds like, with your timing, you'll be doing a full dinner? That being the case, the bride and groom are served first and you should have plenty of time to eat and then start making rounds while your guests are eating. You can also do a quick welcome speech at the beginning of dinner as a thank you, which can help cut down on the time you would need to spend at each table. Hope this helps!

View Quoted Comment I agree I never heard of this and I've been to a few weddings.

Dismissing the rows will take 10-15 minutes max because you keep it moving. Table visits according to many posts take at least an hour and even then not everyone is greeted. You can also greet your guests at the cocktail hour. I forget if it was this forum or another wedding site, but one bride she stood at the bar to greet guests when they came up to order drinks while groom mingled in the crowd and she said they hit everyone.

Funny, I went to a wedding this weekend and they had a receiving line! I was surprised since I hadn’t seen this in years. I have no idea whether I will or won’t, and not sure how the whole signing the marriage license/witnesses etc works. Guess I’ll find out! With our group I can’t imagine making it outside the church without people coming up to us. FH basically planned the whole thing, so I’m taking care of details and appointments. Exciting time!

A few thoughts:

1) Don't miss the good light. Take advantage of it for photos for sure!

2) Where is your cocktail hour? If your cocktail hour happens to be an a different location from dinner/the rest of the reception you could do a "grand entrance" into the end of cocktail hour and then a receiving line leading into the dinner room.

3) Typically the couple gets their food first. If you have 165 guests, you will for sure be done with your food before the last guests have finished (perhaps even started) eating. You should have ample time to greet your tables as long as its a quick "thank you for coming" and you avoid any deeper conversation.