It may not sound like a big deal but having a set timeline for your wedding reception will help things move much smoother. This way, you can give a heads up to anyone involved – like your best man and maid of honor who have to give toasts or your wedding vendors who have tasks during the reception – so they know when to be prepared. It will also help make sure on wedding day you don’t forget about anything! So, what should your wedding reception timeline look like? Let’s go through it!
Wedding Reception Timeline
First things first, set the parameters for the evening. What time will the event start and end? Typically, wedding venues include a five-hour event time. This would be made up of a one-hour long cocktail hour and a four-hour reception. Four hours is the perfect amount of time – any shorter and it will fly by (it will already fly by no matter what), any longer and you may have guests leaving early. Check with your venue on when you need to be out of the vicinity. Usually, venues will require all guests, crew, and vendors to leave by a certain time so they can lock up or prepare for the next event.
So, for example, let’s say access to your venue rental time ends at 12 p.m., your vendors will likely need at least an hour for breakdown, so your reception must end by 11 p.m. That puts your reception from 7-11 p.m., with cocktail hour 6-7 p.m.. Consider all the “big moments” you might want to include throughout the night. That would be things like introductions, toasts, cake cutting, first dances and so on. Once you’ve decided on what you will or won’t be doing throughout the night, you can get to building a timeline.
That being said, you can certainly switch up the order of the important reception moments. A few ideas to consider:
Option One:
- Cocktail Hour
- Introductions
- First Dance
- Toasts + Blessing
- Dinner
- Cake Cutting
- Parent Dances
- Open Dance Floor*
- Last Song
- Grand Exit
Option Two:
- Cocktail Hour
- Introductions
- First Dance + Parent Dances
- Welcome + Blessing
- Dinner
- Toasts
- Cake Cutting
- Open Dance Floor*
- Last Song
- Grand Exit
Option Three:
- Cocktail Hour
- Introductions
- Cake Cutting
- Welcome + Toasts + Blessing
- Dinner
- First Dance + Parent Dances
- Open Dance Floor*
- Last Song
- Grand Exit
*If you plan to do a bouquet toss, garter removal/toss, shoe game, special songs, dollar dance, etc, it would happen during the open dance floor time, either right away if you want to get it out of the way and enjoy dancing the rest of the night, or about half-way through. Just be careful not to clear the dance floor too close to the ending time, otherwise it’ll be hard to regain the dance floor momentum!
A general idea of a reception timeline could be:
6:00 Cocktail Hour
7:00 Introductions
7:10 First Dance + Parent Dances
7:20 Welcome Toast and Blessing
7:25 Dinner
8:30 Toasts
8:35 Cake Cutting
8:40 Open Dance Floor
9:30 Late Night Snack
10:45 Last Song
11:00 Grand Exit
Remember, you can adjust to best fit your dinner style, guest preferences and time limits. If you fully intend to dance the night away, maybe have the toasts after eveyone is seated with their dinner. You can also not make a big deal out of the cake cutting to save some extra time as well.
Building your timeline is an important step in figuring out what roles your vendors wiill play. For example, if your aren't having a grand exit, you might not need your photographer there the entire time. Your DJ will need to know when the introductions are taking place so they can hype of the crowd and accounce the wedding party. A timeline will ensure your wedding is as close to your vision as possible and eliminate day-of stress of disappointment. Make sure your day-of coordinator knows the plan and keeps things on track!
Feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of building your wedding timeline? Consider hiring a planner or coordinator by clicking HERE.
Photo Credit: Three Region Photography & Lifestyle
