How long is your reception?

Well I think it depends on what you actually want...if it is just a reception with the standards, food, cake cutting, first dance etc..I think 4 hrs is fine because then you can have a little dancing (maybe an hr or so) but if you want a full fledge party then 4 hrs won't work! FH and I are opting for the standard reception; our reception will be from about 6-10 because we have a 6 a.m. flight the next morning plus will will be doing our partying the night before after the rehearsal dinner! :)

I think we have our reception area booked from 7-11pm
Im not sure how long it will last but were trying to do some serious partying so I hope to make it close to the 11pm hour..lol

We have the room for 8 hours because they give us 3 hours prior to the reception to decorate and set up. We'll be partying from 8:30 to 1 AM, but FH and I will be leaving a few minutes after Midnight.

We're having a cocktail hour from 5-6 and reception from 6-10:30. Schedule something like:

5-6: drinks and passed appetizers
6-7: BP entrance, 1st dance, parents' dance, cake-cutting, tosses
7-8: dinner
8-10:30: PAR-TAY!
10:30-11:30 - clean up

hey ladies.
I have my hall booked for 6 hours right now since we are doing the ceremony and reception in the same room and also having drinks and appetizers hour while us and the bridal party take pics at the golf course nearby. me and my family love to party so i may be adding an hour.

Hey everyone,

We're having our cocktail hour from 6pm-7pm followed by dinner and dancing from 7pm to 11pm (including 1st dance, bouquest toss, etc). I'm not sure how we're going to split up everything. I've always seen the first dance done right when the couple is announced but my FH has only seen 1st dance and everything else done after dinner. I'm kind of leaning towards having dinner first and then having the 1st dance, etc. Hopefully, people will eat quickly.

How are you all doing it?

Welcome to the sisterhood both Shy41208 and mosaic17. Happy planning!!!

We had our venue booked for 6 hours which was more than enough time. I loved it because we didn't feel rushed on our special day.

We are booked for 3-7....FH has already informed me that we WILL NOT stay until the end....

Our reception was 4 hours long which was plenty of time for 44 people.

My reception will start at 4pm with a cocktail hour and then at 5pm-9pm my guests will go into another room for a 4 course sit down dinner.

Mine is also going to be 4 hours. First hour for mingling and hor d

I think the forum automatically bleeps anything like that could be questionable such as the first part of that word. Incidentally, we skipped the hour of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails because there was so much food in the buffet. It would have been a waste of money and food. As soon as the wedding party was introduced and we sat down, a family member blessed the meal, and we started going to the buffet table. I'm sure the guests didn't miss having a cocktail hour with all that food.

Our venue was booked for 5 hours which is pretty standard in my area. Even most DJ packages are for 5 hours around here.

Yes Pamcrow I think it is the area also because my DJ is 5 hours also.

PrincessBride my cocktail hour works great for me because it gives us an hour for us to take pics and allow all my guest enough time to get my reception venue.

I see Mrs080908 how that would work for you. Our ceremony and reception was in the same location so we didn't have to worry about the time to get there. Also, we took some photos of just the two of us together before the ceremony. After the ceremony, we had many of the guests take pics with us, so they had something to do (small wedding). Before the wedding party arrived at the reception, we kept the guests busy by having them sign the framed signature mat. The time flew by.

I think that the earlier in the day your wedding and reception, the shorter it tends to be...Our 10:30 wedding called for a 11-11:30 reception and of course we were wrapping up by like 2:00 PM....I think that the late ones go a little longer....Most folks start with a 4-hour block, and then charge you each additional hour....At the restauraunt we used, since it was early, we pretty much had all morning to decorate....they had it booked for that afternoon, but we were wrapping up by 2 so there was no rush...

I think the timing is flexible as far as time to party....its just negotiating time for set up/decor and break down if your party is responsible for clean-up.....

Our wedding photos will be taken prior to the ceremony since everything will be in one place our venue is available to us 8 am until midnight so our ceremony will start at 4pm until whenever we do like to party

We have the venue for 5 hours

Our venue, the hotel, allowed us to start setting up the reception room from 10:00 a.m. Our wedding wasn't scheduled to start until 5:30 p.m. ..and the reception was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. They didn't charge us for the setting-up time. They also didn't charge us for break-down time either.