"East Coast" style wedding reception timeline

I didn't realize timelines were different based on your coast?

Recent wedding I went to: Bridal party intro's right into the couple's first dance then the toasts. Dancing before the salad course was brought out. Then dancing before the main course. Then dancing the rest of the night. I don't event think they stopped for the cake cutting now that I think about it lol

ETA I also didn't realize this isn't how it's done in other places. Ive been to weddings all along the east coast and it's always set up similar to this. OP where are you located?

I am all for dancing, all the time

Ask your bandleader, I am sure he/she has it down pat.

My wedding is in wisconsin. usually here, all the dancing is after dinner is over.

@Ella...us Midwesterners also have an earlier dinner time than the East Coast.

That's common in our social circle, in the northeast. But then, around here we tend to offer a substantial amount of food during cocktail hour, so walking into the reception room and sitting down and being served one course after the other, would make the guests explode.

The band played from 7:00-11:30. At 7, the doors were opened to the ballroom and guests began filtering in. Some started dancing right away. With 225 guests, it took awhile (yes we assigned tables), which gave the bridal party time to freshen-up. The party entered and then we did our 1st dance and two parent dances. There was about 15 minutes of open dancing before the soup course was served (around 7:45?). My Dad thanked everyone and gave a toast, as the soup was being served.

Our venue used French cart service, where everything was served tableside. 2 servers were assigned to the same 2 tables, for the entire evening. It took less than 8 minutes for the whole room to be served each course and the carts removed. There was at least 15 minutes between each course. We skipped the appetizer course and instead had a big, fresh fruit tower, available during the cocktail hour.

The band took a 20 minute break, while the entrée course was served, while they enjoyed their own entrée plate. However, since there were 12 pieces, they could alternate who was playing so that there were two solo musicians who shared the first half of the break; during the 2nd half there were 3 speeches given.

After the entrée break we cut the cake. There was probably the longest break after the cake was cut, to work off the calories from our entrée course. (I was only able to eat half. Hubby ate the other half; I don't know how he did it). Then a dessert trio was served. (Our venue had half the wedding cake served in slices on the dessert bar and half boxed to take home, along with mini pastries, chocolate covered strawberries, etc., on the dessert bar.

The venue had almost 100 years experience and the bandleader 30. The band played there at least once a month, so the timeline flowed perfectly.

P.S. We've only been to one local wedding that started serving the dinner courses right after the cocktail hour food spread. I ate about half the pasta course, picked at the salad, ate about 3/4 of the entrée plate, and half the dessert. I felt bad wasting food, but I was pretty full after the cocktail hour.

I'm outside of NYC, and IHMO, dancing should happen through the night. My favorite Dj's invite the crowd to join the couple after the first dance and the dance floor is packed until the first course. (And yes, the cocktail hours offer insane amounts of food so dancing and an eating break are really welcome....) Dancing continues in between every course.

I don't believe what your asking is a thing in New York.

I'm in NYC and we have dancing all through the night.

Right after the couples first dance, the DJ invites everyone to the dance floor and it's dancing throughout the night. They stop to eat, and for cake cutting then continue.

Or maybe it's a Hispanic who knows.

Thanks everyone. i referred to it that way because when i asked my band about it they called it a "new york style" reception.

ETA: @dreamer, thank you, your breakdown of the timeline was helpful!

@ A.L. so is it your experience that all the dancing is after dinner as well?

I'm from NY and have always experienced dancing between courses. Didn't realize it was a regional thing though!

I'm considering doing it for my wedding now, but dunno if it'll work. Our dinner starts at 5:30, and I think that's probably just too early to get people up and moving.