Extending reception time?

Girl I have been having the same issue : ( I dont have the funds to extend the wedding so I'm hoping we start on time, get thru all of our traditions and party. I even told the DJ no dinner time music, just party and if people eat great but if they want to get up and dance then wonderful : )

I agree with Amy that 4 dances and the shoe game is a lot. However, I'm not sure how much extra time it would give you if you cut some of those things out.

This is definitely one of the things I am struggling with at all the venues. IDK how they think everything (from ceremony to end of reception) can happen in a 5hr time period :/

Alejandra its just another way to add more $ to the bill

Well the dances are our first dance, me and my dad, him and his mom, and then the couples dance when all the couples come out and dance and the dj tells ppl married under a year to sit, then 3 years then 5...so on until the longest married couple is left...then she will get my bouquet instead of a bouquet toss. Problem is this needs to be done earlier than later, the longest married couples tend to be old and probably wont stay til 9 or 10pm...

Then the shoe game, but that can be a little later.

I've rearranged it a bit...

7:00pm toast

7:05pm dinner

7:45pm...while ppl still eat, our first dance, then me and my dad and then him and his mom

8:00pm cake cutting

8:05pm couples dance (since there will be many older people in this, it has to be early)

8:15pm-9:15pm "free dance"

9:15pm- Shoe game

9:25-10:55pm- "free dance"

10:55pm is our last dance

so a total of 2 hours and 20min of dancing. and 3 special dances during the end of dinner b/c people would already be sitting and eating.

Is that enough dancing time? Or should we extend? What have you seen at other weddings or what did you do at yours?

I've seen maybe 1-2 hours at one wedding. But, others I've seen zero.

Dang that is expensive!! Mine is 5 hours and only 100 extra if want it to got to 2 am... im sorry but if people still want to party they can plan something afterwards. IDk that's a hard one!

Personally, I think it's fine. $1000 is a lot for just an extra hour.

OMG, those are SUPER sigh prices for extending!!!!! Mine is only $200 per hour.

I think your new timeline is good. Putting the dance during dinner helps. We had 5 hours: 5-6cocktail, 6:00 entrance followed by our first dance, toasts, dinner starts, parent dances, by 7:30 dance floor opened, photobooth opened at 7:45, cake cutting around 8:30 followed by the anniversary dance, more dancing. It was done at 9:30. I wish we had another hour at least because our crowd was dancing like crazy and to me it seemed a little rushed. If your crowd is a dancing crowd, it might be worth it. We had a blast and we also had an after party bonfire planned. So thats why we ended it at 9:30. If you have anything after, leave it. Otherwise, if you can afford it, I would have done it. But that being said, $1000 is a ripoff for an extra hour. Ours was like $200.

Yikes! Where are you guys at? I'm in Colorado and my price for EVERYTHING at the reception besides decorations and food (tables, plates, chairs, silverware, cups etc.) is $400.00 at the Golf Course. and an extra 2 hours $100.00 if we need it

I like the rearranged timeline. It looks like everything fits in there. It is definitely a bummer that they charge so much to extend. Our venue is only an extra $100 per hour over, and I was sweating about that. I also like Jamie Q.'s idea of an after party. Can those who want to keep partying move the dancing to somewhere nearby?

I would have it end at 11. For ours, we can go until midnight, which is the norm around here, but we may actually call it a night around 11 or 1130 & have an "after party" at the hotel or something. Not quite sure yet, but your new timeline looks great; I don't think you need to extend the reception.

With those prices I would not extend. Keep you dances, though. Those are great memories. We are doing the first dance, Daddy/daughter dance (FH opted out of the mother/son dance. FMIL doesn't even know that's usually done so no issues there!) and then the WP dance and then the WP members will break out into the snowball dance. Throughout the night we will add then anniversary dance, etc. But, hour first dance is at 730 and we go until 1130.

It's in CT and the place we are having it at is gorgoues and included sooo much...for what we are getting in the package, we are getting a great deal. Since it's on a sunday, they let us use the whole facility (usually they have 2 receptions going on at once)...this means 2 open bars!! =] However, we have to guarantee 200 people (we are inviting 225ish, so no problem) and to extend the time it is $2.5 for 30 min, $5.00 for 1hr per person...however, they don't just count how many people are left, they multiple it by 200 b/c thats in minimum for the whole facility. Make sense? So pretty much if 100 ppl are still there, we have to pay like there's 200 ppl there...we can extend at last min, just have to pay venue and DJ for more time ($60 per 30 min for DJ)

Here is a more detailed timeline...still haven't put myself in the beginning of it or the vendors...but just an idea of the whole day.

9:30am- Mike gets up, eats, showers...

11:30am- Mike gets dressed, photographer shows up, pics of him and his family

12:40pm- Mike leaves his house for Essex (about 1hr drive plus maybe a little traffic

2:10pm- Mike (and family) shows up at essex docks

2:15pm- Abby (and family) shows up at essex docks

2:20pm- First look, bridal portraits, pics with both fams...

3:20pm- Leave for church

3:30pm- Arrive at church and line up

3:45pm- Start ceremony

4:15pm Ceremony ends

4:15pm- drinks and italian cookies/pastries outside of church

4:20pm- a few pics in and outside of church

4:40pm- Leave for the beach

5:05pm- Arrive at beach and take pics

6:00pm- Cocktail hour starts at venue

6:00pm- We leave beach and go to venue

6:15pm- Arrive at venue, pics outside and cocktail hour

6:45pm- Dining room doors open and guests take seats

6:55pm- Entrance

7:00pm- Grandfather gives toast/blessing

7:05pm- Dinner begins (200+ ppl but two buffet tables on either side of huge ballroom to prevent traffic jams)

7:45pm- First Dance

7:50pm- Father daughter dance

7:55pm- Mike and his mom dance

8:00pm- Cake cutting

8:05pm- Couples dance & bouquet give away to couple married the longest

8:15pm- Dancing and cake

9:15pm- Shoe game

9:25pm- Dancing

10:55pm- Our last dance

11pm- Leave for our hotel

Yes...there is a gap between ceremony and reception, but we plan on having drinks and homemade Italian cookies and pastries at church so people can bumble around and chat before heading to reception...also reception will allow them in a little early too. we just needed enough time to take pics on the beach and still get to venue before cocktail hour is over (hubby insists on catching some of cocktail hour)

Do the cake cutting during dinner, while everyone is seated, you can also combine the father/daughter with the mother/son.

This is a very common issue. Here's the deal. Most venues give a 5 hour timeslot for weddings. Some things you can do to speed the timeline up are:

BE ON TIME.

Take your pictures BEFORE your ceremony

Have a cocktail HALF-hour.

Do your introductions and right into first dance with toasts to follow.

Buffet Dinner for 150 people shouldn't take more than an hour to get through. Sitdown, plan on 2 hours.

Do your parents dances inbetween courses. Then cake RIGHT after dinner into dancing.

Typically my guests enjoy 2.5 hours of dance time. For a wedding that is typical. Depending on the wedding and the venue, I may open the dancefloor in between courses to get people moving. It's up to you. Talk to your DJ about the timeline. If they are an experienced Master of Ceremonies, they will be able to help you reach your goal of maximum dancing.

-A