Have to be out of the venue by 10pm

For my wedding, we're leaving the venue at 8:30 PM. The ceremony is at 3. So I think 4 PM to 10 would work well for you.

Hello most venues give you too 12mid no later than 1am. Which we are trying to be out by 1130pm ceremony start time is 5pm but considering that we have to clean up after. Well I mean my staff will have to be out by 1am. But I guess that they did want to be there all night

Our ceremony started at 5:30pm and our reception ended at 10pm (not including cleanup) - it was enough time, but we kind if wish we had an extra hour or so, so 4-10pm sounds ideal to me!

Our ceremony is at 5 until approx 5:30, 1 hour cocktail (until 6:30), then dinner/reception till 10:30. So I think that timeline is fine!

Our ceremony was at 2pm and the last dance was 6pm. We were done with cleanup and out by 8pm. It was Winter so we wanted our guests to be able to get on the road before it was full dark.



Look up timeliness for a 4 or 6 hour reception. Depending on if 10pm is quiet hour vs when you have to be out of the building and also if you need to account for travel time from your ceremony to your reception, you will want to make adjustments. Here is one example:

We had to be out by 10, and had a planned start of 3:30. Some stuff went wrong so our ceremony didn’t start til about 4, and I really missed that extra half hour!

Did you ask if that included clean up time? Our venue also said 10 and when we asked if that included clean up they said no. We get an extra hour after to clean up. That’s just the time everything has to be over and guests leaving

I made this sign for my wedding! Are ceremony will start at 4 and end at 10

Our ceremony started at 4 and our venue normally closes out at 10, unless you pay for another hour, which we did - so finish at 11. It worked well. If they have a hard close at 10pm, I'd do the ceremony at 3!

4-10 is the time our venue gave us to have our wedding from ceremony start to reception finish. Then we have an after-party at a nearby wine cellar from 10:15-11:30pm. My caterer who works exclusively with my venue has given me the most realistic timeline so far.

3:30pm- guests arriving

4pm- Brief ceremony

4:30pm- Cocktail hour

5:25- Guests are welcomed to the reception area

5:35- Bridal party intros

5:40- First dance

5:45- Father of bride speech

5:50- First course

6:15- Best Man/MOH toasts

6:30- Entree served

7pm- Father/daughter & Mother/son dances

8pm- Cake cutting

8:30pm- Cigar bar opens

9pm- Late-night pizza delivery to coat stomachs before people leave for the evening

10pm- Exit from venue

10:15- After-party

My wedding ceremony started at 2pm and ended at 6pm. We were out of the venue and done with cleanup by 7:30-8pm.



It flew by very quickly but everyone there had a blast and stated until the end. I didn't feel rushed or like I was missing out on anything. Our food was buffet style which may have helped with the timing as it probably took less time than a multi-course plated meal would have.

I would reccomend looking up 4-hour and 6-hour wedding timelines to get an idea of what your specific plan should be. You will probably have to tweak whatever you find to fit depending on which traditions you are including/not including (such as dances with parents, first look photos, garter/bouquet toss, grand exit, etc.). Here is a 4-hour reception plan from my wedding planner that you could use as a baseline and add to, for example:

Thank you everyone for your help! My venue requires us to be entirely out with the place cleaned by 10pm. I think I have a good idea now of when I should start!