How Long Before End of Reception Should Last Dance Be Played?

I mean if you arent in charge of clean up I'd say 10 minutes. Ask your DJ.

We had the last dance played around 10 minutes before the end and immediately after asked everyone to go to the front of the venue for a final photo. It cleared the area fast and we got an awesome picture out of it!

Then we stood at the door of the shuttles to say bye to our guests as they loaded up for the hotel and after party. Technically we hosted the party, so it's kind of rude for the hosts to leave before everyone else! Once the shuttles left we changed and went to the after party ourselves

My venue specified that music ends 30 minutes before that way people can start to say their good byes before clean up.

Your venue might have a suggestion/requirement, and it will depend on when you have to be out of the venue (versus when your reception end time is, if those are different). Our last dance was just about 10 minutes before we needed to be out, we didn't have much to clean up and all our guests were taking a shuttle we provided so we knew we could get everyone out efficiently.

@OG Kathryn, definitely will do.

@MrsSki(ToBe) -Clever way to wrap it up and I'm sure that was a lovely and memorable photo! I agree with you on it being rude to leave before the guests, was just curious on what others had done. Last year I attended a coworker's wedding and the bride and groom left immediately after their first dance, though there were over 200 guests remaining, which I found odd and now-looking-back rather rude, to say the least. We left about 5 minutes after that since we barely knew anyone else there and with the bride and groom gone and the dancefloor so crowded, didn't see a point in remaining!

On that note, these forums have opened my eyes to etiquette rules and norms I wasn't previously aware of and in review/reflection as a wedding guest, I've definitely attended some pretty-poorly hosted weddings myself, which is the last thing I want to do for our guests.

@Shauna -Oh okay. I know that rule isn't in our venue's contract, but I'll have to check with the venue coodinator and see what she recommends and what is traditionally done by other couples.

@WWJo -Good tip. I believe our contract stipulates we have an hour post-end time to have outside vendors stuff removed, but thankfully we won't have to clean up since all of the food, dishes, glasses, etc. and decor are provided by our venue.

Our last dance song was maybe 5 minutes long, so it ran from 11:25-11:30 PM. The band asked hubby and I get up on the stage with them. Then we went straight up to our rooms; our venue was a hotel. We had no clean-up, grand exit, or group photo. We had an after-party for our friends, in our hotel suite and my in-laws did the same.

My reception ended at 12:30am, and the last song came on at 12:25 I guess...

Last song is normally 5-10 minutes before reception is over where I work. Some couples have a sparkler exit which helps to get gr guests to leave. Or if there is transportation provided, the guests need to get on the bus.

Ours was played right before the end. The song ended and everyone left. I went and changed really quick and met everyone at the hotel bar downstairs from the reception. We hung out for another couple hours until they kicked us out. HaHa!

Great question! Most venues are happy with the DJ playing the last dance 5 minutes before the end of reception, granted the song is less than 5 minutes and that you don't have a grand exit scheduled thereafter. This will allow the DJ to make the final announcements and wind down his PA system right on time.

Regarding your guests hanging out, venues don't typically mind them slowly trickling out over 20 minutes or so, but be sure to check your contract to see if they stipulate a strict policy in writing. It's typical that custodial staff will be working after the end of the reception, and they can work around your remaining guests.

Hope that helps!

Our reception ends at midnight and our last song will be played at 11:45.

Our last song played at the very end of our reception and was the last thing, so since the reception ended at 11:30 PM, I guess it began a few minutes before that. After that, the lights came on and the venue staff started working on cleaning up. We spent a little time hugging the guests that were still there before we headed up to our room (our wedding was at a hotel).