How long should the dance floor be “open”

We did 3-8. Dance floor was open 5:45-8. People drank and danced but it was enough time.

View Quoted Comment Thanks!! That makes me feel better

Some people have the dance floor open as soon as guests arrive for the cocktail hour and others wait until after dinner. It really boils down to personal preference.

Does your 5 hours include the ceremony and cocktail hour or is it just the cocktail hour and reception?

I think we had ours open for two hours too

View Quoted Comment Cocktail hour is outside so the dance floor is inside the barn and they can’t go in there until the reception starts. It’s the ceremony, cocktail hour, reception and sparkler send off

View Quoted Comment That was good enough? Or was it like just enough people were entertained and then ready to go?

My guests started dancing right after they were done eating, lol they were ready to party! The DJ hadn’t even officially opened the dance floor yet. And then they danced all night. We wrapped things up around 8:40 (reception started at 5 so people were dancing by 6)

View Quoted Comment Did you do ceremony , cocktail hour , and reception from 5-840?

View Quoted Comment No, our ceremony was at 2:30 at a separate location 30 minutes away.
Cocktail hr was from 3:45-5
Reception was 5-8:45
We had a January wedding and got a yucky rain/sleet/snow mix that night. Many of our guests had an hr drive home so they left a little earlier. The reception was supposed to end at 9.

My fiancé and I love to dance. Our meal is an assortment of heavy finger foods. We aren’t having a cocktail hour, but told our wedding planner that the guest can start eating while we are taking pictures. This way as soon as we get into the reception the dance floor can open. We will have roughly have 3.5 hours for dancing.

View Quoted Comment How many people were at your wedding ?

View Quoted Comment My wedding is in Feb 2021. We are inviting about 65 people.

View Quoted Comment Oh I see you’re skipping the cocktail hour and letting the guests go into the reception before you? So they can eat and get to the dance floor earlier ? What about toasts and speeches ? Not having them ? Or is all that included in the time frame you have

View Quoted Comment Yep!
2:30-3:45 ceremony (full Catholic mass)
4:00 Guest arrive at reception. They can immediately start eating and drinking 4:45ish We arrive. First dance, Parent dances. 5:00 Dance floor opens8:30 Send off
We will cut the cake and do a bouquet toss sometime within the 5-8:30

We aren’t doing toast and speeches. They aren’t common from my home city, and my fiancé would prefer if his best man doesn’t speak (or just speaks at the rehearsal dinner) 😂

I know most people have a cocktail hour. We just figured that a 2 hour dance floor wasn’t enough time. We also plan on having an after party once the reception ends. This will take place at an upscale bar.

View Quoted Comment 😂😂😂😂I’m thinking about skipping the speeches too and go right into dinner then dancing

View Quoted Comment You’re wedding falls on what day? Mine is a Sunday so I wasn’t going to have an after party. I’m thinking now with the caterer passing around food all night with drinks so I can spend more time dancing , taking our pictures, not rush the ceremony I might not do an actual dinner maybe apps, then cake and then late night snack and boom done

View Quoted Comment There have been a few weddings where my fiancé and I are the only ones on the dance floor. Sometimes he dances even without me 😁 Dancing was a top priority for us.


It’s your day. Figure out what’s important to you two and go for it!

View Quoted Comment Ours is a Saturday. Are you having a lot of guest coming from out of town? An after party may still be possible or you can invite people to an after party and let them decide!


Our reception is in the basement of a historic Victorian Mansion. The after party is across the street at another Victorian Mansion that has been converted into a bar.

View Quoted Comment He doesn’t care about dancing and I care about the ambiance and the photobooth we’re renting ! Lol those are prob the most important things