How long should the Reception last?

Hmm. I'm no expert on timelines but since you are doing punch and cake I would say a good end time would be around 5-6? That way you aren't cutting it too close to dinner time.

7-8?

Back home ceremonies start at 1pm or so and wedding end at like 1 or 2am lol one of the things that disappointed me is how short the wedding day is

If you aren't serving a full meal, I'd end it at 4 or 5.

What are your guests doing between 1:30-3?

If it's cake and punch, do your pictures after. It will likely be done at 330ish. People won't hang out that long without food and a dj.

Are these "drinks" going to be alcoholic beverages btw?

Whenever it dies down- I've been to receptions that Kat 3 hours and then there are some that go until 3 am

Seems like a long time for pictures but maybe that's the time your photographer needs? My wedding was at 1. It was religious so it went until 2. So I think our timeline was cocktail hour until 3. Then lunch was served. We ended at 6:30. But we served a full meal. We did bride and groom portraits after 6:30 at another location (photographers jumped in our get away car with us) the light was nicer at that time and it cut down the time we spent taking pics after the ceremony.

As others have said, I think you can expect people to leave around 6 so they can go have dinner.

I agree with SimpleSeamstress. An hour and a half for pictures and some pre ceremony is a lot of time but to each his own.

If I was a guest, I'd probably wait around for an hour have some snacks & punch and probably leave but to fully answer your question, I'd cut it off around 5pm.

What's the reason for no alcohol? If your guests drink, I'd get some wine and maybe beer. People won't get too drunk but they'll still have more fun and be more social.

Also, definitely see about doing the pictures after the reception. It's a prettier time of day anyway.

I am in a similar situation looking at a 1 pm ceremony. Our reception venue expects a 3 hour event. So it depends on the length of the ceremony if we end at 5 or 6

If it's a cake and punch reception, skip cocktail hour and do your pictures after the reception. Have the snacks you would've had at cocktail hour during the reception. My guess is if I went to a cake and punch reception that had a 1.5 hour cocktail hour without alcohol, I would see at lot of guests leave during cocktail hour. Have the reception go from 1:30-4 or 4:30, then do your pics.

I agree, do most of your photos after. The lighting around that time is called the golden hour for a reason!

I agree with Richard. If there is no meal or alcohol people are not going to stay more than two hours, three max. You don't want to miss your ENTIRE reception or any of your guests.

No one's hanging out from 130 to 4 or 5 for cake. You don't have a "cocktail hour" with nothing following it. You need to do pictures all before or all after.

We're doing cocktail reception with alcohol and a DJ. I agree with @Richard K. You need to have your guests entertained if you will have them waiting a while as you do photos. Our ceremony will start about 2:30 for no longer than 30 mins. We'll have signature drinks served while we do photos 30-45 mins (want to do a shot list to hopefully save time) and then appetizers for an hour and a half as we do speeches, then cake cutting and bouquet toss etc with dancing to follow. We are also getting props for a mini photobooth to keep guests entertained throughout. Really popular in Barbados now. Looking to finish about 7-8 which is still time to catch dinner or go home and eat as need be. PS our wedding is Christmas Eve and guests so far seem happy with this. Hope my set up helpa and good luck.

Honestly for cake and punch, 2-3 hours should be plenty. Then you can do all of your photos after the reception. The lighting will be better then anyway. I think having a "cocktail hour" for a cake and punch reception is kinda weird and unnecessary.