How to end the wedding without a send off.

Cake and champagne only? Sorry, but if I'm hungry, I don't think you'd have to tell me to leave.

It's super small, 30 people, so no DJ. We have to be out at a certain time so maybe the cleanup crew coming in will prompt people to leave or if we start talking about food. It's only a 3 hour event.

I would think most guests will eat their piece of cake, have a glass of champagne, tell you congratulations and leave. They'll be gone before the 3 hours is up.

We just had our DJ announce the last song, just so everyone was aware. It worked out perfect!

We're also staying onsite at our venue. I didn't think I cared about an exit/send-off but I recently started rethinking this. I'm going to talk to my DJ about having a special last dance song before we head up to our room for a little while. We'll still go back downstairs for an after party with whichever guests want to join us.

If you are INVITING people to come get food after the reception you really should be picking up the bill

That's what a DJ is for. They will play whatever "last song" you request, and wind down the party so it is not an abrupt awkward ending. We are having our wedding in the hotel we are all staying at, so a send off doesn't make sense. It's not a big deal, and nobody will miss it.

We did a last song and then turned off the music. Most everyone but family had left by then, so it wasn't awkward.

We didn’t do a sendoff because the last people at the wedding were all the people headed to our after party. Our DJ announced the last song and played some really cliche song from the 90s that’s always popular for sing alongs (blanking on the name due to copious amounts of champagne that night). We ended up getting super weird and all linking arms in a group hug while we sang along. The venue turned up the lights after the song and we said goodbye to those not heading to the bars with us and then we hit the town. It wasn’t awkward at all!

I'm doing a thank you speech at our wedding and thanking everyone for coming, wait staff, photographer, etc.

I'm going to start it off by saying, "Before we put an end to an amazing night, Cam(FH) and I would like to thank..."

We didn't do a sendoff--i haven't been to a lot of weddings that do them, didn't really know they were a thing till i joined WW. we just announced that it was the last song and that was about it. there were only a handful of close pals plus my parents still there, so it wasn't a big deal.

I like send-offs because I was used to them, so in my opinion it was rude to leave before sending off the bride and groom (unless you had a great reason- like child care or you are old and past your bedtime). Mainly because I was sad when only a handful of people were left for a sendoff at some weddings. So I hung around at a wedding for hours and was like "when are we going to throw confetti/waive sparklers/blow bubbles at the bride and groom" and it never happened. I finally left at 11:30, but the bride and groom apparently stayed till 2am cleaning up. I wouldn't have stayed that long if I knew there wasn't going to be a send off.

Our guests started to trickle out around 9:00pm and the reception was over at 10:00pm. Our DJ announced the last slow song of the evening. We said thank you and good-bye to the guests who stayed until the end.

We just left. lol

If you're only having cake and champagne, I doubt you'll have to worry about it. And if you don't have a dj, there isn't much you can do anyway.

Personally I would go with a big send off into the night still because its tradition and would also give you some alone time before your escape to food. Have the DJ announce your send off and that there will be food afterwards at ___ and then have your friends and family send you off in a car to dinner.

It will end naturally if there isn't food.

If you aren't a hosting the food after the "reception" you probably shouldn't invite anyone. Just go with your H.

I don't think you'll have to worry about getting people to leave. Most people don't stay long at events with no music, no food, and just champagne...

We're not doing a send off either. Like other pps, we're just going to get on the mic and thank everyone for coming.

You're having a small wedding with just cake and champagne so the ending will happen naturally, just like any other party or family gathering you would have. People finish their cake, it starts getting late, and with such a small group, they'll talk among each other and decide what to do next.

ETA: you and/or your FH could also get up and make a "thank you for coming" announcement to "officially" end the evening