Large Wedding and a Receiving Line

With that many guests, I'd skip the receiving line, that will take way too long. Just go table to table while people are eating since most will be seated during a meal course. With 5 seconds per person, that would be 25 minutes!

This is still common where I'm from, and I'd safely allow 30 minutes to an hour of time just for this. We skipped this because our guest list is smaller and we would lose a lot of daylight for photos, but I'd imagine it would go pretty fast with just the two of you standing there!

Don't forget to factor in time for your pictures, travel time for you to get to the reception, etc.

Thanks we consider skipping it, but A) it will make for easy pics with our guest, and B) we have an extra hour gap (because I was worried about daylight as well) that everyone on this site super criticized me for and got me in my head, so the line actually started sounding better. I swear wedding planning is like parenting there are a million ways to do thing but no right way, but everyone has an opinion if they feel you are doing it wrong.

FH saw it at a wedding we were at recently and decided it was a good idea. He is super shy, and kind of wants to get the "forced" socialization out of the way!

That sounds like a lot of guests to do a receiving line. You want to say hi to everyone but you also have to keep in mind that people may not want to wait so long to do so.

I would skip the receiving line and make sure you make your rotations during cocktail hour. That way guests can eat and drink while they wait to get their chance to say hi.

Got it. I don't want to get in your head (you should do what's right for you) but as a guest, there's no way I would stand in line for more than 5 minutes.

My middle daughter did a receiving line after her mass with about 200 guests and it took less than 1/2 hour.

I'm pro-receiving line personally as just about every wedding I have been to that didnt have one, I didnt get to talk to the couple at all (the only one I did had less than 100 guests). With that many guests it is hard to keep track otherwise and if you happen to visit a table while someone is in the bathroom (how I missed about half of the couples) or at the photobooth or guest book (how I missed the other half) during dinner (knowing the lines would be shorter then) you may not be able to find them later when everyone is up and moving. And trying to find everyone during cocktail hour will never work because people are constantly moving around so if they are making a loop in front of you, you can go around the whole room and never see them. The more guests the more important a receiving line is IMO. I would estimate about 30 minutes for it but remember that you can subtract your immediate families and any one in the wedding party - they will be in pictures with you so shouldnt go through the receiving line too. They can help keep things running smoothly by circulating the church and directing people to the correct door to see you. That will also cut down on the time people are standing in line as they can stay in their seats (I would have some music playing for them) until their pew is directed to you. They are also a great way to control the flow of traffic out of the ceremony parking lot - as one car at a time will be heading out the door and so presumably out of the parking lot.

FMIL and FFIL are very social and are very adept at social things, so I actually think adding them in the line will actually slow the process way down. Not having FFIL and FMIL makes it seem rude to have my parents. Our Parents will be the first people through the line after the Bridal Party. We are hoping to have our Bridal Party/Parents set the tone (hug hug move on). Once they are through we will have them hang out near us, so we can say go talk to my dad! Or something. I honestly think getting through the receiving line will be painless for most if the tone is set right. I didn't see my cousin at his wedding at all (except the dollar dance which was worst than a receiving line in mo opinion because I had to pay to see him! Haha!

Thank you for letting me I think we will a lot 45 minutes. I really would hate to miss any guests that attended the ceremony. I honestly don't think we will have 300 attend either, but you never know.

We are having our Parents and Bridal Party go through the line to set the tone that it is to say hi and hug. We will all be entering a building from outside in January, and we are positioning ourselves, so that we can catch people after all the people get inside (so no one is stuck out in the cold), but we will be the logical flow of where people HAVE TO GO!

That makes sense if you are doing it at the entrance to the reception. The way our venue is set up we will be doing ours as they leave the church after the reception. There isnt a good place at the reception venue because everyone will have to get through the coat check and then the elevator to the room - though I suppose we could just ride the elevator up and down until everyone is in... But your plan will work just as well. We will have our parents and bridal party keep people engaged and in their seats until its their row's turn to go through the receiving line to leave - and a bonus that if we are spreading out the people leaving the church we will also be spreading out the cars leaving the parking lot and consequently arriving at the reception making the line for the coat check and elevator smaller.