Our Venue Ends at 8!

So personally, I think having guests go from reception, to your place around 8, then out again by 10pm is what feels awkward. I would suggest going straight from the venue to an after party spot you can stay at (so a bar or whatever)

Your timeline for the ceremony and reception looks great! I also had a 2pm wedding that ended by 8pm, but since it was a weekday we did not have an after party. It went by fast but also felt like the perfect amount of time to my husband and I.



Part of what made it work for us was that the guests had 45-30 minutes light appetizers, socializing, and dancing before the ceremony. A number of them arrived early and we knew we were running late so the DJ and our mistress of ceremonies started the party for us. We also opened the dance floor at the same time as we opened the buffet line for dinner, which extended our party time durring our short reception (granted this doesn't work as well if dinner is a plated meal).
Good luck and I hope it all works out for you!

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I agree with this! I feel like more people might not go out to the bars after getting back to where they are staying opposed to going directly from the reception. If they're leaving at 10:00 from the lodging, there probably would be a good amount of people that are tired and don't feel like going out again. If people go directly to the afterparty, I would think more people would attend.

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Totally. As far as we're concerned, we really just want people to be able to enjoy themselves until a reasonable time (10pm) and then what they want to do after that is kind of up to them, but we want to provide a shuttle for obvious reasons! We're looking for a place to do a more traditional reception, like you've mentioned, it's just a bit of a challenge and a big hit to our budget.

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I hear you... I think our main concern is wether guests will be inclined to come to the home from post-dinner to 10pm for the party portion of the evening. After 10pm, I feel like very few people will be going out for late-night, as the drinks will have started around 3pm that day.

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I know it's going to go by SO FAST, probably no matter how far we try to stretch the day! Thanks for your words of encouragement. I wish I didn't have to worry about the night-time party scene as much -- If only our location of choice would offer a couple more hours!

View Quoted Comment I think regardless, switching venues can kind of be a party killer, so you'll run into the same issue no matter where you go.

If you're going for a party vibe. You should just go out to a bar/club and people can stay as long as they'd like. The vibe will already be going, they'll have a DJ, full bar, etc. The downside being older guests may not want to come and it won't feel as intimate.

If you are going for a post dinner, have a drink and chat with very casual/minimal dancing then going to the house is fine.
If you're looking for a party vibe at the house you won't get that without hiring a dj/speakers/lighting/dance floor/etc. Its not going to feel the same as a "traditional" reception without having the traditional reception key items (mainly dj/band/mc) Also, you mention budget and hosting another event (the afterparty) even if all you're doing is providing snacks and drinks is going to cost a lot and add to the stresses of planning. For only 2 hours would it be worth it? Can you realistically achieve what you are wanting? Only you can answer that for yourself, but either way manage your expectations.
(Also, providing so much shuttling is awesome!! Guest will really love that!)

We are having an after-party at a restaurant/bar that is less than a mile away from our venue so our shuttle service that is already taking people to and from the venue and hotels has no issues taking people to the after-party. I think if you have an after-party at a place that is close by your venue it will flow really well and people will be excited that the night isn't over. We have to leave our venue by 10pm and I'm booking the after-party until 11:30pm. Anything anyone wants to do after that until 2am is on them hahaha! One thing I did recommend on my FAQ section of our wedding website is that guests who wish to attend the after party and are driving their own car should park at the public parking garage by the after party location and the shuttle service will pick them up from there to bring them to the wedding venue. Just some things to consider :-)

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your thoughts! It is tough to know if it will be “worth it” — I wish it wasn’t such a challenge to find a place that would be from 7-2 or even 7-midnight but unfortunately there’s only about 2 venues that can and they’re way outside our budget.


I FEEL like we are going for a more casual vibe rather than a rager, but my partner is fixated on the idea of all this dancing happening (he isnt even a big dancer himself, in all the weddings we’ve attended). I would hate to spend an additional thousands of dollars to do a more traditional reception just to have an empty dance floor!

View Quoted Comment What if we took away the first dances and went from cocktail hour to dinner/toasts and then had all dancing & desserts at the home venue? This would shift the timeline up a bit for us to be leaving around 6, leaving about 3-4 hours of “reception”.

View Quoted Comment That could also work, but again just goes back to deciding what vibe you are going for!
I think you and FH need to look at what you are envisioning for the reception, and also consider the guests you have (are they party people, or would they rather do something a bit more low-key?)
If you do end up doing dancing at the house, will your photographer/videographer be able to come, will that cost more? What is your budget for snacks and drinks? Does the town have a decibel ordinance even before 10pm? Would you have your DJ/band at the venue or just the house?
There's a lot to think about, but you can absolutely make either keeping timeline as is or changing it work, list out your desires and vision as well as the logistics of each!

View Quoted Comment I really appreciate your thought provoking questions! There is always SO much to consider!