Reception Length?

Most weddings I've been to are 5 hours. Mine will be six but thats bc they threw in a vienesse hour for us.

Mine is super short too....four hours :-(... I'm really worried about everything being rushed as well....still trying to convince FH to do first looks to save some time! Me personally, if I had the option and could afford it, it would def extend it....if I could get five hours I would be happy!

I think it's fine. Remember, not everyone is going to want to stay all night...they will have spent about 6 hours with you for your day. I went to a wedding recently and everything was just so slow going...we were ready to leave by 9 and the wedding was at 5:30. But if you have lots of dancing and it well organized, guests may want to stay longer...or you could plan to all meet out at a local pub...

Sometimes shorter weddings are better. From a wedding photographer's viewpoint, the longer weddings can sometimes be very tiring on the guests, and this can show in the photos.. Some of the best weddings I've shot were under 2 hours long.

From a bride's perspective, less time = less $$, if that is an issue. We are only having a 3 hour shindig (no meal at the reception).

We have the same - cocktail hour and then 4 hour reception. So that's pretty normal.

I plan for mine to be 5 hours.

My daughters wedding was at 4:30PM at a hotel. The reception was across the hall in the ballroom.

The cocktail hour started at 5:15 and most guests had departed by 10:30PM (we had the rooms until midnight).

I think five hours is great.

Thank you so much! I forgot that people will be with us for the wedding too . It could get a little long.

Mine is 5 hours including cocktail hour. It will be 6pm-11pm

We are having a 2 hour lunch and cruise on the river. So, it's short and sweet, but I'd like to go around and take lots of pictures in our fancy clothes, so the afternoon will be used for that. Then the plan is to head to our favorite restaurants "dinner on the deck" and dance/enjoy the evening

We will only be having 5 hours and this includes our ceremony and reception. We are not doing a "cocktail hour" persay simply because we are not having alcohol. While we are taking pics our guests will already be digging into the appetizers

5 hours sounds pretty typical to me!

Our wedding reception is super long, but that's more of a cultural thing from FH's family. We'll see how long my family lasts.

My ceremony/reception is 4 hours 7pm-11pm with one hour to set up.. But we are doing a dinner cruise. I think thats plenty of time for everyone to enjoy themselves and i'm sure everyone will be ready to leave by the end of the night or maybe hit up some local bars in Seattle

Most receptions are about 4-6 hours.

5 hours is pretty standard. Mine will be from 5:30- 10:30

10pm seems a little early to end but I am sure by then you will just want to crash.

We have our room from 9am till 1am. Though I think the DOC, florist and the dj will be the only ones there b4 noon.

Depends on your crowd, what activities, type of food services, etc. A sit-down dinner in Chicagoland is seldom less than 5 hours. Buffets are usually a little shorter. Afternoon weddings are usually 4, but that's typically because they have to be over by 4 or 4:30 so the venue can change the room over for the evening event. If the entertainment is bad, it'll seem like forever. So get a good dj/band.

As for the amount of time your guests are together, give them a break between. Our ceremony was at 2 but the reception didn't start til 8, so people could relax, shop (our reception was in a big shopping district), explore the sites, etc. Plus, it's not like they're "with" you. They mostly sit and watch the ceremony. Not much interaction with you during that.