Reception timeline suggestions! Help!

The timeline depends on a lot of things, and you can find a bunch of suggestions online. Things to consider are:

What dances/speeches are you doing? What other traditions?

Are you having a plated meal? How many courses? (typically you would do 1 or 2 events between/during each course, like a speech, parent dance, etc)

Do you have a band or a DJ? (bands will take breaks, but play music during those breaks. The breaks would be times for cake cutting/garter/bouquet toss)

Are you doing a private last dance and/or a fun grand exit? If you are then you need to wrap everything up about 10 min early.

Those should get you started and help put together a general timeline! Good luck!

Many couples will go right into the first dance after the grand entrance at the reception. The rest of the timeline depends on a number of things including how long your ceremony will take. Are you taking photos during the cocktail hour? Talking to your Officiant and photographer will help you determine the timeline there. If you had a wedding coordinator, they would help you with this also.

Talk to your planner, caterer, and photographer about your timeline, they will have the best suggestions of how to structure your timeline!

Talk to your month of coordinator and photographer because timelines are part of their job. The good thing is there is no right or wrong. Whatever you decide is great. A timeline that works for one group won’t for another and vice versa. Many couples have a very organic timeline where everything flows on its own without announcements by anyone (they forgo all MC duties that are not missed) and there is no confusion. However some groups are lost unless every minute is accounted for by an MC.


What events do you have planned? Make sure all your vendors are on the same page so that the caterer is not calling people up to the buffet line or waitstaff is bringing out plates if you want all eyes on your first dance. Some couples may prefer the distraction because they don’t feel comfortable in the spotlight. That is why there is no one size fits all answer.