Shift wedding reception?

The idea, in theory, is interesting, but there might be a lot of snags.

Will you be streaming the ceremony? Getting invited to the reception, but not the ceremony, particularly in shifts like this, could feel awkward.

How would you manage the change-over? There could be a lot of worry about people overstaying, and thus ending up with large groups.

Half the point of a reception is to feed people... how would you go about doing that without multiple meals or the risk of a buffet going cold?

Entertainment could be as simple as having a variety of games to play, or just chatting, but you'd want to have enough to not repeat things.

Yeah I agree with Rebecca. I think it would add more stress to planning plus personally I would hate to come to a wedding for a set time and may decide to not go to the wedding all together. Could you cut the guest list? I agree not wanting to postpone. Maybe at best two shifts but more work to manage

This will not work without upsetting people. You're better off having a reception only for those attending the ceremony. Then send announcements to the rest with no party. That way you stay safe and don't offend anyone.

View Quoted Comment Ive been part of 3 weddings since covid started where only immediate family is invited to the ceremony, and it has not been awkward at all. I was planning on live streaming the cerermony no matter what so anyone who feels strongly can be part of it. I was also going to work with the caterer to think of different options for food such as to go boxes or items that can be left throughout the day. I absolutely agree this is not ideal, but I am thinking Illinois is not going to allow more than 50 people to gather by April, and we just can't get our guest list that low. Our immediate family is more than 50 since we both have divorced and remarried parents.

View Quoted Comment I guess the point would be only the people who really wanted to be a part of our day would make the time to come. I completely agree it would be weird to be given a time frame for a wedding without a pandemic, but I feel like people would be understanding and just be happy to be a part of it. Definitely not something I would do before the pandemic (which is why I have a down payment on a venue I can't get back unfortunately). It's unlikely Illinois will lift restrictions above 50 people before April, and our close family is larger than that, so reducing the number isn't really an option for us.

View Quoted Comment Who do you foresee being upset? I feel like people would be more upset to not get to partake at all.

In addition to what was already mentioned, you would still be risking everyone's safety. Imagine if you had one person come during shift one and that person had Covid then every other person you were in contact with the rest of the day could potentially end up sick even if they weren't in direct contact with the person that had Covid. Honestly, I don't see a safe way to go about doing this.

Sounds complicated and very stressful. I would think it could be an inconvenience for guests.

View Quoted Comment Hmmmmm given the restrictions of your state then site go for it. Maybe can you hire security or something to ensure everyone leaves? You don't want any stressor on your big day.

View Quoted Comment It is not possible to be exposed to COVID and then immediately become contagious it takes several days to get through your system and begin shedding. As long as surfaces were wiped between groups, spread between groups would not really be possible unless my fiancé or I already had COVID.

View Quoted Comment That's true, it probably would be, but honestly anything we do right now is kind of an inconvenience 😔

I understand the theory in this, but unfortunately, I don't think it will work. The main issue I see if how the event staff would be able to sanitize/clean in between each rotation of guests. The next issue is guests possibly overstaying their time slot.

I know it is not ideal or something you probably want, but I think the best thing to do would be to have a smaller wedding with just close family and friends. You can live stream the ceremony for everyone else, and reschedule your big reception for a later date.

View Quoted Comment Both my fiancé and I have divorced and remarried parents leaving us with a very large family. Given Illinois restrictions so far, it's likely we wouldn't be able to have more than 50 guests, and that wouldn't cover our immediate family 😔

View Quoted Comment

Immediate family would be parents (including step), brothers, sisters, and grandparents. You two have more than 50 of those?

View Quoted Comment Yes, including grandparents, siblings, step siblings, half sibling, siblings husbands/wives, and nieces and nephews, we have more than 50

Like the others I think this would be unwieldy, stressful, and complicated. I think you'll end up with more overlap between groups than you think (Are you going to tell your parents they have to leave? Will that go over well? I can see it causing hurt feelings).

Also - who's wiping down *everything* between groups? You? Your FH? I sincerely doubt the venue staff will do that for you.

Also, you're having people dive for an *hour* for what won't be a very long interval, because otherwise you're reception is going to have to be at least 10 hours long. (250 people divided by groups of 25 - if you want each group for *only* 45 minutes, then wipe down time.) You're going to be tired and stressed enough on your wedding day without adding this. Then, you're giving guests a to go box? This would make me seriously unhappy as a guest - and that's who the reception is for - the guests. (No one says they're unhappy about things to the couple - they just talk about it later amongst themselves.)

However, from your responses to other replies, you seem set on doing this, so good luck.

View Quoted Comment Not saying you'd be contagious right away. I'm saying you'd increase risk of exposure. Also, who the heck do you think is going to wipe down every single surface? I doubt the wait staff will have time if they are busy handing out to go bags and making sure no one has stayed lojg than they are supposed to. Also as someone pointed out are you only going to have your guests there for about 45 minutes each and then ask them to leave because that could be rather hurtful? And are you going to kick out your own parents because I doubt that would go over well. Since your immediate family is over 50 people then I wouldn't include children so that would cut down the number of people.

View Quoted Comment I'm not set on it, I'm just trying to make anything work at this point. We invited 250 people, but we definitely would not expect everyone to come if this is the format we present. It is just an idea I was going to talk with my vendors about since Illinois restrictions are very tight. Thanks for your input.

View Quoted Comment Our parents are okay with leaving after the ceremony. Asking guests to leave would definitely be rude if we weren't in a pandemic, but I think people would understand right now. I'm not set on this idea, I just think that guests would be more willing to be flexible now than during regular times. Thanks for your input!

View Quoted Comment Even in pandemic times this is rude. Manners do not cease for a plague, no matter how many people think otherwise. Agree with PP that no guest ever tells the hosts they are upset. Cut the guest list to the capacity max and call it a day.
Shifts do not work in reality without major planning and cooperation from all the staff. Also there is no way to keep prepackaged food at proper temperatures for that long without making guests sick. That's the first thing anyone learns in food handling safety.

Also many weddings have been linked to Covid outbreaks because the couple believes they are safe when no one really is.