Thoughts on bride and groom greeting each guest?

We are doing it before we eat. that way we have a reason to hurry it along and get to enjoy dinner without feeling too rushed!!!

We are actually going to be taking pictures with each table right before they head to the buffet line so that's when we'll thank them all for coming. Won't have enough time to do a receiving line or visiting each table. Well, we might have time to visit but at least we'll have the photo op to do that also.

This is not outdated. Yes, you should greet every guest and thank them for coming. We were able to mingle with our guests during cocktail hour but we also ate our dinner first so that we could do table visits while our guests ate. It is common for the venue to serve the couple first so they can do this.

I definitely agree you need to greet each guest but I also do want to actually enjoy my wedding night. A few years ago I had a huge beautiful and fabulous 30th birthday party, that was kind of like a wedding in the sense that not all the guests were really mine, they were friends of family more so than mine. I felt the need to talk to everyone and I did at length. I landed up losing my voice and although it was truly a spectacular party that everyone talked about, I didn't get to enjoy it. After that I swore I would have a small wedding. Am I? No. I let the same thing happen again with guests I didn't necessarily want, however this time, I will be able to make table rounds and then I am done and focusing on FH and my friends. It might sound ungracious and I will never make my guests feel that I dont have time for them, but I just am not going to over extend myself like last time.

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I was just speaking to FH about making sure we eat first, we are doing stations, but I am a little nervous it will seem rude to kind of cut ahead of people? As a host I feel like you should always eat last but it just isn't practical in us trying to get to all our tables.

I agree with previous responses with it being necessary. We made table rounds after dinner and it felt so good hugging, talking, laughing and taking pictures with the majority of our guests. We enjoyed it and our guests did as well.

Definitely necessary! We'll hopefully see the end of cocktail hour and then get through everyone else doing table visits during dinner. People spend a lot of money to come to weddings, and if they're important enough to invite then I don't understand why people wouldn't want to talk to them at least briefly.

View Quoted Comment Usually the venue will get your food for you and serve you so you don't have to stand in line at the buffet. It's not rude to eat first since you have duties to visit with your guests so they understand. But technically at a dinner party the guests don't eat until the host does. The guests shouldn't even touch their fork until the host picks their fork up to signal everyone can eat.

Manners and good grace are never out dated.

Greeting and thanking a guest for spending their time at your celebration is just the minimum a host should do.

I agree that making every attempt to greet and thank each guest personally for coming is one of the most basic and important etiquette rules related to weddings (or really any hosted event). D&FSIL will be doing table visits to thank each guest. They are also going to have their photographers move with them from table to table to help ensure they have at least one picture of them with pretty much everyone who attends. (I think they are planning on one posed picture with each table, and then whatever candids the photographers get while they are speaking briefly with individual guests.) Also, by their nature, both D & FSIL are reasonably outgoing and very gracious people, so I think they'll make a point during their interactions with people throughout the day of thanking them and letting guests know how much they appreciate their attendance. As the primary hosts of the wedding, husband and I will being doing the same thing. We all have every intention of enjoying the day, partying and dancing, but you can convey a lot in the way you interact with people and that will be a priority for all of us.

I think everyone should do whatever the they want. It's YOUR wedding, so do what makes YOU happy.

I went to my friends' wedding earlier this year that had over 250 guests and they didn't make rounds or have a receiving line and I wasn't offended at all. I made the effort to go and find them on the dance floor and spoke to them for a couple minutes and that was perfectly fine with me.

My FH and I plan on making an attempt to say hello to as many of our guests as possible during cocktail hour, but if we don't make it to everyone then oh well. I want to make sure I enjoy my wedding day too, so if that means I can't say hello to someone I barely know then so be it.

I think it's important to at least stop at each table. If the wedding is smaller you'll be able to greet each guest but if you have 200 people there's no way to do that and eat and enjoy any of your reception

We have a plan for our 180 person wedding. 10 seconds with each person and move on. 30 minutes all together and then we can make our way to the dance floor LOL. But in all seriousness, we do plan on spending enough time with each person to say thank you for coming, spending a little more time with people we don't get to see often. We would rather have a receiving line, but our church doesn't allow it and we don't plan on being with guests during cocktail hour, so table rounds will have to do!

That is what a RECEPTION is, a party where either with a receiving line or by the guests of honor deliberately circulating, each guest has an opportunity to meet or talk with the guests of honor. If you choose a different format, it is still a party, but by definition not a reception. So if you invite people to a reception, do it. Or tell people, and put on the invitation, a party. Lots of people would come to party, eat and drink at your expense. Lots would stay home, if they figured you were not going to make the effort to see them. They could go to any party, no gift, to eat and dance. Reception format is not required, but tell people clearly on the invitation, they are invited to a party. You are not having a reception. Then, as long as everyone knows, they can do what they want.

I feel that if I'm going to be spending all this time and effort for everyone to come enjoy my celebration of love, you best believe I would go see each an everyone to say "hey, i see you came and im so happy you did!" That's the most important part. Besides of course, saying "I do." :-)

Mine is coming up so quick my head is starting to spin! On 47 days left!

-Mrs Bell to be

Greetings everyone is absolutely necessary. The bride and groom at the most recent wedding I attended didn't bother to greet people at all. A friend of mine went and specifically grabbed the groom so that we could get a picture of him with his high school friends (our children). I only saw his wife from afar. The wedding was a terrible mess of poor choices, but that one stands out the most to me. Receiving lines don't take very long at all, even with a large guest list. Couples should just be gracious and take the twenty minutes to thank everyone

Definitely important.

FH and I are doing a receiving line. No sweetheart or honour table. We’re going to be seated at different tables for different courses to spend time with our guests, while mingling at others in-between.

Personally if someone wants to talk to me, they’ll talk to me. I’m not going to be going table to table to say the same thing over and over again. I want it to be genuine and natural. I’be got a million things on my mind, I don’t want the obligation of having to thank my guests to be one of them.

View Quoted Comment Having a million things on you mind is exactly the reason to have a recieving line. In those twenty minutes or so you can focus on greeting every guest. In the moment it will be genuine and natural. You will be so excited about everything that greeting everyone will be wonderful. Then you can relax and take care of the next thing, which is hopefully a few fun pictures and then the party.

I think it is very necessary. Your guests have maybe travelled long distances, perhaps took off work, booked hotels, bought you gifts, and the bride and groom cannot same a simple hello? It may not be spoken about in your face, but it will be the talk after your wedding is over.

I know a lot can go on at a wedding, and the bride and groom are soaking up their wedding day, but we need to find the time to make our "rounds" and say hello to everyone and thank them for coming