Wedding reception ending at 9pm?

We are planning on finishing around 7ish but then going to a local bar after for anyone who wants to continue

Thanks everyone, got great suggestion. Now I just have to figure out what to do or just be ok with it ending at 9pm. We'll probably be tired anyway and have the rest of the night to enjoy being newlyweds.

I work in the wedding business. I find the smaller wedding due tend to go home early, I would not stress about it, cause even if you did have the place till 1am 99% chance your party would be gone far before.

Considering it is a small family only wedding, some of your family will be glad to be able go home early, parents with young cousins, and elderly people with love this. Your others family members will make plans to visit each others homes after the wedding for coffee or drinks.

Seriously I think it will be a perfectly timed wedding. Enjoy your day

I think 9 PM is okay. Especially for a Sunday wedding.

This is the reason I didn't go with my desired venue. My party will go on until everyone leaves or we run out of booze (if we run out after party at the casino!) sorry about yours tho. I was super picky about the time I had the venue. I'd ask your vendor to make sure. Maybe just designate a bar for the after party?

Ours ends at 6!

I think you're timeline is fine. You have two hours of dancing after dinner, and with a smaller wedding, that seems like plenty. If you're really interested in keeping the party going, you can host an after party, but I like your idea of having the bonfire for a while. Just make sure the fire is already going at 9 so you don't have to worry about starting one and wasting time.

Our timeline is almost identical. Our reception will end at 9 or 9:30 ish. Fine with me as FH and I are in bed by then. We're also having a small groups (36 invited). Most are older (over 60), and probably won't party too much anyway.

We're ending at 9:30. Our ceremony starts at 4. We had to move everything up because of daylight savings time. We just made sure to pick a hotel with a bar and will be moving the party there.

Since I'm getting married on a Sunday, it will give those that couldn't stay the night a chance to get home at a reasonable hour, and then those that are staying can continue with us at the hotel. I think it's a win win.

Ours ended at 10pm and some people left earlier but it was a Sunday wedding. I think the titmeline actually worked out pretty well- our ceremony was at 4pm/ cocktail hour 4:30-5:00pm/ dinner 5:45-7:00pm and dancing, cake, etc after that.

Some of us went out afterwards to a bar and I wish I didn't, we stayed out too late, drank too much and I felt like crap the next day!

Private User -- I'm curious. You work in "the wedding business"? In what capacity and/or specialty? Your post was so full of errors that it was difficult to follow. If you are corresponding with clients (or potential clients), you need a proofreader. I'm doing you a favor by pointing out your incorrect usage of the word "due" (amongst other mistakes). Brides care about that kind of thing. Big time.

I also don't see why any guest would offer to host an after-party at their home simply because a wedding ended at 9:00 PM. It would be one thing if the after-party was arranged before hand and the house was guest ready and had already been fully stocked with party supplies, but an impromptu after-party at a private home? It's doubtful.

Just do the smores thing at the after party somewhere.. shouldn't cost you much money. Just need graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows (and a safe place for the campfire). Its perfectly acceptable to not host any drinks for an "after party".

Its only 50 people, no dancing..9pm end time will be perfectly fine.

Mine is on a sunday and ends at 10, i wanted it to last longer but for 1 additional hr it's $375.

Mine is ending at 9. So people who are traveling back 2hrs home can still make it home before midnight. Not lame

We are honestly only doing the reception from 7-9. But, my fiance and I aren't huge dancers. Still though, it'll be quick, but fun! And then you can have time to get everything ready before the honeymoon, etc

I think that will be fine. Like others mentioned, if your guests want to keep the party going, they can head to a local bar. You could even casually suggest a location to people if it seems like that is what they want to do.

Mine ended at 9:30 and most people moved on to a nearby bar directly after. It was an informal after-party so it was no additional cost. In fact, the bartender gave me free drinks for bringing in so much extra business.

It's possible. Best thing is to keep your program short and get to dancing. You don't need the whole family saying their well wishes and taking up time. Most people honestly start to filter out after the cake is cut. I think you will be fine.

Ours will be over by 8. Non holiday Sunday but we are not big party people. And most of our guests our older relatives. I'm excited to be over early and spend time with hubby.

3-8 is our event time.

Ours ends 10ish on a Saturday night. But most guests are coming out west from the east coast so I'm sure that'll be plenty late for them. I don't think 9 is lame but I do see it being more of a dinner party than dance party.