What time does your reception end?

Hey Becky,

My reception starts around 7:30pm and ends at 10pm. If you have an open bar, I would say maybe move the time to 10?

If you are getting married on a week day I would say end everything at 9:30ish maybe still 10pm.

Ours is from 6-9, cocktail reception with buffet, open bar and around 50 people. Most of our guests are 40+. No one has batted an eye at the time frame, but it’s Vegas so I’m guessing the party will spill onto the strip after the reception ends.

Our cocktail hour is from 7-8pm and our reception is from 8-midnight. We’ll be having an open bar, 2 dinner courses and dessert and a band to play music and keep people dancing all night. I think people would only leave at 9 if the reception ended at 9:30. Like if your reception ended at 10 people would leave between 9:30 and 10. Personally I think your reception does seem a little short especially if you’re doing the traditional dances, dinner and cake. Doesn’t leave much time for people to dance since all of that probably takes an hour to an hour and a half total

Our reception is 6:30-11:00 PM. Ceremony 5-5:30, cocktail hour 5:30-6:30!

We are going to midnight!

With my current timeframe, cocktail hour starts at 6:00 and we're doing the send off between 11:45 and midnight.

I think it really depends on your crowd. We have a lot of people who like to dance and party so it makes sense to us to have the reception until midnight. We really only anticipate 1/3 of our 225-250 guests leaving early. We have a ton of out-of-town guests. Plus, there are no bars or clubs nearby to host an after-party so it's literally reception then home/hotel for us.

Are you planning on doing all the traditional things (first dances, speeches, bouquet toss, etc)? If so, that seems really short. I would be concerned if my DJ said "people normally go home at 9". What kind of people does he hang out with ? Our crowd would only leave at 9 if the DJ was really bad and we would more than likely move the party to another location. I would make sure that he knows exactly what you want played to keep the party going and I would go until at least 10.

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We are doing all of the traditional things except the bouquet and garter toss (we're doing the anniversary dance). We don't really have a lively crowd, and we live in a very small town with 3 bars so people around here aren't lively as a whole. I'm so torn! I'll probably end up pushing it to 10, that will make it feel a little better I think and not so short, but not too long either.

I do agree it depends on what you’re planning at the reception. We are only doing a first dance and the cake cutting, no other traditional events. Plus we aren’t having a sit down dinner, just heavy apps (pass around and buffet.) We plan to make our entrance within 15 min of the reception start time to maximize our time there too.

My reception starts at 5:45 and ends at 10:30, then we are having an after Hours party. If you want it to end later end it later, honestly you can’t go wrong especially since you have open bar haha

Ours is from 5-730. We aren't doing dancing and only have about 50 guests. Alot of people are happy their wont be dancing lol. We are basically just having a family dinner

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Good point!

Mine will start sometime between 5:30 - 6:30 and end sometime between 11:30 - 12:30. I have not set a time yet.

Ceremony 4-4:30, cocktail 4:30-5:30, and reception 5:30-10! It’s a Sunday

My cocktail hour was 4:15-5:45 with dinner at 6 p.m. The reception ended at 11 p.m. My DH and I are in our early 40s with most of our guests being our age or older. We had 40 guests and about half stayed until the very end. It was still pretty lively!

Ceremony 4:30-5

cocktail hour 5-6

reception 6-10

I also feel like it’s too early for a Saturday night, but it’s in 9 days so it’s a little late to change it.

Ours is planning to start at 6 and ending at 10. We tentatively plan on doing our first dance and prayer before the meal to start, dinner from 615ish-745ish, then toasts and dessert around 8. We plan to end at 10 although most of us don't dance so....but we are having an open bar so I am hoping people hang out and let loose for awhile!

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Hi Becky! Emily gives some great feedback here. It's totally up to you, and you know your guest list best. Extending just a little longer, to 10/10:30 is safe, just to ensure you aren't cutting the party short, come the wedding day. But at the end of the day, you know your friends and family in your guest list best, so considering if you think many will want to stay later to dance the night away & enjoy the open bar or if you think they will be content at 9:30 is totally up to you and something to think about. I hope this helps!

Cocktail hours 5-6, reception is 6-10:30...I agree I would at least move it to 10.

Our reception starts at 6:00pm as well and it ends at 10:30. We thought about extending it another hour, but it adds a decent amount to the budget. You have to consider not only what the venue will charge for the additional hour, but also the photographer, DJ, etc. Our wedding is in June so we still have plenty of time to add on when it gets closer. Most likely though we will keep it as is and if the party atmosphere is still raging, then we will invite close friends/family back to our hotel suite for an after party.