What time does your reception start and how long is it?

Our ceremony will begin at 6:30pm and cocktail hour will follow ceremony, so our reception won't begin until 8pm and ends by 11pm. It seems like a short evening on paper but in reality it will be a perfect amount of time. That's 3 hours of eating, drinking and dancing. We will also have an after party at either the hotel lounge or in the village the resort is located in for those who want to keep the party going. I'm not sure if FH and I will be up for those kind of shenanigans after the long day of getting ready, pictures, all the attention and emotions but we will see. Is an after party an option for y'all?

So our ceremony begins at 4:30; cocktail hour begins at 5; our actual reception is from 6-10:30, and then we are having a two-hour bonfire to close the night. Depending on what time your ceremony ends and your reception begins, I'd say 10:30 is a reasonable end-time for your reception.

Ceremony 6:30-6:45
Cocktail Hour 6:45-7:45
Dinner 8-9
Coffee/Espresso/Tea Bar 9:45
Cake Cutting 9:45
Late Night Snacks 11-midnight
Last call 12:30
Everyone out 1AM

Mine started at six and ended around 1030-11p

Our ceremony begins at 430 and the reception ends at 1030. Cocktail hour 5-6, grand entrance at 6, then dances (first dance, father/daughter, mother/son). Dinner will begin around 630, toasts will begin around 715 and then the dance floor/photo booth will open from 745-1030. Bar is open from 5-10.

Depending on what time your ceremony starts at 10-1030 end is plenty of time to fit in all the activities as well as dinner and dancing.

My reception began with cocktail hour at 5:30 and ended at 10:30. It wasn't too early. We went to the hotel bar afterwards. Every wedding I've gone to ends up at a bar somewhere nearby regardless of the time it ends.

My reception went from 6-9. About half of my audience would have a distance to travel 45 minutes+ and several were parents with newborn-toddler age. I also know that at around 10 pm I can get cranky-tired. So ending at 9 afforded us plenty of time for things to trickle over, breakdown the room, and everyone went home happy.

10-10:30 may be ideal based on your audience and needs. A younger/partying crowd may want to go later. Slightly older and/or parents may want to leave earlier.

I also suggest that if you're going for a sit-down dinner or a lot of traditional events, have at least 4 hours. 3 hours worked for us since it was kind of a cocktail dinner (just with more food).

Our ceremony starts at 3:00pm, and the reception will end at 9:00pm. We're planning to have our cocktail hour from 3:30pm-4:30pm or 5:00pm (still deciding) and will serve dinner at 5:00pm so our reception will be 4 hours long.

Our ceremony is 5:30-6:00, cocktail hour is 6:00-7:00, then reception is 7:00-11:00.

I'm having an earlier wedding at noon, my venue only allows five hours from start to finish, I think that's about average. To me 1030/1100 would be a good time to end a late wedding.

Our ceremony begins at 1:30 and ends at 2:30, then we are having cocktail hour begin at 5:00 and the reception begins at 6:00 and ends at 10:00. I think most people are exhausted by then anyway haha

Our ceremony was planned 5-5:30, cocktail hour 5:30-6:30, reception 6:30-11! A lot of our guests went back to the hotel bar after though.

Ceremony: 5:30pm

Cocktail hour: 6:00-7:00pm

Reception: 7:00-11:00pm

We'e having both in the same venue, so immediately after, about 5 i'd say. We have the place till midnight, but we also have to clean up, so we put 11 p.m on the invitations

Our wedding starts 3:30pm, cocktail hour starts at 4 and the reception is from 5 to 9

Our ceremony starts at 4 and the reception starts at 6 and will end around 9 but we are having an after party at a different location for the 21+ who chose to continue the night.

My reception is 3:30-8 (including cocktail hour)

We had our ceremony from 4 to 4:30. Cocktail hour until 5:30. Reception until 11:30. For reference, it was a Saturday weekend where most guests live a 4 hour drive away. Most of our guests were gone by 10pm, so I don't think ending then would be an issue.

Our cocktail hour started at 12:30 and went until 1:30, then the rest of our reception continued right after and went until 5. It was plenty of time!

Our cocktail hour will start either 4:30 or 5
Reception 5:30 or 6 and end at 10. We have to clean up ourselves.