How long is too long of a reception?

Question

I've noticed that most venues have a 4 hour timeslot which includes the cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. That really doesn't leave alot of time to do anything without being rushed. As a guest, do you prefer a longer than usual reception or is the "average" too long or just right? For those who are already married, what was your perspective? If you had a 4 hr reception did it seem too short or the right amount of time? Or did you wish it could go longer?

Answer 1

Hi.  Where I live every reception (and I mean EVERY ONE) is from 6 p.m. until midnight.  Well....that is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long.

By the time 10:30 or 11 p.m. rolls around, there are usually only a handful of people.  But....people don't get it.  Because everyone does it that way....well, everyone does it that way!  I would much prefer a reception to be 4 hours.  I have never gone to one like that.  

Answer 2

The wedding reception is always too long for the guests and too short for the bridal couple. I think more than 4 hours is too long. Most people are bored at weddings so keep it short and sweet or you will find people leaving before the cake is cut

Answer 3

I had the traditional 4 hour reception. I think we had enough time and nothing was rushed, But as a guest, 4 hours is more than enough time for me. As much as 2 hours of that time might be spent at cocktail hour, socializing and waiting for the bridal party to arrive. But I guess that as long as your guests are kept entertained during that time, it's fine.

Answer 4

4 hours is plenty, unless you plan on having an open bar...  then your guests may want more time.  Most people will clock out after the food and the toasts.  Close friends and fam stay for the drinks and dancing.  If they still want to party, go out... go to a bar, or a club

Answer 5

Our reception started at 7pm and there were still quite a few people there when we closed it down at 2am.  The older people left a bit earlier, but a lot of my husband's and my friends are 21-25ish..  So I'd say it depends on your guests.

Answer 6

I think that it depends on the time of day. If the 4 hour ends at 10pm and the 5 hour ends at 11, you might as well go with 5. At the same time I think that afternoon receptions should be 4. The reason being that the meal they get is like a late lunch and by the time it's over they will be starving and in dire need of another meal.  

Answer 7

It won't really matter much anyway: the couple typically will be eager to ditch the event so they can begin honeymooning, and the guests typically will be drinking, and losing track of time until the bar runs dry.

Answer 8

mine is going to be 3 hours

Answer 9

That all depends on your "type" of guests, if they are the party crowd...they may want to dance long into the night.  If they are reserved, keep it short.  Lot's of games during the reception are always a lot of fun, but don't overwhelm everyone.  Let everyone know what you're going to do (for example: if you are playing a game like hiding the bride from the groom and he has to get clues to find her), let the guests know ahead of time.  Part of the fun for the guests is anticipation and planning.

Answer 10

4 hours is good. just have a place in mind for the after party. we all rolled into a dance club after our reception. a lot of the geezers started to fall off after they ate and danced one dance. bands and dj's all charge by the hour too

Answer 11

I've been to well over 20 weddings, and the only one that short was a backyard wedding for a second marriage because there was no dance.

For a traditional-style wedding, four hours really isn't enough time.

What we had, just for an example - it started at 5 and ended probably at 1 a.m.

Church ceremony was at 2:30 p.m., out of the church within an hour, then we went to a photo studio for portraits.

5 p.m. Cocktails

6 p.m. Dinner and program. Dinner was buffet for around 200, so total time for both was probably an hour and a half.

(we didn't have a cake cutting, but it would be in this time slot.... about 8 p.m.)

Dance started. Break about 10:30 for bouquet/garter toss and light lunch.

We didn't stay til the end, but I think dancing went til 12:30 or 1 a.m.

We had full open bar for cocktail hour, then it reopened after the dinner for the whole night. We had bottles of red and white wine at the tables for dinner.

So total reception would have been seven to eight hours. The vast majority of people stayed til at least 11 - 11:30.

I just don't see how one could pack everything into four hours.... there isn't any time for dancing there!

Answer 12

You can usually buy more time then the regular 4 hours. I would do five. A lot of guests will proably leave after the cake cutting. The last hour you can dance and have fun with your bridal party who will probably stay the entire time. Then there is always the popular "After" party. My friends who get married now all meet at the hotel and bring it on home until 4 in the morning. Good luck to you and congratulation!

Answer 13

Three to four hours sounds right to me. Those who want to keep the party going can always regroup at a nightclub, diner, or someone's home. After 4 hours all but a really die hard party animal just wants to get away from all those people and change into more comfortable clothes.

Answer 14

Ours will be about 5-6 hours. 4 is too short for our HUGE families.  

Answer 15

A 4 hour reception for me was too much.  That was time enough to 'do everything' my wife wanted to and I wanted nothing else but to get the h**l out of there.  I tried for a wedding party of 40 people included, but it turned into more like 400.  Just too much for my taste, and spending anything more than 4 hours trapped in a room of unappealing people is not on my top ten list of things to do for a good time.

Answer 16

3 hours or more