Wedding ceremony/reception order of service HELP.....!?

Question

were getting married in 7 weeks {October 11} and each and everyday I feel like I'm about to loose my mind. Anyway I'm trying to get things finalized and am today trying to do a rough draft of the order of service, first let me explain the wedding and reception will take place in the same exact room. The guest will arrive {hopefully} around 1pm and the wedding will begin at 2pm, I assume it wont take more than 20 min. at the very most {its a civil ceremony}; after that my husband and I will go out and re-enter the room with another small ceremony of jumping the broom, so by this time its 2:30p or 2:45p after that I am totally stuck and don't know what should come next, can anyone help feel free to ask any questions, your help is truly appreciated.....

Answer 1

This all depends, my sweet friend, on what your plans are for the wedding reception.  Do you have music, food, drinks, dancing?  This is when the party begins.  So, eat, drink, dance, and be merry.  And, celebrate your marriage, and enjoy the company of your good friends and relatives.  Enjoy, my sweet friend.

Answer 2

Well, cocktail hour? Is it a large room where people can mill around until the dinner begins? Or are you having one? Maybe a couple standing cocktail tables and hors d'eurves (I can't spell it!).  Some people do their speeches (or an "open mic" if you don't have groomsmen or bridesmaids) during cocktail hour nowadays. If you're having dinner, then move to dinner, then dancing.

Congratulations!! Good luck!

(I realized AFTER that you said it would be about 2:45 so I assume no dinner then.  Maybe just finger foods?  Finger foods and conversation can last longer and actually be more exciting than people realize.  I went to a friends wedding where they didn't have a formal dinner but had plenty of drinks--yes, people drank at that hour--and loads of finger sandwiches and mini quiches and all kinds of fun things.  First, they cut the cake, then we literally snacked, talked and milled around meeting the people we didn't know for a good couple hours.  Then dancing, and at the end whoever had a sticker on the bottom of their chair at their table got to take the arrangement on the table home.  It was actually really, really fun!)

Answer 3

Do you have cocktails or appetizers for your guests? If so this is usually a time when the cocktail hour begins and the bridal party has all of their pictures taken. After that you can re-enter the room as Mr. & Mrs. After that the order of the reception usually goes like this:

Bridal Party Introduced

Bride & Groom Introduced

Salads Served

Toasts from the Best Man and Maid of Honor

Dinner Served

First Dance

Father/Daughter Dance

Mother/Son Dance

Bridal Party Dance

All guests invited to dance floor

About 1 1/2 hours after that you cut the cake

1/2-45 minutes after cutting the cake you can do the Bouquet/Garter Toss

More Dancing

Last Song of the evening

Answer 4

First of all, I absolutely love the jumping-the-broom tradition.  Secondly, why don't you incorporate the jumping-the-broom ceremony as the official start of your reception?  You and your new hubby could make your entrance to a fun, upbeat song and walk to the center of the room, where you jump the broom, and then maybe have the DJ announce, "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. _________!!!"  Then go right into your first dance as a married couple, and the reception can go on from there.  Best of luck!

Answer 5

Usually there is a bit of a social hour -- with drinks, appetizers, and socializing (or just socializing whatever).  Then dinner (unless it's still early, then sometimes they do speeches or 1st dances before dinner).  After dinner is speeches, then first dances, and then dancing/socializing again.  

Also sometimes between the 're-entering' of the room, you give your guests some time to socialize with each other and take pictures (outside of whatever)