Post-Ceremony & Cocktail Hour
4:00 PM
Ceremony concludes, and post-ceremony photos begin at church
4:20 PM
Guests begin arriving at reception site for cocktail hour
4:30 PM
Bride, groom and wedding party arrive at reception site for more photos
5:00 PM
Bride and groom join guests for cocktail hour on patio
(It’s very important to us that we get to mingle during the second half of our cocktail hour, and luckily, it should be no problem, since we’ll be taking a good number of our photos pre-ceremony.)
Reception
5:30 PM
Guests invited to be seated in ballroom
5:40 PM
Grand entrance
5:50 PM
First dance, followed by a second group dance for all guests
(To help get everyone in a party mood, and to take advantage of the excitement created by the grand entrance, our DJ will invite everyone the gather around the floor for our first dance, which will be immediately followed by a high-energy dance song for everyone to enjoy. Also, since we’ll have already done our first dance, guests can feel more than welcome to hit the floor during dinner, if they wish.)
6:00 PM
Buffet opens, with tables released one at a time
(Our day-of coordinator will monitor the line and release tables one-by-one to avoid a huge backup. Stephen and I will be served our meals first, so that we’re then free to visit guest tables throughout the rest of the dinner hour.)
6:55 PM
Toasts by best man and maid of honor 7:00 PM
Slideshow presented by bridesmaids
7:30 PM
Sunset pictures of bride and groom on the golf course
(I’m super excited about these shots!)
8:00 PM
Thank you speech by bride and groom, followed by cake cutting
8:10 PM
Anniversary dance
(Doing this right after the cake cutting will give the venue staff time to plate and serve the cake while the guests dance and watch the accompanying slideshow.)
8:30 PM
Bouquet and garter tosses
9:30 PM
Bar closes for alcohol (A smart move at any party…)
9:45 PM
Last two dances of the night
10:00 PM
Grand exit
And there you have it! What do you think? Of course, our version of the timeline is much more detailed, complete with notes, song selections, announcements, and so on.
How do you plan to time your cocktail hour and reception?
(Photo Credits: Los Robles Greens & Wedding Aces)
Sounds great! Especially the photos at sunset - there is going to be a full moon on our wedding night, so I'm hoping to get some shots of that, too. Though by then I'll probably look like a wreck!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are so well organized!
ReplyDeleteI agree with chocolate lover. You guys are so organized. :) Thanks for sharing the details. :)
ReplyDeleteWow ditto everyone else, you are so organized!
ReplyDeleteSince we had a DJ, I just told them the events that I wanted to include in the reception (first dance, etc) and they created the timeline with the reception site's manager. Which worked out for me because it was one less thing to worry about!
Thanks for the timeline! It's a great breakdown. However, i get exhausted just reading it. Weddings are so tiring!
ReplyDelete