Reception: Order of Events?

[janinegirly]

I''ve only been to 2 weddings prior to my own, so am wondering if some experts here can help with the standard order of events for a traditional wedding? We might add/subtract from the very traditional, but I''d like to know what is typical so I can have something to start with. From what I know it goes like this--feel free to correct me!

Introductions (bridal party, parents, bride & groom)
First Dance
Bridal Party Joins in for dance
What happens after this, does everyone start dancing and for how long until dinner begins?
Dinner with more mellow music played by band. Toasts interspersed with dinner.
Dancing begins!
Mother/Son, Father/Daughter dance happens at some point.
Garter/Bouquet Toss.
Cake Cutting
Final Dance
Let me know if there are other common order of events that differ from above. Thanks!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Janine,

I don''t think the parents are usually introduced, unless they''re attendants. I''m sure if you wanted them to be introduced, that would be great.

One thing that my mom is a stickler about is having a good DJ or band who will keep the pace going, not let things lag, and have people dancing right away. According to my mom, it''s a DJ''s (or band''s) job to keep people dancing. Letting guests sit for a really long time without "doing anything" is apparently a no-no. For example, at my cousin''s wedding a month ago, the DJ was horrible at being an emcee. After the cocktail hour, we went into the reception room, chatted for a really long time and then finally the bridal party and the bride and groom were introduced. They did their first dance (no bridal party danced at that time although I''ve seen them come in during the song), then we waited until well after dinner to begin dancing. Now, I hate to dance (slow songs are better) so I didn''t really notice. My mom however, is a dancin'' gal, and she was irked. We''ll probably have the first few dances done right away when the reception begins, have dinner, them have more dancing afterwards.

 

[Pandora II]

The normal order I have seen in the UK is:

Ceremony

Drinks and canapes - with or without a receiving line

Reception Meal

Speeches

First Dance

General Dancing

Cake cutting/Evening buffet

More Dancing

Bouquet toss

Bride & Groom Leave

More Dancing as guests gradually leave

End


Some people have the first dance before the meal when the guests are seated - probably helps not to be stuffed full and a glass of champagne too many if you are trying to remember a routine

I''ve also seen speeches before the meal - but they can easily take best part of an hour here (for groom, best man and bride''s father only!) so I think it''s better is people aren''t starving!

 

[musey]

It all sounds so... well, complicated. Any chance I can get away with just setting up some music, serving dinner, and skipping the rest?

 

[AmberWaves]

I completely agree, Musey. I get stressed out just LOOKING at that list. I feel like digging a hole and climbing into it.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 6/25/2007 10:13:21 AM
Author:janinegirly

I''ve only been to 2 weddings prior to my own, so am wondering if some experts here can help with the standard order of events for a traditional wedding? We might add/subtract from the very traditional, but I''d like to know what is typical so I can have something to start with. From what I know it goes like this--feel free to correct me!

Introductions (bridal party, parents, bride & groom)

First Dance

Bridal Party Joins in for dance

What happens after this, does everyone start dancing and for how long until dinner begins?

Dinner with more mellow music played by band. Toasts interspersed with dinner.

Dancing begins!

Mother/Son, Father/Daughter dance happens at some point.

Garter/Bouquet Toss.

Cake Cutting

Final Dance

Let me know if there are other common order of events that differ from above. Thanks!!

Ours was similar.
Bridal party and parents introduced.
First dance (right away)
Speeches during the salad course (3 short ones)
A photo montage/video between courses.
Father/daugher dance
Mother/son dance
Cake cutting
Everyone dancing
Our exit

I tried to get all the traditional stuff out of the way early

 

[Fancy605]

Here''s how mine will play out:

*Before we arrive, everyone will have beer, wine, passed finger foods, etc. They will have time to find their tables, and will have some nice, love songs to listen to.
*We will arrive and be introduced.
*Dinner will be served.
*We will have our First Dance.
*We will cut the cakes. The catering staff is also going to start passing Chocolate covered strawberries.
*We will do mother/son, father/daughter dances
*The REAL dancing will begin.
*About 4/5ths of the way through the dancing, we will do the flowers and garter toss
*I think the 2 people who catch it are going to dance.
*We will finish with a grand finale of dancing
*We will depart, and the guests will have sparklers to see us off with.

It''s a little different as far as order goes, but we think it will work well.

 

[San Diego Bride]

ours wasn''t very traditional. everyone (including my husband and me) was at the cocktail hour. at 1230 they opened the curtain to the reception area and everyone was seated.

bride and groom introduced
bride and groom first dance
father/daughter dance
blessing by one of our friends
ipod music started; soft dinner type music that we listen to while relaxing at home
food served: salad, soup, entree
champagne toast; we (bride and groom) thanked our guests for coming and toasted them
we invited everyone to enjoy the dessert buffet
music changed to spanish music
everyone ate dessert and mingled
at the end, we said good bye to everyone and walked down to the beach for pictures.

it wasn''t too structured, but our wedding wasn''t very traditional. i think the important thing is to know that you can organize your reception however you want.

 

[labbielove]

Ditto that you can do whatever YOU guys want/fits with your wedding/venue,etc.

For instance, our cocktail hour, dining, and dancing are in 3 different (adjoining) rooms.

So we won''t do our first dance until the dancing kicks off in the other room after dinner

We are going to introduce our own bridal party, after everyone is seated for dinner and say a few words about them (will be short, we only have 5 total people)

Instead of mother/son dance, we are going to have our families join us during our first dance and circle around us. I have lost both parents, so this fits for us

so it''s good to get ideas from others, but don''t be afraid to do your own thing- especially don''t let vendors push you into it- our wedding coordinator at the venue was trying to convince us to miss our cocktail hour- i know it works for some, but it is NOT us, we had to tell her 2 times but she gets it now, we know what we want and we''re sticking to it!!

 

[griffitk]

At our wedding it went this way:

Grand Entrance (Wedding party in pairs followed but B&G)
Wedding party sat after they walked in
First Dance (while salad course was served so we weren''t the center of attention the whole time)
Dinner
Toasts as everyone finished dinner
Father/Daughter & Mother/Son dance (concurrent)
Invited the wedding party up to start the dancing with us
Invited guests up about 1/2 way through that song to fill the dance floor
An hour later we cut the cake (dancing immediately resumed and people picked up their cake slice and coffee when they needed a break from dancing)
An hour after that we did the bouquet toss (no garter toss)
More dancing
Announced a last dance so everyone on the dance floor, then we departed.

We were really worried about things dragging on too long, so we tried to make if flow smoothly and move along quickly. It worked pretty well and we were happy with the flow.