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The usual order of a wedding reception from grand entrance to last dance, how long each part takes, and the common variations for speeches and dancing.
A typical reception runs: guests find their seats, grand entrance, welcome and first dance, dinner, speeches, parent dances, cake cutting, open dancing, and a last dance and send-off. Allow about four to five hours from the grand entrance to the end. Most of the variation is in when speeches happen and whether the first dance comes before or after dinner.
A typical wedding reception order of events: 1, Guests find their seats, 10–15 min, Right after cocktail hour; the seating chart or QR lookup does the work; 2, Grand entrance, 5 min, Wedding party, then the couple; 3, Welcome and first dance, 5–10 min, Some couples dance straight after the entrance, while everyone is watching; 4, Blessing or welcome toast, 2–5 min, Optional; often a parent or the host; 5, Dinner, 60–90 min, Plated is faster than family-style or a buffet; 6, Speeches, 15–30 min, Before, during or after dinner (see below); 7, Parent dances, 5–10 min, Can be combined into one song; 8, Cake cutting, 5–10 min, Signals to older guests that they can leave soon after; 9, Open dancing, 2–3 hours, The longest part of the night; 10, Bouquet or garter toss, 5 min, Optional, and increasingly skipped; 11, Last dance and send-off, 10 min, A private last dance with just the two of you is another option.
Sample reception timeline starting at 6pm: 5:45, Guests seated; 6:00, Grand entrance and first dance; 6:10, Welcome toast; 6:15, Dinner served; 7:15, Speeches; 7:40, Parent dances; 7:50, Cake cutting; 8:00, Dancing opens; 10:45, Last dance; 11:00, Send-off.
Before dinner: everyone is listening and nobody is eating, but hungry guests are less patient. Keep them short. Between courses: the most common choice. It breaks up dinner and gives the kitchen time to plate the next course. Check the timing with your caterer. After dinner: guests are relaxed and fed, but the energy can dip before dancing. Follow the last speech straight into a dance.
Straight after the grand entrance is the popular choice: the room is already watching, the photographer has you in good light, and you can relax for the rest of the evening. After dinner works when you want the first dance to open the dancing, so the floor fills straight away. Either is fine. Just make sure the photographer and DJ know which.
Give the DJ or MC a written order with times, names and pronunciations, and who to find for each moment. Brief the speakers and the parents on when they're up, so nobody is at the bar at the wrong moment. Plan the photos. If you want sunset portraits, find out the sunset time for your date and fit a 15-minute break into the timeline. Feed your vendors when guests eat so they're ready for the speeches. Do you have to feed wedding vendors? Count the songs. Once you know how long dinner and dancing run, the wedding song calculator tells you how many songs the night needs.
Grand entrance, first dance, welcome toast, dinner, speeches, parent dances, cake cutting, open dancing, then the last dance and send-off. Speeches and the first dance are the parts couples most often move around.
About four to five hours from the grand entrance to the send-off, not counting cocktail hour. Dinner takes 60 to 90 minutes and dancing usually runs two to three hours.
Usually after dinner and the speeches, before dancing gets going. It also signals to older guests that they can leave without missing anything.
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