Timeline Options For Your Wedding Reception

Most brides and grooms-to-be usually fill out their timeline mere weeks before their wedding. More often than not, they also have no idea the order or times of specific events and just “guesstimate.” At Non-Stop Entertainment we go over your wedding 90 days prior and try to address this specific issue in our first planning meeting. But, why wait until 90 days prior? We’ll run through some different options based on a few regions we are familiar with and present them below. Believe it or not, every region in the US has a different flow. A Chicago Wedding Timeline Most Chicago wedding receptions are six hours long. This provides enough time to mingle, eat a glorious meal and, of course, dance the night away. A sample wedding timeline would be:   6-7pm Cocktail (6:50pm Dj/MC to announce guests seated, line-up bridal party) 7pm - Introduce Wedding Party INTO - Cake Cutting (notice the “INTO” and not a specific time) INTO - Toasts INTO - Blessing INTO - Dinner (an individually plated dinner for 100 to 200 guests will last one-and-a-half hours) 8:30pm - First Dances INTO - Open Dancing 9:30pm - Bouquet/Garter Toss (this can be later, but shouldn’t be earlier) 11:55pm  - Last Dance 12:00am - END!   Pretty straight forward! This timeline completes most formal events, with the exception of the first dances, by the start of dinner. The cake cutting is done directly after wedding party intros so the kitchen can cut the cake and serve it as dessert. If the venue isn’t serving it as dessert, couples have the option of performing this ceremony later in the evening; they can then “view” their cake longer. Which some couples want to do! Best men and honorable guests giving speeches are “thrown to the wolves” early-on and can settle down and enjoy their dinner once completed. This is helpful if they have a fear of public speaking because they won’t be distracted throughout dinner. Finally, the blessing occurs after the last toast. The kitchen may begin serving prior to the blessing, but some venues hold-off until after the blessing. Check with your wedding venue on their specific practices. Sometimes, it may even depend on whether or not they have multiple events that evening. Some venues such as Dinolfo’s and The Abbington have multiple rooms and host multiple weddings. Therefore, they need to stagger the order of dinner service.    8:30pm gives and hour-and-a-half for dinner. This is the time couples should try to dance their first dance, however, realistically it may not be until 8:45pm or 9:00pm. At Non-Stop Entertainment, we let our couples know when this time comes and give put the options in their hands. While couples don’t want to wait too late for dancing, they also shouldn’t try to open the dancefloor too early as guests may not be finished with dinner. After first dances, the partying begins and guests are invited to the dance floor. See our future blog, how to open your dance floor, for suggestions on opening your dance floor with a BANG!Coming soon ;)  Variations to the timeline (Regional or Taste Differences) Obviously this timeline is malleable. In New York, couples prefer to walk in and perform their first dance right away. This is always an option for Non-Stop clients. Something to note is that ALL EYES will be on the couple. So if a bride and groom doesn’t quite want the spotlight on them completely, they can opt to have this after dinner.  In California, most receptions are buffets. The advantage of a buffet is guests get to eat more! Just kidding, but seriously they do! Another advantage is they usually take about 2/3 the time of an individually plated dinner; instead of dinner being an hour-and-a-half, it’s cut back to one hour. Toasts can’t happen until after everyone is served, however.Pro-Tip Timesaver! One thing I recommend to all my couples is to say a “thank you” on the microphone. It works best immediately after introductions. Once the couple is introduced, while guests are standing, cheering and clapping, I will walk behind the couple and hand them the microphone. The bride or groom can then thank their guests (while they have their attention) for coming, let them know they WON’T have time to go table-to-table (although they wish they did ;), and express their wishes to have everyone on the dance floor after dinner. Here’s a sample to use, and please, take credit! “Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for coming out tonight. We couldn’t have asked for a better gift tonight than what you’ve all provided to us just by being here. John and I are truly blessed to have so many friends and family and while we won’t be able to individually thank you all, we wanted to let you know from the bottom of our hearts we truly are thankful to have each and every one of you in our lives. So thanks again for coming out; our wishes for tonight are to see everyone on the dance floor having the time of their life; let’s party!” This statement says a few things. First, it thanks everyone and alleviates the necessity for a receiving line or going around table-to-table. It also shows how much the guests are truly loved and how appreciative the couple is they are all present. Finally, it indicates the couple is ready to get down like James Brown.. See you on the dancefloor! - Ryan Meeks - Arizona and Chicago Wedding Dj

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