Are 3-hours enough for your wedding reception? If yes, how to host it perfectly? Here comes good advice and suggestions for a 3-hour wedding reception timeline!
Contents
Introduction
The wedding reception is definitely the most precious event for the newlyweds, as the new couple can celebrate and share delightful moments with their family and friends.
Indeed, you need a proper wedding reception itinerary to ensure that your celebration is fabulous and full of pleasure. A good timeline helps set the right pace for the event and allows the guests to have the best possible experience at the party.
Yet, one issue is raised from there – How long is a wedding reception? – Based on several years of experience from many professional nuptial planners, a 3-hour is an optimize for the wedding reception timeline.
Why is a 3-hour itinerary the best timeframe? Believe it or not, you will get the most out of this schedule regarding psychology, finance, and guest feel. Read on this blog for useful suggestions and explanations related to this topic!
Why Should You Go For A 3-Hour Wedding Reception?
You might wonder why this event – one of the big parties of life, should ever last within 3 hours?
Here are some reasons why the timeline of a wedding reception should only take that long:
The guest feeling
First of all, a short party evokes the guests’ anticipation for the nuptial activities.
For instance, knowing about the limited time makes them feel more enjoyable when joining the party games and dancing together.
Furthermore, a 4-hour wedding reception timeline might be too long for the older guests. Your older guests might give up and go home before you even touch the ceremony cake!
The average cost
What else makes a 3 hours party more awesome than a 4-5 hour one?
Well, a shorter party might cost less, saving you tons of money. This helps a lot when you have such a tight budget yet want a medium-large party with all your beloved relatives and friends.
What Remarkable Benefits Does this Timeframe A Offer?
Now, let’s glimpse at some advantages that a 3-hour wedding reception timeline brings you and your guests!
Help bride and room rest early
On the marriage day, the bride and the groom are usually up early to prepare for their special day. Sometimes, they don’t even have a quick nap or a good sleep the night before the marriage ceremony.
A long party might drain them out, as they have to move around and communicate with all the guests to bring a cozy atmosphere to the event.
For this reason, more than that timescale – a 4-hour wedding reception timeline is not a wise choice at all! Opt for this timeframe to have fun and recharge your energy for the next day.
Save the budget for the newlywed
Indeed, three hours is the standard that a normal wedding reception timeline will last.
Due to this timeframe within three-hour, most newlyweds are likely to have the ceremony and the soirée at the same venue.
This saves them not only time but also a considerable amount of money. That is because they don’t need to pay for transportation for guests and furniture rentals.
They also pay less for location rentals, as they rent only one venue. Besides, as the rental period lasts shorter, they can save tons of rental costs (marriage revenues usually charge per hour).
Enable the guests to have time for coming home if they live far away from the wedding destination
Another advantage of a three-hour schedule is that the guests can leave early and come back home if far away.
This allows your guests to fully enjoy the part yet have enough time to rest before getting on the flight back home. Besides, this helps save their money because they don’t need to pay for a night at a local hotel.
How To Plan A 3-Hour Celebration Timeline Perfectly?
Here we bring you a step-by-step timeline for a 3-hour wedding reception. Customize this itinerary, and you can create your best after-wedding party with ease.
1st hour – Cocktail time
If you host both events at the same venue, let your DJ/MC start the party by introducing the newlywed to the guests.
You can make a funny action or dance to get the attendees excited and excited for your entrance.
Then, start the cocktail time and let guests sip drinks and snack on hors d’oeuvres. Let’s mingle with your guests and take photos together during this time. This way, the attendees will feel welcomed and appreciated.
2nd hour – Dances and speeches
There will be a few speeches throughout the occasion – usually by the couple’s parents, the best man, or the maid of honor.
Although a single speech doesn’t only last a few minutes, adding them up can take tons of time. Thus, pay attention and alert the speaker if they seem to talk “forever”.
Once the speech ends, you can go straight into your first dance as a married couple. Then, the bride and the groom should have family dances with their parents.
After the last family dance, let’s invite all the attendees to hit the dance floor and have some fun together.
3rd hour – Dinner and dessert
After that, you can offer your guests a plate or buffet meal and give them plenty of time to enjoy the food while chatting with each other.
Later in this gathering, serve the dessert and start the cake-cutting ritual. In this way, you let your attendees know that the occasion is almost over.
What’s about the grand exit?
If you plan to have one, let’s go out on a high note. It would be best to have sparklers or bubbles for guests to add interesting elements to your exit. During this time, take beautiful photos to save the moments. A party will go more smoothly as planned with the presence of professional wedding hostesses.
Conclusion
Here you know why three hours celebration will be much better than traditional 4-5 hour ones. A shorter one will be beneficial not only to the newlyweds but also to the attendees.
Thus, let’s follow our suggested 3-hour wedding reception timeline and create the best party for your big day! Up next: If you are curious about hosting other parties, such as a wedding shower, let’s follow our next article to figure out more details.