We are often asked about the best way to structure the order of events at receptions. Here are the most popular and time efficient ways to structure the night:

Cocktail Hour – Typically these do last about an hour, and most often the couple and wedding party are taking pictures at another location. If mingling with guests is important, plan to have your pictures finished up either before the ceremony or leave enough time between the ceremony and cocktail hour to complete your photos.

Seating of the Guests – Be sure you have someone designated to do this or your dinner is sure to be delayed. Most often your DJ or MC will take care of this, but if you don’t have one, ask a parent or other guest to be in charge. We have too often seen this go overlooked and the whole night, from the service of food to toasts to the dance, gets completely thrown off and delayed. If you didn’t do a receiving line at the church, it’s a good option to have the bride, groom and their parents form a line at the entrance to the dinner room and greet guests as they enter.

Introduction of Couple or Entire Wedding Party – Some couples choose to keep this simple and just have the DJ or MC introduce them, while others choose to do a full grand march with music and announcement of all wedding party members and parents. Either way, it’s a great way to start off the night.

Cake Cutting – After you have been introduced, your DJ or MC will make an announcement that you are heading to cut the cake. Unless you have sheet cakes already cut, prepared and ready to serve in the kitchen, it’s really important to cut the cake prior to dinner. In fact, most reception halls and caterers will expect this because of the time they need to cut and prepare the cake prior to serving guests. If you wait to cut the cake until after dinner, you will have a delay of up to 20 – 30 minutes while the serving crew gets the cake ready. This can be awkward, empty time where guests aren’t really sure what’s happening. If you also need to move tables in order to create a dance floor, keep in mind this will take another 20 – 30 minutes after guests are finished with cake.

Blessing & Toasts OR First Dance – After the cake cutting, couples will either head right to the dance floor (if it’s already set up) for their first dance or be seated at the head table for a blessing and toasts. Choosing to do your first dance right away is a really nice option that puts all the focus on you. Sometimes when you do your first dance later in the night, many guests have already left and others are up and about or visiting with other friends. When you do your first dance right away before dinner, everyone is seated and ready for the night to begin, so all eyes are on you. This is also a great way to save on your photography and/or videography budget – instead of having coverage all through dinner and cake while waiting for the dance to start, you can cut out a solid hour or two by having coverage of your first dance right away. If you really want pictures of your wedding party dancing but would rather save your budget and do your dance before dinner, we have had couples who incorporate a wedding party dance into their introductions. The wedding party members are announced to music, and as they enter the room, they head to the dance floor. Once everyone has been introduced, the DJ keeps the song playing or starts a new one for the wedding party to dance to. This is followed by the couple’s first dance.

If you choose to start with the blessing and toasts immediately after the cake cutting, here’s what usually happens: the blessing is done right away when the wedding party and couple has been seated at the head table. After the blessing, servers begin to bring out salads and this is the best time to do toasts. Once again, guests are all seated and the night is just starting out, so all attention is on you. Finishing the toasts during salads allows the guests to enjoy the rest of dinner and visit with their table. If you wait to do toasts later in dinner or sporadically throughout dinner, guests are often caught up in conversation or are up and about getting a drink or using the restroom and may miss your toasts.

Dinner & Dessert – It’s also great to get your toasts done during salads so that you have the rest of dinner and cake time to enjoy music from your band or DJ, mingle and greet guests, play a slideshow of growing up and together photos, or involve your guests in activities (see the post “No More Clinking” under the category receptions).

Dance – After cake has been served, your dance is ready to begin. If you decided not to do your first dance before dinner, you’ll start off with that followed by any other specialty dances you have chosen to to (such as parent dances, wedding party dances, etc.)

Bouquet & Garter Toss - If you choose to incorporate this into your wedding, you can do it as early as a half hour into your dance. Many couples will complete all their specialty dances, open the dance floor to guest for a few songs, and then do the bouquet and garter toss. Doing this earlier allows for more guests to see it and participate in it – if you wait until the very end of the night, many guests will have already gone. Also, if this event is something you want captured on photo or video, you can save on your budget by doing it early and not adding on hours of dance coverage just to wait for the bouquet and garter toss.

Final Advice – Always remember that your reception will flow best when you have a plan in place and you have someone who will be in charge of it. Take time to find a DJ or band who doesn’t just play music, but who will keep your reception events going on time so you don’t have to worry about it. When there aren’t delays or empty time spaces that drag the night out, you will not only save money on your photography and/or videography budget, but guests will stay longer and really enjoy being actively involved in each part of your celebration.