What order do things go for the reception?

Once our dinner portion is done we will start the special dances and do the cake cutting. Then we will do some general dancing and do the bouquet toss/garter toss later in the evening just before the late night snacks. Some people do the speeches after the dinner and before the special dances but I think it is more common for them to be done during dinner now.

Definitely budget at least and hour and a half for dinner! It takes longer than you think!

The order of reception events is really up to you! We did our first dance before dinner and then the rest of the special dances and toasts throughout dinner service, but there are also lots of people who do dinner first before any of the dances!

Here's a great article with helpful reception timeline tips you should definitely check out: Wedding Reception Timeline .

Also here's a great community discussion where I asked when you're doing the first dance: First Dance: Before or After Dinner? It looks like most people went with after!

I can give you my time line of what I'm doing, but really you can mix things up.. ie do speeches before eating or after, special dances before or after, split it all up, etc etc. I'm also not doing a cake cutting or any wedding games. It's also important to take into account the time it takes for people to get settled in their seats or how long for food to be served (or buffet style).

5PM - Cocktail hour

6PM - Guests to make their way into the reception area

6:10PM - Bride/Groom entrance

6:12PM - Bride/Groom First Dance!

6:15PM - Bride's dad is making a speech/toast

6:20PM - First course (soup! is served).. after this I don't have a time stamp of time lines for the meal

SPEECH - Bestman/groomsmen

Second Course served (salad!)

SPEECH - Maid of Honour/bridesmaids

Main Course Served

SPEECH - Groom's mum

Dessert Served

SPEECH - Bride/Groom thank you speech

8:30PM (Approximately depending on dinner length) - Father/Daughter Dance

8:33PM - Groom/Mother Dance

8:35PM - DANCE FLOOR OPENS!

11:15PM - Late night food is served

12:20PM - Last call made for the bar

12:40 - Bride/Groom leaving

1PM - Everyone else needs to get out! lol

I recently attended a wedding and they we're introduced and right away they did the first dance. Then they did speech and welcomed their guest. Then food was serve. They had 11 meals served 1 at a time! in between they did photos per table, speeches (parents, moh, & bm), slideshow, bouquet toss, removal of garter, and dancing towards the end.

I have went to a wedding where they had an hour cocktail and after they announced the couple and wedding party as they came in. From there they did the first dance right away and then speaches as dinner happened. Then after dinner and a bit into the night people tend to do the bouquet throw and the cake cut

I am having a buffet so im not really having courses. just cocktails, then dinner, then cake

I think you should space everything out. If there are speeches, start with those. Then do your dances and then start the party. After a little while I would do the bouquet/garter thing followed by cake and then party the rest of the night away.

Depending on the number of courses you're having, dinner may take up to 1.5 hours. You could also do speeches in between courses, and then do your first dance, bouquet toss, etc. All this stuff doesn't have to happen back-to-back either. You could give your guests some time to dance or get some fresh air for 30 minutes in between things.

We are doing the dances first, then after maybe an hour or so of guests dances we will take a break for the bouquet/garter toss. We aren't having a cake cutting because I really don't get the point and don't like the whole attention on it, just my opinion, we will announce that dessert is served and the cake will already be cut and ready to serve.