Guys Tips

Creating a Reception Timeline

So… You’re planning a reception… But, you don’t know where to begin.

No problem.

We’ve done hundreds of receptions, and we’ve compiled a few sample reception timelines from other sources… as well as what has worked the best for us.

However… This is YOUR RECEPTION. Whatever you have envisioned for your special day… We will work with you!

5pm Reception Begins:
…with a Cocktail Hour, music played during this time can reflect the personality of the couple, or set the mood of the evening.

5:30 Wedding Party Arrives:
Wedding Party is lined up for introduction, the hall pours Champagne at the head & parents tables for toasts.

5:45 Grand Introductions:
Parents, ushers, ring bearer/flowergirl, attendants and bride and groom introduced into the hall. There are several ways to do the introductions, which we will have in a future blog post.

5:50 Cut the Cake:
Most halls need the cake cut before dinner, so they can serve it (have it available) right after dinner

5:55 Welcome/ Toasts/Thank You:
Father of the Bride and Groom occasionally give a welcome speech to the guests… Followed by Toasts from the Best man and Maid/Matron of Honor… Then, the Bride and Groom will occasionally “thank the guests, friends, and family.”

6pm Blessing/Dinner:
The reverend/father will give the blessing… then the hall will dismiss the tables to the buffet. Look for a future post on dinner selections, or refer to the playlist guide.

(6:30 Bride & Groom greet guests following dinner.)

7pm Special Dances:
All special dances at the beginning of the reception. First Dance, Father/Daughter, Mother/Son, Dollar dance, Anniversary, Bouquet/Garter Toss, Wedding Party. A couple of reasons – First, you’ll have everyone at your disposal… Otherwise, we’ll be tracking people down and holding up the reception… Second, (some) videographers and photographers are paid on a time basis… If you can’t get these special dances done before a certain time it will cost you more money, or worse, you won’t get those photographs.

7:25 Open Dance:
“non – stop” til 10pm

9:55p Last Dance

The Knot Reception Planning – SOURCE:theknot.com

8:00 p.m. Guests head from the cocktail hour into the reception and find their seats.

8:15 p.m. Your emcee begins introducing the wedding party, starting with your parents.

8:20 p.m. The first dance.

8:25 p.m. A welcome speech or a blessing. If you’re not having either, begin the toasts now — best man followed by maid of honor.

8:30 p.m. Dinner is served. The emcee asks guests to take their seats. Music should be low enough so guests can talk at their tables.

9:00 p.m. The music volume starts to increase gradually to get people who finished their meals out onto the dance floor.

9:30 p.m. The father-daughter dance, which is followed by the mother-son dance.

9:35 p.m. A dance set begins with more upbeat songs to entice most guests out of their seats.

9:45 p.m. A couple of slow songs play.

9:50 p.m. Back to more upbeat songs.

10:30 p.m. The cake cutting.

10:35 p.m. Some mid-paced songs play as cake is served so guests can dance if they want.

10:45 p.m. Guests are seated for cake.

11:00 p.m. The bouquet toss, followed by the garter toss, if you’re doing them.

11:10 p.m. The final dance set. Time to play those songs you felt funny playing while all the elderly guests were still there!

11:55 p.m. The last dance, followed by your grand exit if you’re making one.

East Coast – 5 Hour Wedding Reception – SOURCE: ABOUT.com

6:20 p.m.: Band Leader or DJ Introduces Bride and Groom for Their Grand Entrance

They Walk Directly to Dance Floor for Their First Dance

After the First Dance, the Parents Are Invited Up: First the brides, then the grooms’ (In some cases there are more than one set of parents), followed by the wedding party

6:40 p.m.: Guests Invited to Be Seated

6:45 p.m.: Optional Blessing Followed By Welcome and Toast by the Brides’ Parents

6:55 p.m.: Followed By First Course

7:05 p.m.: Best Man and Maid of Honor Toast

7:20 p.m.: Dance Set

7:40 p.m.: Guests Invited To Sit For 2nd Course

7:55 p.m.: Any Other Toasts

8:05 p.m.: Dance Set

8:30 p.m.: Guests Invited to Be Seated For Entrée

9:00 p.m.: Father/Daughter Dance

Optional Mother/Son Dance Can Be Invited Half Way through Father/Daughter Dance or They Can Have Their Own Dance

Followed By Long Dance Set

9:50 p.m.: Dessert/ Cut the Cake

Good Time for Bride and Groom to Make a Toast (Thanks Parents and Guests)

You can decide on the wedding day whether to go into overtime with your band or DJ at the end of the night. Or, if you had a band and expect that your crowd will want to keep dancing, you could decide ahead of time to bring in a DJ later to keep the party going.

You’ve done the hard work, now it is time to party!

Ceremony Music Suggestions

Recently, I was looking around at some sites for Wedding Ceremony music. There’s a lot of different ways you can go about doing it. I’ve done all traditional, all contemporary, and mix between the two. Here are the parts of a ceremony to pick music for…

The Prelude:

Songs to play while the guests are being seated, usually light background music to set the mood. Typically, we do the standard classical music, but — for more of a contemporary ceremony, check out Vitamin String Quartet.

I found a good selection of music from theknot.com Here’s some suggestions.

Water Music” (George F. Handel)
“Violin Concerto in A” (Franz Joseph Haydn)
“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” (from Cantata 147), (Johann S. Bach)
“At Last” (Vitamin String Quartet)

Processionals
Seating of the Grandparents
Seating of the Parents
Bridal Party
The Bride

You don’t have to have a seating of the Grandparents, remember everything on here is optional. You can have the same song for both the Grandparents and Parents, and even the Bridal Party if you want and then change the music for when you enter. Here are some suggestions

“Trumpet Voluntary” (John Stanley)
“Bridal Chorus” (from Lohengrin), (Richard Wagner)
“Wedding March” (from The Marriage of Figaro), (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

Interludes

This is for when you want music to emphasize a certain moment during the ceremony, mainly the lighting of the Unity Candle or Unity Sand.

“Clair de Lune” (Claude Debussy)
“Adagio” (Felix Mendelssohn)
“Ave Maria” (Franz Schubert)
“Thank You” (Led Zeppelin)

Recessional

The music you walk out to. Something fun and happy!

“Hallelujah Chorus” (from The Messiah), (George F. Handel)
“Trumpet Tune and Bell Symphony,” (Henry Purcell)
“Beautiful Day” (U2)
“Wedding March” (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream), (Felix Mendelssohn)

Don’t feel that you have to use any of these suggestions on the Knot’s page. If you think of something that is significant for you, that’s the better choice. And we can always go thru some songs when we get together.

Here’s another cool page with more modern musical selections for the ceremony.

Fun Wedding iPhone App

So you want a fun wedding reception? Ensure guests have the time of their life with incredible music that keeps the dance floor packed! Not your typical boring music lists, Fun Wedding gives you access to 18 unique music charts updated monthly from millions of actual song requests at real wedding receptions using the Guys on the Radio online request system. Get an insider’s look into those songs that determine the success or failure of any wedding. Includes top 200 most requested and top 100 decades from 1950’s thru 2010’s. You also get the top 50 bride & groom, bride & father, groom & mother, and bridal party songs. Plus, 7 secret bonus lists, including most overplayed songs. Get lyrics and song samples.

Perfect for brides and party planners! Lists are updated monthly with the most recent request data from DJ Intelligence. For more information and to download the Fun Wedding iPhone app, visit http://www.funweddingapp.com

Planning Your Reception

Planning your reception should not be a chore. The Guys offer you the tools to make it a breeze.

Planning Forms

The Reception Planning Form and Reception Timeline work together to allow you to time out when introductions, to cake cutting happen with the ease of drop down menus. In addition, you can plan your big day using the planning form to choose your first dance, and more… Plus, you’ll have access to the Online Music Requests if you’re stumped on what to song to use for one of your special dances…

Music Requests

Need some help coming up with that special song for your Father/Daughter Dance? We have the Top Requested Songs here, and you can even put your requests in with our Online Music Requests application! For Dance Music, we give you 10 MUST PLAY requests, you can put in ahead of time, plus 20 PLAY IF POSSIBLE requests… You can also add songs to the DO NOT PLAY list under Music Requests. Don’t feel like you need to fill this… We will take requests during the reception, where this will come in handy, is to make sure we have a song that you want to hear played. Again, this is for the Dancing section of the reception.