How to plan the ultimate wedding reception timeline?

Planning your wedding day should be a fun, enjoyable experience. However, the reality is a wedding day has many moving parts – with different vendors, venue requirements to navigate, and formalities to get done, it can be a little overwhelming to work out the best timeline to maximise your day's enjoyment. Therefore, to ensure everything runs smoothly, I've set out an example timeline below that provides a great starting point for planning the best wedding reception timeline.

Bec + Ian. Photo by Love Wilder.

Planning the ultimate wedding reception timeline

Of course, all weddings are different, so feel free to tailor the below as needed. You may have a cocktail style, formal sit-down, or different start and finish times, and this will change the flow of the night. 

In the below example, I have used a standard 5-hour wedding reception with a sit-down meal (entrees + main), with desserts dropped off at tables after the dance floor has kicked off.

The timeline for the reception - Summary

6:00 pm - Reception commences
6:10 pm - Wedding party entrances
6:15 - Cutting of cake
Entrees served
6:50 pm: First round of speeches
Mains served
7:50 pm - Second round of speeches
8:10 pm (ish) - Sunset photos for a couple
8:45 pm - First dance/ Parent dances
8:50 pm - The dance floor opens
10:55 pm - Last song
11:00 pm - Reception ends and send-offs

Why do I like cutting the cake at the start?

Most couples feel it is a formality that has to be done, but they don't value it as being high on their priority list for their day. Therefore, cutting the cake as soon as they've made their entrance ensures they get a great photo without having to worry about when to fit it in later in the night (or anyone accidentally knocking it over!). 

Photo by Love Wilder.

Why separate the speeches into 2 rounds?

While speeches are a key formality of the night, it can be hard to keep all of your guests engaged if speeches go for too long. Therefore, my hot tip is to break this up into 2 rounds and instruct your speech givers to keep it at most 5 minutes (you'd be surprised at how often people can talk at weddings when they don't have any guidance as to time). Having 2 or 3 speechgivers per round will (hopefully) keep each round to no more than 15 minutes – the perfect amount of time your guests will pay attention and stay fully engaged. 

First dance and dance floor

I like inviting all the guests to circle around the dance floor for the first dance. This is tactical so that:

a)     You can get a beautiful photo of your first dance surrounded by your loved ones and

b)     After the first dance ends, we go straight into the first dance, so everyone is ready to go on the floor!

I’m not a fan of having “dance sets.” Instead, I prefer to ignite the dance floor later in the night and not stop until the end of the reception. This ensures a full dance floor for the whole night.

If you’re having a sparkler exit or farewell arch, I’d recommend having the MC announce this 10 minutes before the night's end. This gives guests the time to get organised, but importantly, some venues (especially inner-city venues) have strict licence requirements from the Council, where music must finish strictly at 11 p.m. Therefore, being organized means your DJ can pump that final song as you complete your exit to finish off the perfect night.

Photo by Love Wilder.

Looking for a DJ to ignite your dance floor? Get in touch. I’d love to be part of your special day and if I am not available, I’ll be able to recommend some other great options.

Tim the DJ

Website: www.timthedj.com.au/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timthedjsax/?hl=en