Hi there. Kieran here with TLC event design and coordination, california wedding planners. And we’re here with a couple unpopular opinions when it comes to reception timelines, but a few things that we really love to do in TLC. So while I could talk about this until I’m blue in the face, I’m going to try to rush through this and give you a couple of quick things. Now, the first is to have a first look or not. And really, truly, we go to whether you want that magical moment down the aisle of seeing each other for the first time or if you’re okay with getting a lot of those photos done prior to your ceremony. Now, we’re here nor there. We truly feel that you should make this decision based on your personal preference and if you have an emotional tie to one over the other. But we will say if you choose to do a first look, what we love is it affords you the opportunity to join your cocktail hour, which I know a lot of our couples love to do. And one of the big perks for us and something that we do at TLC that I know some people aren’t the biggest fan of, but I’m explaining why, is we like to have you do your grand entrance into your cocktail hour. Now, the quick and dirty of this, because again, I could talk until I’m blue in the face on it, is our couples have expressed to us that they feel like they’re in a bit of a fishbowl when they do their grand entrance into the main reception during dinner. They feel like people are just sitting at their table, standing up, staring at them, and they can’t really embrace them or do much. So what we like to do, if the timeline allows for it, is have you do your grand entrance into the cocktail hour. That way your guests can cheer and hug you and embrace, and it’s more of a warm welcome. Now, the other one is toast. I know that people like to do toast during the middle of dinner. It’s helpful for your timeline. What we love to do is have you do your toast at the beginning of your reception. Now, the reason why is a lot of people have toasting anxiety and they’re worried about whether they’re going to be called up with food in their mouth or not. And I know that this is kind of dead idle time in your timeline, but people are not starving. They just come from cocktail hour. They can sit and listen to a few toasts. So we like to have you start off the toast with a quick thank you and welcome, and then go down the line of maybe two or three toasts, usually made of honor best man parents, and then kick off dinner. Now, the last one I will talk about is dessert. I know traditionally dessert is served right after dinner, but let’s be honest. Your guests are not usually ready for cake or desserts right after eating a full meal, and they’re ready to get on the dance floor and have some fun. So I suggest that you dance for about an hour and then have your cake cutting or does the dessert table announced as open in the middle of that dance set. So usually about after an hour when your guests are kind of ready for that. Now, last bonus tip tosses. I’m just going to be the one to say, and I know it’s the unpopular opinion, but I’m going to empower you that if you do not like the idea of a bouquet and garter.

Wedding reception timeline is, okay, this is my number one way to run a timeline. We did this for my wedding and this is for the brides who are prioritizing the party, right? Like you want to maximize fun. So you finish photos after ceremony, you go in, you get announced. Bridal party, no, bridal party does not matter. So you send bridal party in to get announced and then you guys come in, do your first dance right away. Just walk right into your first dance. And then what we did because I don’t particularly like that weird lull sometimes between when the couple comes in and you do your first dance or not. And then it’s like, okay, we’re going to sit down now. And then I think we’re going to eat some food and maybe people come talk to you. It’s a really weird time, right, so right into your first dance, we sent our flower girls out to grab the guests and bring them up and the DJ hyped it up for like three or four songs and then you turn it back down, get everybody in their seats and then send people off to dinner, right? So it’s like as people are coming back, you have your catering coordinator or your day of coordinator or whoever catching the front tables and just sending them straight to dinner. Then while people are eating, you got to do speeches. So make sure that you’re timing it so that literally as soon as you can start speeches like the last tables have gotten food and come back, you start speeches right away. Because otherwise if you wait too long, then you have this weird period where the first half of the room is done eating and the second half of the room is finishing up. And then you have an extra 20 or 30 minutes where people are just sitting around when you could have gotten speeches done earlier and start the party sooner. So then if you do that appropriately, you can go from speeches right into parent dances. So hopefully, if it’s timed correctly, the last table will be finishing up their food and then you start your parent dances and get that out of the way. And what I really like to do is I don’t like to break up the evening. I think sometimes the flow can get a little weird. Again, if your priority is the party and the celebration aspect of it, I think sometimes it can be a little weird when you stop and start the dance, the dances essentially. So if you go finish up speeches, finish up parent dances, go right into bouquet and garter toss and have that kick off the party, right? So usually the bouquet toss is a ton of fun. And then the garter dance, if you guys are partiers, the garter dance is probably going to be a little dirty. So that is a great way to just get everybody hyped up and ready to party, right? And then go right into it. And that’ll leave you a ton of time for continuing to celebrate, disappearing for photos, socializing with as many people as you can. And that is just the best way to maximize the time.

Picture this. You’re scrolling Facebook and in one of your wedding groups you see someone saying, help, my wedding is this weekend and I have no idea how the flow of the reception should go. You stop and you think, oh shoot, I have no idea either. And I didn’t even think of that. I better start thinking about that. My name is Luddia Leak with a touch gray events and after over seven years in the industry, here is what I think works best. After everyone is seated for dinner, you will queue up the bridal party for their grand entrance. And then after you and your fiance enter, you will go straight into your first dance. Then a special someone or whoever you want can give a welcome speech or a prayer to kick off dinner. You will then follow dinner with the cake cutting or dessert cutting toast. And then followed by the Father Bride dance, another Son dance. Any special dances like that. And then after that, the dance floor would open for the night. And then about an hour into that you could do garter toss with KTAR toss, if you’re doing things like that. And then of course, the end of the night when everything is over, doing your exit, if you choose to do so. I hope this was helpful.