I thought I’d write a post about the thing that goes wrong most often – timings at wedding receptions. If your venue or caterer gives you good advice then you’re one of the lucky ones – sadly many don’t.
Nobody really wants their guests to drink too much on an empty stomach, or get bored while photos are being taken… And certainly you don’t want to splash out on entertainment and then find they barely have time to perform.
So here are my top tips for getting the timings right:-
1. Give your photographer a time-scale and ask them to stick to it – your guests are more important than 101 different shots in the fairy bower.
2. Ask the caterers to provide decent nibbles if you’re having a longish drinks reception. This will help your guests pace themselves and not get drunk too early. One great way to do this is have your starter in the form of substantial canapes (ask your caterer to be inventive). It allows your guests have more time to mingle, so they’ll enjoy the seated part of the meal without gettting restless.
3. Allow enough time for speeches – and make sure your speakers stick to their allotted time. I’ve recently been at weddings where they’ve had fun with a “warning bell” and another with a public sweepstake on speech times – it was all very good-humoured and helped long-winded speakers to control themselves. One nice way to do speeches is one or two between each course, which means they’re not all together in an over-long chunk and the meal is well-spaced too.
4. Talk to your caterer about how long it takes for everyone to get fed for your numbers in your chosen style ie buffet, table-service etc. Then make a time-table and double check it with the caterer. This is all too often overlooked!
We once arrived to play at a very smart wedding and sat around for 3 hours because all of the above went wrong… Then we went home without playing a note because the venue had a noise curfew. They still had to pay us, and I felt very sorry for the bride and groom, who had been let down by others. Follow my simple tips and it won’t happen to you.
Have a great day!
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